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The Effects Of Substance Hormones On The Body And Brain Essay

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Let’s face it! Stress is… well, stressful! Stress is also a part of life. So, life is stressful… some parts of life are more stressful than others. What is stress? “Stress refers to a physiological reaction to the body that overstimulates the adrenal glands, resulting in the overproduction of body stress steroid hormones such as cortisol and stress neurochemicals such as adrenaline. Among other things, these body stress biochemicals increase blood pressure and change blood flow, heart reactivity, urinary and bowel function, breathing rate, body temperature, perspiration, tremor, memory, and attention. Stress hormones are meant to be released only briefly in times of stress. However, modern life stresses are often constant. When stress steroids are present continuously in high concentrations, they produce permanent, unhealthy changes in the body and brain. Some studies have even shown that steroid hormones can kill brain cells when present at high levels for a prolonged period of time.” Where does stress originate? Stress can come from families, children, marriage, money, school, friends, change of residence, jobs, bosses, health issues… the list could go on and on. Stress affects different people in different ways and some people are more affected by stress than others. A particular demographic population of people that typically experience higher stress levels differently than others, would be those individuals who struggle with bipolar disorder. Because BD is a

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