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Effects of stress on an individual
Effects of stress on an individual
Effects of stress on an individual
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Everybody has at least one thing in common. Can you guess what it is? If you guessed, heartbreak, you’re right, but that’s not the answer I’m looking for. The correct answer is stress. Everyone has stress in his or her life at one point or another. It’s one of many inevitable parts of life. Whether it’s busting out a research paper for Psychology at the last minute, expecting your first child to be born, to making sure you’re up in time to catch the Saturday morning cartoons, it’s clearly evident that everyone goes through stress. The real question is, how is stress handled in our society? A person is defined by how they handle the stressors in their lives and how they overcome stressful moments. This paper will explore the aspects of stress management; hoping to help others in their times of stress. To fully understand stress management, one must understand the natural stress response. When a person encounters a perceived threat, the hypothalamus, a tiny region located at the base of the brain, sets off an alarm in their body. Through a combination of both nerve and hormonal signals, the system prompts their adrenal glands, located at the top of the kidneys, to release a surge of hormones which include adrenaline and cortisol. The adrenaline causes an increase in the heart rate, thus causing an increase in the blood pressure and energy supplies of the individual. Cortisol, which is the primary stress hormone, creates an increase in sugars which are known as glucose in the bloodstream. This enhances the brain’s use of glucose and decreases the availability of substances that help repair tissues. This alarm system also communicates with regions of the brain that control moods, motivation, and fear. Once the perceived threat has p... ... middle of paper ... ...uestion? Works Cited America’s #1 Health Problem. (n.d.). Retrieved from The American Institute of Stress website: http://www.stress.org/americas-1-health-problem/ Borchard, T. (2010). 18 Ways to Manage Stress. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 1, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2010/06/23/18-ways-to-manage-stress/ Chronic stress puts your health at risk. (n.d.). Retrieved from Mayo Clinic website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/stress/SR00001 Heissman, K. (2012). Stress Management Practices: What Works and What Doesn’t. Psych Central. Retrieved on December 1, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/stress-management-practices-what-works-and-what-doesnt/00011942 Stress Management: How to Reduce, Prevent, and Cope with Stress. (n.d.). Retrieved from Helpguide.org website:http://www.helpguide.org/mental/stress_management_relief_coping.htm
Adrenaline and glucocorticoids are critical to survival. Animals’ stress responses turn off after escaping from life-threatening situations. However, humans’ stress response come from a psychological state of fear or threat. We are often stressed out due to traffic, increasing taxes, instead of actual life-or-death situations. What’s worse, we are stressed constantly. Since we cannot
Cortisol is in the class of hormones called glucocorticoids and affects almost every organ in the body. One of the most important functions of cortisol is to help regulate the body’s response to stress. Cortisol is also responsible for other necessary functions including: helping to maintain blood pressure and cardiovascular functions, helping to slow the immune system’s inflammatory response, helping to balance the effects of insulin in breaking down sugars for energy, helping to regulate the metabolism of proteins, carbohydrates, and fats, and helping to maintain proper arousal of sense of well being. The amount of cortisol is precisely balanced and regulated by the brain’s hypothalamus.
When faced with a dangerous situation, the common mind will flood with consternation, while the body changes its customary routine to adjust to this new development. One of the first things to change is the release of adrenaline. That adrenaline will cause the release of stored energy and move blood between the muscle groups (Conger 2). This allows the subject to move faster, work harder, and be stronger. All of these traits improve the individual to better survive the dilemma and find safety. Besides contributing to an increase in energy and power, the adrenal glands release cortisol too (Conger 1). The stress o...
Stress means different things to different people and stress effects people in different ways. Some people think stress is something that happens to them such as an injury or a promotion and others think that stress is what happens to our mind, body and behaviors in response to an event. While stress does involve events and how one responds to them these are not the critical factors, but our thoughts about the situation in which we are involved are the critical factors. Essentially, stress exists whenever homeostasis is disturbed or cannot be maintained (Stress and the Social System Course Guide, 2013). Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to keep the internal chemical and physical environments constant. As your body begins to react to stress several changes occur. These changes include increased heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of stimulatory hormones. Ones body prepares itself in stressful situations to either stand ground and fight or to flee from the situation. Walter Cannon called this stressful reaction the fight-or-flight response (Greenberg, 2012).
Jones, F, Bright, J, Clow, A (2001). Stress: myth, theory and research. Essex: Pearson Education Limited. p. 12.
Posen, David B., MD. "Stress Management for Patient and Physician." The Canadian Journal of Continuing Medical Education. Apr. 1995. 3 Dec. 2000. http://www/mentalhealth.com/mag1/p51-str.html
Human bodies that are being continually exposed to stress can develop widespread positive as well as negative effects in terms of physical, social, and emotional conditions. Due to the fact that stress can bring broadened effects to human body, it is vital to learn proper stress management techniques. By learning how to properly avoid being stressed will help us stay away from serious and chronic diseases and illness.
This research paper concerns how individuals perceive stress and the serious effect on their psychological thought process and physical and mental health and how they can cope with their anxiety driven thoughts. Research was gathered using printed material obtained at the Syracuse Bird Library, and also using various online sources and scholarly journals. One printed source written by Frank Campbell addresses the health effects stress can have on an individual while author Richard Lazarus explores coping mechanisms individuals can use to attempt to get rid of the their stress. Author Bruce G. Charlton in his publication in the Journal of Medical Ethics, claims that stress is an empty word, with little value and explains the origin of the Stress. Robert Lazarus explains the concept of stress along with the ambiguity associated with the word. Ruth O’Hara explains what situations causes stress. While authors Carolyn Aldwin and Sandi Mann discuss coping and how to alleviate stress.
Doing things like eating right and getting the required hours of sleep each night is an important thing to do in order to stay healthy. (Gwen K. Packard, pg. 134) Although exercising can be dreadful, it is an excellent way to stay healthy and a great way to relieve our stress. ‘’When you are under stress, your body reacts with a fight – or – flight response which involves increasing your heart rate, blood pressure, and musc...
Specific Purpose Statement: The audience will learn what causes stress and how stress can affect their health, and how they can manage their everyday stress with different techniques.
Retrieved February 13, 2011, from MedicineNet: http://www.medterms.com. Jaffe-Gill, M. E., Segal, M. R., & Melinda, S. (2010, October). Stress Management. Retrieved February 13, 2011, from HelpGuide.org: http://www.helpguide.org. Kessler, R., Chiu, W., Demler, O., & Walters, E. (2005, June).
Stress is an ongoing dilemma that occurs in each and everyone’s life. It is a factor that is undoubtedly a part of daily living. Due to the trivial problems that occur in people’s daily lives massive amounts of stress can arise. People perceive and manage stress in many different ways. The causes and effects of stress are numerous and one’s ability to manage stress is vital in maintaining healthy living.
Stressors initiate a response within the organism and causes changes in the body, specifically responses in the body’s autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has two branches: the sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic autonomic nervous system helps the body deal with the stress it encounters, initiating the ‘fight or flight’ response. Once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system will take over, relaxing the body. There is a balance between these two in a healthy person. However, when someone stays on guard, using the sympathetic autonomic nervous system, all sorts of physical effects can
Stress is something that everyone has to deal with in life, whether it is good or bad stress. Stress management techniques are a great way to deal with stress. Some of the stress management techniques that I learned from this course are prioritization, scheduling, and execution. Using these techniques has effectively helped me deal with my own stress. When it comes to dealing with stress I still have many strengths and weaknesses that I will explain. Some stressors I have in my life that I will discuss are psychointrapersonal, social, life events, and daily hassles. Next, I will give my opinion on my post-course survey, and compare and contrast it to my pre-course survey scores. Finally, I will explain my last goals for this stress management course.
Modern life is full of troubles, frustrations and deadlines. People have to suffer stressful from many directions and they seem to be consent to live with stress. Many people think that they can stand with stressful and it is harmless, but it is not. If people live in stress during a long period of time, it has bad effect to health and spirit. Therefore, there is actually that you can protect yourself by understanding stress and how to reduce these harmful effects caused by stress.