stress and health

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Recommended: How stress affects your health mental/emotional social physical essay

(AC 1, 2) Stress is a part of human life. It is a response of the body and mind to everyday challenges, as a new situation or task might be stressful. Stress has an important impact on our decisions and behaviour. Sometimes it will encourage us to do things that we thought we were incapable of and help to focus on a given task. However, stress can cause problems, such as low self-esteem. Whilst a small dose of stress may be helpful, when it increases and stays at a higher level, it can lead to many health issues and mental problems. Therefore, it is useful to know how to deal with the situations that are stressful for us, or where to ask for help.
The nature of stress begins in the brain. But before the brain passes the information to the rest of the body, an internal or external stimulation has to occur, such as any negative aspects like loud noises or sickness. Then, the brain will decide on how to cope with the problem, or will show the inability to cope, what can be seen as a stress response. The perception of the stressors will affect the pituitary gland on releasing hormone into the bloodstream. This hormone is called Adrenocorticotrophic (ACTH) and moves toward the adrenal gland (placed above the kidney). The hormone activates the adrenal cortex which releases another hormone called Corticosteroids. The role of this hormone is to release energy (from the liver) and stimulate the response of the immune system. At the same time the ACTH is released, the hypothalamus activates the automatic nervous system which then sends information to the adrenal medulla (inner part of the adrenal gland). This releases adrenaline and noradrenalin which, activates a reaction called by Cannon (1914) ‘fight or flight’. During this mode ou...

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...fortunately, not everyone can afford healthy lifestyles, as nowadays fresh fruits and vegetables are sometimes more expensive than ‘junk food’.
(4.2).The cognitive-behavioural therapy and physiological methods also have advantages and disadvantages. Comparing all the above methods, only the cognitive and social therapy treats the causes of stress, as other methods treat only the symptoms. The cognitive therapies are effective as a person can deal with a stressful situation and can increase their sense of control. Also the results are long term, whereas the physiological method can only reduce stress for a short time and there are many side effects following this method, like addiction and other health problems (mainly the problem with the liver). The cognitive therapy does not have any side effects, however it takes longer to go through than anti-anxiety drugs.

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