Premium Essay

Stress and Disease

In: Other Topics

Submitted By alippert17
Words 490
Pages 2
Physiological Changes: When understanding the relationship between stress and disease as they pertain to the body’s weakness and state the body is in, we must understand that the body is builds up a defense to keep out as much as it can of the bad diseases. The body uses its natural defenses to help keep out the bad infections. Stress can weaken the immune system which can bring on an increase of diseases such as arthritis, cancer, diabetes, and other serious diseases. Certain diseases attack the white blood cells which also make the immune system weak and hard for a person’s body to kick the disease or virus. Stress can cause not only emotional but physical damage as well. When a person’s body is under stress it can weaken the immune system and cause their body to become less capable to fighting off a disease.
Organ Functions/Body Chemistry: Over time, stress can be seen as a weakening of the body. After a while the walls of our body start to break down and crumble, although there may be medication that will help slow down the process it never fully repairs the walls of the body. Stress can bring on a decrease in being able to fight of disease; increasing blood pressure, heart problems, anxiety, and the most common side effect are migraines. Certain diseases such as cancer, attack different parts of the body and its organ function. Most of the time it limits the ability of what the organ was supposed to be doing. This can cause stress on other organs and cause them to wear down and create other problems for the person’s body. Illnesses can bring on physical problems to the organs and one appearance as well. Although stress does not weaken an organ’s function it does increase its ability the fight off an infection. Furthermore, stress can affect a body’s chemistry by reducing the ability of the body to fight off diseases.

Effects on Psychological Variables

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Oxidative Stress In Parkinson's Disease

...Using Caenorhabditis elagans to Investigate Oxidative Stress in Parkinson’s disease Abstract Oxidative stress is thought to play a part in the advancement and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. Despite the fact that it is at present considered a trademark of such procedures, the intertwining of a multitude of signaling cascades deters the complete comprehension of the direct role played by oxidative stress in neurodegeneration. Notwithstanding its broad use as a model used for aging, a few scientists have turned to Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) to further explore molecular mediators that either intensify or guard against receptive oxygen species (ROS) - interceded neurodegeneration. Because of their completely mapped genome,...

Words: 976 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Psychology and Health Problems

...hand. There are several diseases that can be caused when a person does not control the level of stress they have in their life. An unhealthy lifestyle consists of stress, depression, eating high fat foods, and not exercising enough. The more a person knows about how to control their stress levels will help them to deal with some of the diseases that they might get and will also help them to live healthy to control the risk of getting any unhealthy diseases.   In this paper I will strive to describe what the multifactorial model is and how it relates to the diagnosis of illnesses. I have also selected two health problems which I will explain what role psychology has played in understanding and managing these problems. The health problems that I have selected are coronary heart disease and menstrual problems. The multifactorial model is described as the belief that health and illnesses are a function of several factors that involve biological, psychological, and cultural domains, and how they interact with each other (Nevid & Rathus, 2005). People might wonder how some people become ill easily and some don’t, or maybe why some people are affected by health problems while others are not. According to the multifactorial model there isn’t one answer to why this happens. There are many factors that include genetics and lifestyle choices. Genes play a role in a person having a chance of getting certain diseases, but they do not guarantee that the disease will be passed down from...

Words: 1083 - Pages: 5

Free Essay

Abnormal Psychology- Assemsment and Diagosis

...1. Describe the relationship between assessment and diagnosis. Clinicians, in hope to find the correct treatment to help their clients experiencing dysfunctional symptoms and signs, use both the processes of assessment and diagnosis. The clinician will first take a psychological assessment in order to summarize the individual’s symptoms. This is done through a variety of ways, including objective and subjective tests, structured and unstructured interviews and observation. After completing an assessment, the clinician has an understanding of the individual’s symptoms, circumstances surrounding those symptoms as well as decides if and how to treat the individual. During an assessment, the clinician makes sure to highlight the abilities of the individual so that they can be compared to his abilities during and after treatment. This helps the clinician later on see the effects of the treatment and be able to change it if necessary. Only after an assessment, can the clinician make a clinical diagnosis. Clinical diagnosis is the way the person’s symptoms and signs learned in the assessment are organized and classified based on the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). The DSM is a standard guide to diagnose abnormal behaviors by providing criteria for each abnormal behavior listed. A clinician will gather all the information gained during an assessment and will organize it and see if it fits the criteria of any of the abnormal behaviors listed in the DSM. After...

Words: 1761 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Political Action Awareness in Nursing

...Running head: OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AFFECTS MENTAL HEALTH How occupational stress affects mental health Dayana Fornaris Florida National College April 15, 2011 Abstract This research paper gives us a brief idea about how occupational stress affects mental health. It describes how occupational stress has become a serious health issue, not just in terms of an individual’s mental and physical well being, but also for employers as well who had begin to feel the financial consequences of work stress. Occupational stress can be defined as the harmful physical and emotional responses that occur when the requirements of the job do not match the capabilities of the worker. However, occupational stress can be an extremely difficult construct to define. There are certain factors that contribute to work stress like for example working long hours beyond your control; Finding it hard to say no to a task for fear of losing future work, frustration and feeling undervalued at work. This can lead to stress and tension. How occupational stress affects mental health Stress has been defined in a number of ways and the range of stress management techniques is even wider still. Essentially what most people understand by 'stress' is a physiological or psychological response to external stressors that goes beyond what is accepted as normal. Maybe 'strain' would have been a better word. Limited external stresses produce a response, a 'strain’, which...

Words: 1303 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Research That Has Suggested a Link Between Stress and Ill Health

...Research that has suggested a link between stress and ill health. Looking at the link between stress and illness, there have been many studies done to show the direct effect stress has in relation to illness, the main three pathways looked at are the direct effect, stress interacting with pre-existing vulnerabilities and how stress leads to behavioural changes that are not beneficial to one’s health. However it is hard for researchers to establish a definite cause and effect relationship between stress and specific physical symptoms or illnesses. Not only do people's minds and bodies react differently to stress, but there also are other factors at work when someone falls ill. Most researchers have found the more a person suffers from stress the weaker his or hers immune system becomes. In trying to understand why stress can be bad for the body is to look at it from an evolutionary perspective, where in the past our ancestors were often confronted with life threatening situations and as a result the ‘fight or flight’ response evolved. Whilst being confronted by dangerous situations such as confrontation with a predator it was necessary to send blood to the muscles and be in a heightened state of arousal, however today it might not be relevant to most everyday stressors. So we can say most stressors do not pose a physical danger to us yet the way our nervous and endocrine systems have evolved we react to the stressors as if they did, whilst it might have been an adaptive response...

Words: 2057 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

Multifactorial Model

...depends on the interactions between different factors. Environmental, sociocultural, biological, and even psychological factors can affect a person’s health. Nevid and Rathus (2005) break the multifactorial method factors down into six main groups of factors that play a part in a person’s health and his or her susceptibility to different illnesses. The six main factors in the multifactorial model are; biological, sociocultural, environmental, personality, behavior, and stressors (p.126). Each of the six factors contains several influences that can affect or determine the likelihood for illness. A person has control over some of these factors and others are completely beyond control. The physical, emotional, and cognitive effects of stress along with the psychological factors play various roles in a person’s health. In psychology the area that studies what the relationship is between certain factors and the prevention of certain illnesses or treatment of illnesses is known as health psychology. Understanding these factors and what measures a person can implement to guard against certain illnesses or injuries can help reduce a person’s chance in many cases. The first factor is biological. Biological factors include pathogens, gender, genetics, and even age. Other biological influences include family history of illness, ethnicity, pain, and even exposure to different infectious organisms. Although biological factors play a role in an...

Words: 1365 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

How Stress Affects Health

...How Stress Affects Our Health November 25, 2015 How Stress Affects Our Health In life there is not one human being who has not felt the anxiety or heart pounding feeling of being stressed. I believe this is a silent disease that slowly takes over one’s life one way or another. According to Kiev (1974), from a medical standpoint stress is just a nervous tension because life is being lived too quickly; therefore, the energy is being wasted. Stress can wear an individual out and cause heath issues once entering adulthood. Feeling stressed is so common in everyday life that it has become a way of life. When individuals are under stress they tend to panic, not realizing the toll it is taking on their body and mind. Stress starts to affect the body by prolonging the levels of fat, causing the immune system to diminish and leaving the body weak and vulnerable to infections (Reinhold, 1996). There are several types of stresses that can affect you and cause cognitive issues, emotional issues, mental issues, and physical issues. A type of stress that many come across several times in their life is short-term stress. Probably the most common type of stress that there is. This type of stress that last for a small amount of time, hens the name short-term stress. An example of short-term stress is when there is a deadline on an assignment in school or work. It is something that once you have completed and turned in on the deadline all stress is completely gone. Chronic life stress...

Words: 1393 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Own Business

...Dangers of stress Stress Puts You in Danger Dina Haidar Global University Stress Puts You in Danger Stress is like spice - in the right proportion it enhances the flavor of a dish. Too little produces a bland, dull meal; too much may choke you" Donald Tubesing (Madison, 2011). Walter Cannon have found out during the year 1940 that stress triggers the fight-or-flight reaction which is positive mainly because it is designed to save our lives. And he described it as “an emergency reaction that prepares an animal for running or fighting” (Tennant, 2005). Under stress circumstances your heart pounds faster, blood pressure rises, breath quickens ,your senses becomes sharper. These reactions increases your stamina, speeds your reaction, and enhance your focus preparing you to either fight or flee (Tennant, john hopkins university schools of education, 2005) .it is optimistic when a person feels stimulated and able to manage the situation, handle emergencies meet challenges and excel. (Tennant, 2005) But there is no doubt that the negative effects dominates over the positives. . Stress is often related to deleterious physiological complications, It corrupts almost every system in the human body (Melinda Smith, 2012).A recent study has shown that 80% of the most commonly prescripted medicines in the U.S. are those of relates to stress illnesses (institute, 2009) .Everyone experience stress, and stress in all...

Words: 2808 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Relation Between Stress and Physical Illness

...Abstract This research looks at the relationship between physical illness and stress. The goal is the show that there is in fact a direct link between stress and physical diseases. This has been done through studies involving rats, monkeys, and even parents of children with cancer. Upon examination of these studies, it becomes apparent that even though differences in characteristics between individuals cause much variability in the link between illness stress, there still proves to be a strong correlation through changes in physiological and behavorial responses to stress which influence susceptibility to disease. Introduction Almost everybody faces some form or variation of stress over their lifetime. Stress is defined as “a state of psychological tension or strain” (Morris, C., & Maisto, A. 2008) resulting from adverse or demanding circumstances. The cause of stress can vary; whether it be from pressures at work or school, commitments to family life and friends, or maybe even financial difficulties. Anytime a person is met with a stressor, any environmental demand that may create stress, rapid changes are sent forward throughout the body. Almost every system in the body is preparing itself to encounter any danger that may be perceived. (Human Diseases and Conditions. n.d.) There are many instances where these stress responses in short-term bursts, or acute stress, can actually be beneficial to a person. Examples include the adrenaline rush one may get when confronted...

Words: 1382 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Stress Management

...My Stress Action Management Plan Southern New Hampshire University There are many factors in life that we cannot control. Traffic when you’re late to work, work and school deadlines that must be met, children who would rather quarrel than agree. These situations can and most likely will induce stress on an individual. Stress is defined as a state of negative tension in the emotional well-being of a person. Stress is the process on how we handle and cope with our environment (Myers, 2014).  This tension, or stressors, can create anxiety, unintended pressure, and can completely hassle a person’s life. Stress relates to the field of Psychology in that it affects the bodies physical and mental state. Negative stress can cause what experts define as psychophysiological illnesses, which include hypertension and migraines (Myers, 2014). Negative stress can also be more taxing on other physical ailments with certain diseases. Throughout the course of my life I’ve had many ups and many downs.  There have been situations that I have been in control of, and others that I have not and the stress of these situations has affected my life in different ways. The first stressor in my life I would say would have to be the biggest thing out of my control.  February 14, 2011 I was sent to the hospital with a horrible headache.  Eventually, my vision became impaired and an MRI and Spinal tap revealed the diagnoses of Multiple Sclerosis.  I had never heard of this disease or known anyone...

Words: 3151 - Pages: 13

Premium Essay

Stredd and Health

...Impact of Stress on Health [Angela White] [Volunteer State Community College] Impact of Stress on Health Introduction It is a known fact to everyone that there is a strong connection between stress and physical and mental health of a person. This fact has also been supported and acknowledge by the results and finding for the survey Stress in America as respondents and participant of the research have showed high levels of stress leading towards their dependence upon unhealthy means and behaviors to combat the effects. Stress has also been suggested to affect the physical health of the individuals. Thus both physical and mental health has been suggested to get affected by stress. The situation has been found to be more serious and adverse in case of adults who are 50 and above or those who are obese or suffering with depression. The main purpose of this reports is to describe the meaning and different types of stress and how it affect the defensive mechanism and overall health of the people. Discussion Stress has been described as feeling of being over worked or loaded, tense, worried or tight. It is a physiological response of an organism to the stimulus (Goldstein & Mcewen, 2002; Mcewen, 2002). Everybody experiences this state at sometime in their lives. At times it makes people work hard, under pressure in order to meet the deadlines or perform well. But increased frequency of such stressful situations may lead toward the ability of an individual to...

Words: 1811 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Stress

...head: Stress Living a Stress-Free Life Is it possible to attain a stress free life? Is this a reasonable question to ask? A stress free life seems unimaginable and unattainable. We listen to our doctors whom give us loads of information relating to stress and tell us how to successfully balance your work and home life so that your life can be free from stress, but is there any real way to overcome stressors. If you were to ask 10 people what their definition of stress was I am sure you would get 10 different answers from all 10 different people. The reason for this is because stress varies from person to person and how each person copes with it also tends to vary. To understand stress and how it impacts our physical and mental lives, we must educate ourselves on stress, the effects of stress, the causes of stress, the symptoms of stress and how to manage and cope with stress. Stress can be very debilitating and could impact various aspects of our everyday lives if it is not dealt with and managed effectively. I have been through various bouts of stress throughout my life and I have found different ways to combat it which will be explained later in this research paper. As part of my research, I will define stress, the effects of stress, the cause of stress, the symptoms of stress and how to manage and cope with stress, as well as my own personal experience relating to stress. The ideal solution for everyone is to understand stress so when...

Words: 2049 - Pages: 9

Free Essay

The Effects of Stress on Health

...November 2015 The Effects That Stress Has On Health Stress is a word that constantly gets tossed around with different meanings and connotations. Many people do not realize what a significant effect that it can have on people and their families. Merriam-Webster defines stress as a state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc. The denotation of stress can also be stated as something that causes strong feelings of worry or anxiety. In a medical or biological context, stress is a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension (medicinenet.com). It does not just interfere with your daily life; it causes many health problems. Stress can be as acute or as minute as the patient allows it to be but despite the assumptions, stress is a terrible disease that can affect the health of many including altered brain function, internal organ issues, and mental instability. There are many different causes of stress depending on the type of person the patient may be. Money, the economy, work, relationships, and responsibilities are all recorded factors known to cause stress. Stress can be caused by a deadline you have to meet at work or even the concern of pleasing your spouses or relatives. Workplace stress can affect your ability to apply and keep jobs or appease your boss. According to a survey from the American Psychological Association, more than one third of American workers experience chronic work stress (helpguide.org). School can...

Words: 940 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Fish Stress In Fish

...pathogen involved. Lastly, Harvesting and shipping probably represent the most significant stress because of changes in water pH, temperature, ammonia, salinity, etc during the transportation and holding processes. Most mortality occurs at or near the time of containment change but acclimation can help fish. Fish brought in a tank are already stressed. This is why it is so important that the tank must be in an ideal condition and the acclimation process must be followed carefully, so as not to further stress the fish. The unfortunate truth is that the majority of fish mortalities occur at or near the time of entering a new tank and only through an appreciation...

Words: 936 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Healthcare

...Institute of Medicine (IOM, 2001) deemed health as more than the absence of disease and injury, also Nursing agreed with this organic definition . The IOM (2001) implements the idea of "positive health" thus attached are four components: a healthy body, high-quality personal relationships, a sense of purpose in life, and resilience to stress, trauma, and change. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines health as physical, mental, and social well-being (WHO &UNICEF, 1978). The Determinants of Health There are a many factors that determine what health an certain area is within a society. Thus a society would know what health polices to enforce when certain determinants are recognize. So, below there will be a brief elaboration on some influential factors. Social Environment It’s evident that extreme stress or burn out can caused a person to become unhealthy. It’s apparent that some stress is natural and necessary such as a women giving birth, she has to experience some level of stress during the delivery process. Another example could be a person suffering from depression thus she or he also, will deal with pain or exhaustion .The depression could be caused by a social issues such as poverty or non- active social life. Are there available resources in his or her social environment? Is it a matter of lack of social support and social interactions? One example that could lead to this stress is working...

Words: 1469 - Pages: 6