The parasympathetic branch of nerves is involved with nourishing, healing and regeneration of the body; nerves stimulate digestion, and the immune and waste organs such as the liver, stomach, pancreas and intestines. When activated by rest, relaxation is essential for balanced living and for all healing; a healthy parasympathetic state helps heal all health conditions, both physical and emotional. The feeling of lethargy or fatigue, is often associated with the parasympathetic state as you are so relaxed, most people think this is unhealthy however, it indicates a state of repair and rebuilding of the body's energy sources.
The health of the autonomic nervous system is an important key to healing that is often overlooked. Most people have some degree of sympathetic nervous exhaustion which is a major cause of disease that requires more attention. Nervous exhaustion can lead to changing your lifestyle and eating habits, and developing potential. As more people become willing to change thought patterns and lifestyles, they will experience a degree of contentment.
Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) shows how stress can lead to infection, illness, disease and death. There are three stages he discovered: Alarm, Resistance and Exhaustion.
The alarm stage is where we are surprised or threatened; there is an instant physical reaction, the Fight-or-Flight reaction. This prepares the body for a life-threatening situation, resources are taken from the digestive and immune system to more immediate muscular and emotional needs lowering the immune system and making us susceptible to disease. As the body becomes used to these stress levels, it becomes more resistance to disease, it tricks the body into thinking we can adapt to these stressful situations. However, only the immune system is fighting to keep up with demands forcing it to work at abnormally high levels. This exhaustion stage is also characterised by abnormal behaviour referred to as 'burn-out'. Eventually body systems start to fail the immune system becomes less efficient than normal and death usually follows from stress induced diseases such as heart disease.
There are also two other ways stress can be appraised, known as Primary and Secondary appraisal. When the body first recognises signs of stress you begin to asses the situation to try to discover what is happening, this is known as primary appraisal. if the stressor continues we begin to asses resources available to us enabling us to cope with the situation, this is know as secondary appraisal.
There have been many studies that look into how stress and illness are related and the effects it has on the body, an earlier report on the effects of stress suggested that mothers' stress responses damage their unborn babies, a woman's body may kill off weaker male foetuses during times of stress as male foetuses and embryos are weaker than females and are less likely to survive to birth. A mother’s body when under stress has less tolerance for unhealthy embryos and foetuses therefore aborting offspring that may have otherwise been carried full term. It is suggested that if stress is only damaging the male foetus than males carried to full term will be damaged and their life expectancy shorter however researchers have said the males that survive full-term live longer than average.
Professor Henry Halliday said the paper was interesting, but a long way from providing definitive proof saying "Stress in pregnancy is currently attracting a lot of interest and it is generally thought to have adverse effects on both the foetus and the relationship between mother and baby." (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4639502.stm)
A mother’s stress levels during pregnancy can also have an effect on the brain of her unborn baby, research suggests that a woman who suffers anxiety during mid-pregnancy is more likely to have a child who shows mixed handedness neither left nor right handed nor that is associated with a range of conditions such as autism, dyslexia and hyperactivity. Women who suffered anxiety in the 18th week of pregnancy were more likely to have a child who showed mixed handedness. Although there was no significant connection with anxiety later in pregnancy or with ante-natal depression.
These results show that because there was no postnatal anxiety it supports the idea the effect of maternal mood took place in the womb.
Other studies have shown that people who have had recent major life changes have a higher incidence of death.
These major life changes include death, marraige, divorce and parenthood each can cause periods of stress in our lives.
Although there is positive aspects to parenthood such as joy and happiness when you become a parent it is also stressfull knowing you are responsible for another person for a number of years. Things like first words and first steps and other general achievements can leave you feeling very proud of your child but it is also very hard work especially as babies that are completly dependent on you to look after them. Children are very time consuming and some parents especially new parents find it very stressfull when suddenly all there time is taken up as children need constant attention. Parents also in certain situations worry over the expensive of having a child, clothes, food, nappies,cribs, pushchairs, the basics for example are very expensive and can cause financial worry for parents. Certain decisions on how to bring there child up wont always be agreed upon by both parents and can sometimes cause a rift within a relationship.
Stress is a major fact in a persons life we will all feel stressed at some point wheteher it be during education, work, or during one of the life changes stated above, marraige, divorce, death, and parenthood. Over a long term, distress can lead to diminished health to avoid this, is is clear that stress must be managed. When looking at Hans Seyles theory the General Adaptation Syndrome you can see his concepts are too vague and unmeasurable.
References-
Selye, Hans (1946). The general adaptation syndrome and the diseases of adaptation. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology 6:117-230
Selye, Hans (1952). The Story of the Adaptation Syndrome. Montreal, Quebec, Canada: Acta Inc.
womenshealth.about.com/cs/pregnancy/a/pregnancystress.htm
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/913161.stm
