To what extent does research show a relationship between stress and physical illness?

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Laura Walton`

To what extent does research show a relationship between stress and physical illness?

In psychology, a person’s stress is individual; it is unique and specific to them. This is because what other people may find stressful, others might not.

So to be their reaction to stress and the effect it has on their bodies. But, what evidence is there to show that there is a relationship between stress and physical illness?

How does stress cause illness?

*Directly .by reducing the body’s ability to fight illness.

*Indirectly, by leading the stressed individual to adopt an unhealthy life style e.g. increased smoking and drinking.

Those in society with stressful and time consuming jobs suffer physical illness as a result of their job.

Cobb and Rose (1973) found that a significant relationship between hypertension and the degree of stress experienced by air traffic controllers.

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The Health Authority (1988) observed that the four most stressful occupations were:

*Nursing

*Social work

*Teaching

*Police

 

Stress has been linked with a wide range of physical illnesses including head aches and infectious illnesses, cardiovascular disease, diabetes; asthma .There is research into this that supports this point. For example, Cohen, Tyrrell and Smith (1991) conducted a study in which the participants were give nasal drops containing cold viruses. The researchers then determined stress levels by recording the number of life changes and individual had recently experienced, and measured to what extent the person felt “out of control”. ...

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