To examine the evidence for a link between stress and ill health

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KURSHA PEARSON

STRESS AND ILL HEALTH

This essay is going to examine the evidence for a link between stress and ill health.  It will include sections on what stress is, how it is caused and its effects on the body and the mind. This essay is going to look at and evaluate different psychologist’s views on stress and the effects it has on the body and mind.

There are three main ways at looking at stress.  Firstly, as an external stimulus which places a strain on the individual, for example, taking an exam, moving house, divorce or a new job.  Secondly, as an internal state of psychological and physiological change in response to a stressor.  In this sense stress is something happening inside the person rather than an outside force acting on the person.  It is the psychological and physiological changes produced by a stressor.  These changes are known as the stress response.  Psychological aspects of the stress response may include a state of tension involving emotions such as fear, anxiety and anger.  Examples of physiological aspects of the stress response include an increase in heart rate and the release of sugar into the bloodstream. Thirdly, stress can be seen as a transaction between an individual and their environment.  This transaction results in a stress response if the individual believes they cannot cope with the demands they see placed upon them, for example, one person may see a divorce as a calamity, another person may see it as a welcome release and an opportunity for a fresh start.  As well as giving meanings to events, people also assess their ability to cope with those events for example, if two people were faced with redundancy, one person may feel they cannot cope and this may lead to a stress response.  Another person may feel they can cope quite adequately and, as a result, take things in their stride.

The effects of stress can be positive or negative.  Stress can be used positively to overcome a challenge.  It can also have negative effects leading to illness and even death, for example, Lazurus and Folkman (1984) define stress as ‘the negative emotional and physiological process that occurs as individuals try to adjust to or deal with environmental circumstances that disrupt, or threaten to disrupt, their daily functioning’.  The view of stress as harmful is particularly appropriate for severe and prolonged stress.  However, in the short term, moderate levels of stress ‘can be stimulating, motivating and desirable’ (Bernstein et al, 1997).

Stress is seen to involve mental and physical arousal.  This means the brain and body are in a state of heightened alertness.  There is a readiness for action, a readiness to respond mentally and physically to a stressor.  Walker Cannon’s (1932) idea of the flight-or-fight response provides an understanding of the relationship between arousal and stress.  He argued that it is a biologically based survival mechanism which evolved in humans and other animals.

In response to a stressor, chemicals are released in the brain and the body producing the following physiological changes.  The heart rate accelerates increasing the blood pumped round the body and brain.  Sugar is released from the liver for extra energy and muscle strength.  Saliva and mucus dry up increasing the size of air passages to the lungs.  Breathing deepens which increases the oxygen in the blood.  These and other physiological changes increase energy and alertness in preparation for a rapid response to a threat.  

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To some extent all parts of the nervous system, the endocrine system, and the body, are involved in the stress response.  The brain is involved in perceiving and interpreting an event as a stressor and organising and initiating the stress response.  It directs the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine system (the system of glands which secretes hormones into the bloodstream) to respond to a stressor.  It also directs motor responses such as running, for example, a visit to the zoo, when you see a lion pacing up and down its cage, you would be unlikely to see the ...

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