The Impact of Stress on the Individual - Essay Example

The impact of stress on the individual First of all, let's find proper meaning to the term 'stress'. "Stress can be defined as the physiological reaction of the body to an external or internal event. It is a demand placed on the individual that disturbs homeostasis and requires an adjustment on the part of the individual"1. Stress can be connected either with positive or negative effects, but the second one is more likely to cause stress. Lots of life events result stress. Illness of relatives, birth of a child, marriage, death of loved one are among them. Sensory input, including noise, light, crowds, is a minor factor that gives rise to stress. Stress reactions are different from individual to individual, but there are several common psychological reactions, such as some faster heartbeat and breathing, an increase in perspiration, contracting of various muscle groups, thirst, slowed digestion. Also there might be some changes in the person's behaviour, like overeating, simulating illnesses, developing phobias, impetuousness, aggression and violence, constant abuse and helplessness. Stress has no certain specificity. Any signals received by an individual through the day cause certain processes in the body. The same reactions emerge in absolutely different situations; for instance, we can distinguish pain caused by the death of the family member and the pain induced by the temperature dropping too fast; but at the biological level they are the same, because the stress reaction is always the same for a particular individual. "Nerve signals are sent from the brain to several biological glands, and these quickly react by secreting hormones to cope with the task ahead"2. There are three main approaches to stress. 1 - Stress as a Stimulus. Stimulus-based theories of stress are concentrated on identifying aspects of the environment that have an unlikable effect on us. The main point is discovering stressful factors and determining the way they affect mental activity and behaviour. Most recent researches made on this subject were related to working conditions and everyday stressful factors such as ambient noise and temperature. This approach has one main fault: all stressful factors may vary among the individuals and influence them in many different ways. Also the impact of each factor may vary depending on season, period of the day and current mood of the individual himself. 2 - Stress as a Response. Another approach views stress as a response to a difficult situation.This theory was created by H. Selye. Selye stated that the stress response is a "built-in mechanism that comes into play whenever demands are placed on us, and is therefore a defense reaction with a protective and adaptive function"3. Selye called this reaction the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). According to this theory, there are three phases of response: immediate reaction; recovery to a higher level than pre-stress stage; fatigue and feeling of distress. 3 - Stress as a Perceived Threat. Much recent research shows that certain situations or objects are threatening to the individual, as the individual wants to see them as such, rather than because of any natural features. According to this theory, stress emerges when the individual cannot control the situation, or get accustomed to. The degree of stress is partially influenced by what is happening in general, but is close-knit with person's own understanding and stereotypes concerning factors involved. Also it is important to mention Hill's theory of family stress, which in general has a narrow approach to stress within family. The research on this topic suggests that factors of everyday routines and their features (number of changes, length) affect personality a lot and lead to the stress. In the situation assigned for examination the main character, May, had to carry out triple stress. First of all, she delivered mentally handicapped girl, who is dependent on her through all May's life. Then, after her youngest grandson's birth May became literally torn in two, as she had to help her two daughters. And finally, May is affected a lot by the daily routines, as she is a pensioner and her main duties are working about home and supporting her children. May's time is strictly limited, as her life is too fast and too busy for such age. Beyond any doubt, constant stress has a great impact on her health. The impact of stress on the human immune system is harmful, because it breaks defense mechanism of human body and reduces the level of hemoglobin, which leads to anaemia. "The overlapping findings of 293 independent studies reported in peer-reviewed scientific journals between 1960 and 2001 - with some 18,941 individuals taking part in all -- powerfully confirm the core fact that stress alters immunity"4. Similar researches also showed that immune system of sick or older people is more vulnerable to stress. The scientists also explored the effects of the different stressors on different immune reactions, such as natural and specific immunity. Natural immunity produces immediate acting, all-purpose cells that can attack many pathogens; they bring fever and inflammation. "While they fight on the front line, the body takes a few days to mount a more efficient attack on specific invaders via the lymphocytes (T-cells and B cells) of specific immunity. Specific immunity has both cellular responses, which fight pathogens that get inside cells (such as viruses), and humoral responses, which fight pathogens that stay outside cells, such as bacteria and parasites"5. Various stress factors indicate different stress responses. Also scientists discovered that time-limited stressors cause immediate response and activate immune system prompting it to ready itself for resisting diseases. Short-time stressors enhance quick natural immunity. At the same time, several aspects of specific immunity that consume more time and energy were suppressed. The most long-lasting stressors are those, which change people's identities or social roles and considered endless. Such factors were connected with the most serious suppression of immunity; the longer the stress, the more the immune system suffers from changes in adaptive mechanisms. Also it is important to mention that long-lasting stress usually lead to depression -first of all, and than to harmful changes in the immune system. Short stresses do not cause clinical depression, but in the May's case it is possible to say that she had already got deep depression before the events described. Some people might become depressed because of having to fight with constant stress. "These constant difficulties may come in the form of having to juggle multiple roles at home and work, making major changes in lifestyle, being in an abusive environment"6.Retirement is a time of major change, as some people are demanded to accept new duties and new personal position in general. In conclusion, it is necessary to say that stress can further result in even more serious ailments, than anaemia - such as cancer, heart diseases, different kinds of neurotic phobias and many others, so stress must be treated immediately as a root of all diseases. Also May's problem should be solved in any case, because, having returned home from hospital, she will face the same trouble again. Sources 1) http://www.usmedicine.com/article.cfmarticleID=1021&issueID=71 2) http://todaysseniorsnetwork.com/stress_&_immunity.htm 3) http://www.viable-herbal.com/health/health21.htm 4) http://trainland.tripod.com/june.g.htm 5) http://www.mindtools.com/stress/UnderstandStress/StressPerformance.htm 6) http://ajp.psychiatryonline.org/cgi/content/full/159/10/1752 7) http://www.seton.net/Wellness/GoodHealthMagaine/JanFebMarC00C/LocalPsychologistan2B35.asp 8) http://www.cascadewellnessclinic.com/tips/01tips/tip0110.html 9) http://www.thepfizerjournal.com/default.aspa=article&j=tpj27&t=The%20Impact%20of%20Stress%20and%20Fear 10) http://www.wpic.pitt.edu/dppc/journalwatch_2005_03.htm 11) http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htmSEQ_NO_115=155051 Read More