Is Stress Positive or Negative Social Determinant of Health - Essay Example

Stress as a Social Determinant of Health Name Institution Stress as a Social Determinant of Health Introduction Stress results from the body’s reaction to any stimulus, change, or trigger that calls for an immediate response. The body normally responds to these changes with emotional, mental, and physical reactions. Stress contributes in various ways to the normal life of an individual and is experienced through the body, thoughts, and the surrounding environment. Stress affects everyone around the world no matter how mild it may be (Macdonald, 2010). It ranges from short-term issues, such as annoyance as a result of congestion, to long-term issues like the negative effects of undergoing divorce. It is a personal factor which has proven to have various positive and negative impacts on the normal life of individuals. Research shows that a little experience of stress motivates an individual and positively influences their memory. Unfortunately, doctors’ reports show that stress contributes to about 70% of personal visits by patients and 80% of illnesses (Ahnquist, Wamala, & Lindstrom, 2012). This paper describes stress as a negative social determinant of health with supporting research evidence done by many scholars. It also critically disapproves the use of stress as a positive determinant of health. However, it shows that a little bit experience of stress is vital to the well-being of an individual. Stress as a Positive Social Determinant of Health The design of the human body makes it susceptible to stress. However, the same design enables it to respond to any causative factors. Various research studies show that stress has positive effects, one of them being the argument that it contributes to the individualistic alertness. In addition, it acts as a natural stimulus in avoiding danger. Consequently, there is a dilemma on whether stress is a measure of positive or negative influence on human health. The World Health Organization (WHO) classifies stress under the factors that negatively influence the health of an individual (Green, 2010). Before an organization such as WHO arrives at a conclusion about a given issue, it engages some of the best minds around the world to hold several discussions on that issue (Currie, 2012). Hence, such evidence makes it reasonable to refute the claim that stress is a positive determinant of health. However, this classification is not sufficient to arrive at such a conclusion. This is because other researchers suggest that the stress, in some ways, contributes positively to the well-being of an individual. Firstly, let us focus on some research that supports this ideology. The father of stress research, Hans Seley, defines the term as a nonspecific reaction of the body to a deficit found in it. He reveals that the body can respond to certain physical, mental and psychological demands. Additionally, he classifies stress into two broad categories, including beneficial stress (eustress) and destructive stress (distress). He claims that eustress drives individuals to aspire for more achievement; consequently, it adds an essence to life by motivating the struggle for justice. It enables people to achieve their dreams in life and acts by pushing them to realize their potential by working toward that (Macdonald, 2010). In summary, positive stress helps individuals to adapt, fight, grow, develop, and grow. Secondly, all life occurrences cause a certain level of stress, including the constructive ones. They include falling in love, winning a game, and celebrating marriage among others. Hence, the challenge posed by a new event generates a stimulation that benefits a given individual’s life. It propels one to take lifetime risks that define their destiny. Moreover, research shows that lack of stress leads to boredom and low self-esteem. For that reason, lack of stress might lead to low motivation (Bambra, Gibson, Sowden, Wright, Whitehead, & Petticrew, 2010). British scientists propose that this kind of stress stimulates the production of hormones in the brain, which promote learning. However, the research is still ongoing to substantiate these proposals. The above information shows that stress is important in the general well-being of an individual. It brings an individual’s inner potential to the surface forcing them to act on it. In the end, it changes the life outlook of that person. Consequently, the positive impacts of stress define the social, political, and economic status of an individual with little or no contribution on an individual’s health. However, the research done so far is not efficient enough to categorize stress under positive determinants of health. It is appropriate to classify it under positive influences of personality and creativity, but not under positive influences of health (Sim & Mackie, 2012). Additionally, only short-term experiences of stress have a positive influence on personality; long term incidents of stress tend to affect one’s health negatively. The second part of this paper provides research evidence of how stress affects health on a long-term basis. Stress as a Negative Social Determinant of Stress Research shows that, long-term exposure to stress causes devastating effects to the body and the mind of an individual. In addition, recent findings show that even little stress can cause negative impacts to the body such as stomach aches. The negative effects of stress on the body depend on the triggering factors. Sudden mental stress factors such as anger may lead to heart attacks, angina, arrhythmias, and sometimes, sudden death. However, instant deaths are more common among patients suffering from heart problems (Butler-Jones, 2012). The unfortunate thing is that many persons hardly realize it when they are experiencing chronic stress. Their situation only becomes evident when chronic stress has developed into acute stress, which mostly leads to life threatening conditions like heart attacks. The moment that stressful matters interfere with one’s normal life, the deterioration of their health becomes evident (Thoits, 2011). Chronic stress can worsen an already existing problem in the body. In a recent study, the participants improved drastically from chronic stress after learning how to control the triggers of stress (Nguyen, 2012). The triggers included negative thoughts and pain. For this reason, stress is a more of a negative social determinant of health. This section analyzes stress as a social negative determinant of health based on several considerations supported by scientific research (Stroebe, 2011). According to recent scientific reports, stress affects the health of an individual in two ways: physiologically and psychologically. Firstly, it is clear that the human body is built to withstand a given degree of stress. When the stress surpasses this level, it becomes distress, a negative stress stimulus (Karelina & Devries, 2011). Distress leads to mild health symptoms such as stomach aches, headaches, and chest pains; sometimes, it degenerates into worse conditions such as high blood pressure and insomnia. Relieving stress by abusing drugs or engaging in alcoholism only aggravates the situation. Research findings portray that about 43% of the adult population suffers adverse health conditions caused by stress (Moniz, 2010). On the other hand, 90% of the doctor’s visits have a connection with stress and other related ailments. Some of the related problems include anxiety, hypertension, asthma, skin problems, diabetes, depression, and headaches. These examples are enough to portray that stress has negative effects on the general health of an individual. Moreover, the situation becomes worse if the stress persists for a long time. Secondly, the evolution of stress in the past millennium has helped protect individuals from imminent attacks and dangers, but not without negative outcomes (Hoyt, Chase-Lansdale, Mcdade, & Adam, 2012). This is commonly referred to as ‘flight-or-fight reaction.’ It prepares the body for immediate action. It does so by activating the hypothalamus part of the brain that triggers the adrenal glands that produce the cortisol hormone. In turn, the hormone elevates the blood pressure and sugar in the body. The accumulation of sugar prepares the body for instantaneous action. At first, it looks like a positive impact on the health, but high concentrations of cortisol increase a person’s craving for food. The hormone attaches to the brain receptors that control the desire for food. High production of cortisol is more prominent in individuals with a high body mass index. It endangers the health of an individual by promoting obesity; consequently, the high intake of food links stress to weight gain among healthy individuals (Montgomery, Brown, & Forchuk, 2011). An assistant professor of medicine, Philip Hagen, who works at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, explains that during stress periods, individuals eat poorly, but the hormone cortisol elevates the quantity of the fat withheld by the body. This situation is characterized by the enlargement of the abdomen (belly fat). From this aspect, it is appropriate to deduce that stress acts as one of the negative social determinants of health in an individual (Prattala & Puska, 2012). Thirdly, there is evidence that links heart attacks to stress. However, there is no enough research to support this particular connection. A recent employee study conducted in Europe involving 200,000 participants revealed that people who experience a lot of stress at work have a 23% higher chance of getting a heart attack. For this reason, stress increases one’s chances of experiencing heart related ailments. If the victim already has a heart problem, a sudden heart attack may lead to sudden death (Young & Mcgrath, 2011). Fourthly, research shows that the stress stimulates hyper-arousal. Hyper-arousal is a biological state whereby an individual does not feel the urge to sleep. Prolonged periods of lack of sleep result in insomnia. Insomnia declines once the person recovers from the stress they are undergoing, but if it persists, they may suffer from sleep disorders. In addition, if the body does not get enough rest, it fails to perform its normal functions appropriately. As a result, the individual loses morale in doing anything constructive (Karvonen, 2010). This affects the physical health of the individual. Some of the symptoms linked to sleepless life include severe headaches and muscle pains. Since insomnia, which is caused by stress, destroys an individual’s physical health, it is appropriate to consider stress as negative social determinant of health (Kwag, Martin, Russell, Franke, & Kohut, 2011). According to Shonkoff et al. (2011), stress causes vasodilatation of blood vessels due to the high production of adrenaline hormones (cortisol and epinephrine), which leads to high tension in vesicles. High tension in blood vesicles results in severe migraines and intense headaches. Finally, the increased production of cortisol due to stress obstructs the normal functionality of the brain. It prevents the brain from storing new information. In addition, stress negatively affects the neurotransmitter (the biochemicals that brain cells use for communication), which leads to reduced coordination and memory failure (Kawachi & Takao, 2013). The brain fails to create new links within its cells. This effect is more prevalent in the hippocampus part of the brain, the section charged with the responsibility of controlling the memory. The brain scan images of individuals suffering from long-term posttraumatic stress reveal a shrunken hippocampus (Raphael, 2011). An individual with a small hippocampus lacks the ability to focus, plan, learn, and respond decisively. Recent findings show that stress affects the brain more than any part of the human body (Dudgeon, 2010; Gupta, 2012). The negative feedback originates from the brain and travels to the entire body. The high production of hormones by the brain due to stress may kill its cells. New research evidence based on experimental animals shows that high levels of glucorticoids lead to the death of brain cells. The scientists perceive that the same thing may occur in humans. However, British scientists discovered that it takes the right amount of the same hormones to rejuvenate the memory of an individual with a shrunken hippocampus; although the research may show that stress has a positive impact on the brain, it is still ongoing to understand fully, how that happens (Ballenger, 2012). Just like the brain, muscles tense when an individual undergoes severe stress. High tension in the muscles may promote health disorders. It escalates more during chronic stress, which leads to muscle pains in the several parts of the body. Stress affects the respiratory system in a way that makes an individual experience breathing difficulties (Braveman, Egerter, & Williams, 2010). The effect is worse in individuals with conditions such as asthma, emphysema, and other lung diseases. Studies suggest that sudden stress caused by the loss of a loved one may activate asthmatic attacks. In addition, stress causes an increased rate of breathing due to hyperventilation, which may cause a panic attack in some individuals. The gastrointestinal system represents another part of the body affected by stress apart from the respiratory system. Stress affects the way individuals consume their food. Hence, it may lead to an acid imbalance in the stomach, which may cause heartburn and nausea sensations. Hence, stress affects the normal process of digestion, which leads to poor absorption of nutrients in the body. Stress causes more negative impacts than positive impacts. Hence it is a negative social determinant of health (Macdonald, 2010). Conclusion The World Health Organization (WHO) lists stress among the ten factors that determine the health of an individual. In this case, the organization lists stress as a negative social determinant of health alongside other factors that include unemployment, social exclusion, addiction, food, social gradient, and transport among others. The negative impacts of stress on health outweigh its positive ones, making it a negative social determinant of health. The circumstances that lead to stress include both psychological and social factors. The persistence of these circumstances leads to prolonged stress that causes significant damage to the health of an individual. Consequently, it may result in serious ailments and in the worst case scenario, premature death. Negative stressors include continuous nervousness, home life, social exclusion, lack of self-control, and insecurity among others. Stress is prevalent in individuals who make up the lower categories of the social classes in industrialized countries. These factors do not only affect the physical health, but they also compromise the functionality of the immune and cardiovascular systems as well as the brain. In conclusion, short-term impacts of stress have a positive influence on the life of an individual, but not on their health. 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