Chronic Stress in Terms of Health Psychology - Essay Example

Chronic Stress in Terms of Health Psychology al affiliation In modern society chronic stress became a part of lives of many people. This is a serious social issue which requires due attention. Health psychology, whose aim is to maintain public health and general well-being, acknowledges chronic stress to be a basis for serious emotional, mental, and physical disorders. To release a person from chronic stress means to make them healthier and happier. The influence of chronic stress over human organism is really harmful. At the same time, hardly any people realize it. Instead of attempts to remove the chronic stressor a lot of people try to treat its symptoms. Chronic stress may reveal itself in a number of different ways. As a rule, people under chronic stress indulge in coffee, smoking, alcohol, and sweets. However, some people are endangered by insomnia, heart attacks, strokes, and even cancer. It would be wrong to separate the human mind and the body. They may be considered one entity. Human body may be an indicator of the level of stress a person suffers. The way human mind adapts to stress is specific as well. A lot of people tend to resort to defense mechanisms. It turns communication with them into a really difficult process. However, people under chronic stress do require help. The task of health psychology is to provide it. Key words: health psychology; chronic stress; emotional, mental, and physical disorders; adaptation. Chronic Stress in Terms of Health Psychology It is possible to observe a comparatively recent tendency in the sphere of stress investigation. A lot of scientists tend to investigate stress in terms of health psychology, the study of psychological and behavioral processes in health, illness, and healthcare, as defined by Dr. Marie Johnston (Johnston, 1994). Attention of health psychology is focused on a number of factors, primarily psychological, exerting influence over somatic and psychological health of a person throughout his or her life cycle. When it comes to chronic stress issues, it is possible to distinguish several research trends, typical of health psychology. First of all, it is necessary to find out how chronic stress influences human health and disease progression. It is established that long-lasting stresses exert much more destructive effects in comparison to acute, but short-term stresses (APA, 2012). Studies in psychosomatic medicine emphasize the influence of emotional and psychological stresses in course of pathogenic mechanisms. Stress aspects are as influential as the general lifestyle of a person. One of the central tasks of health psychology is to find out how to cope with stress. (The British Psychological Society, 2011). Attention is focused on the way social support and relationships with people may help a person go through stressful situations. Another task of health psychology is to investigate how stress reveals itself within different spheres of life.  For example, chronic professional stress is a widespread occurrence. Emotional burnout syndrome is considered to be one of the most serious consequences of chronic stress. Acute stresses may also factor into the development of EBS, but chronic stresses exert decisive influence. Health psychology also tends to investigate how microstresses influence psychological and emotional state of a person. It is proven that people hardly ever realize the harmful influence of everyday stressors, though negative feelings keep accumulating. Besides, microstresses may make it difficult for a person to cope with more serious stressful situations, including macrostress and chronic stress. Finally, the task of health psychology is to elaborate programs of stress management. They usually include the analysis of lifestyle, time-management, level of self-esteem, ability to relax, and so on. Thus, Dr. Melanie Greenberg, a clinical and health psychologist, insists that it is much easier to control the level of stress in our lives than most people tend to think (Greenberg, 2010). If to take into consideration how typical of modern society chronic stress is, it becomes clear that such programs are vitally important. That is why a number of methods are currently being elaborated in order to reduce harmful results of stresses, especially chronic ones. In general, stress is a natural part of life which sometimes may be quite useful. It is proven that small amounts of stress may even be healthy. It is possible to distinguish three stages of stress influence over human body, known as general adaptive syndrome. The first one, alarm reaction, may be quite healthy. Stress makes an organism activate its defense mechanisms and energy reserves. Scientists have proven that the activity of adrenal cortex, hypophysis, and hypothalamus increases in stressful situations. A large amount of hormones is added into a person’s blood. Our bodies release adrenaline. It is also possible to observe muscle tense and fast heartbeat. All of this helps our body keep in tone. Immune system is also activated. Organs of the immune system produce more leucocytes, interferons, and immunoglobulins. That is why a person under stress needs less time to sleep and less food. At the same time, human organism may easily resist illnesses. The moment stressful situation disappears, human body comes back to normal state. Unless stressor is not removed, human body comes to the second stage of adaptation, resistance. This stage always accompanies chronic stresses, which exhaust defense mechanisms of an organism – a person feels sleepy and hungry and becomes vulnerable to infections. Chronic stress means that a person is no longer able to solve even a miserable problem. Our body secretes further hormones that increase blood sugar levels to sustain energy and raise blood pressure (HolisticOnline, 2007). That is how body responds to long-lasting protection. It is clear that the influence of chronic stress is much more harmful. This is the grinding stress that wears people away day after day, year after year (APA, 2012). First of all, chronic stress strongly influences human nervous system, which is constantly agitated. It may become a reason of nervous behavior, impatience, and insomnia. In order to defend from constant environmental stressors human body needs additional stimulators, such as dopamine and spirerone. Thus, coffee was acknowledged the most widely used psychoactive drug in the world. People suffering chronic stress tend to smoke a lot. Besides, adequate functioning of human brain requires glucose, that is why people under chronic stress usually tend to overindulge in sweets. Continuous stress eventually reduces the efficiency of human brain, even despite stimulators. It may lead to even stronger tension of the nervous system. This is the third stage, exhaustion. On this stage human body runs out of its reserves of immunity and energy. The level of sugar in blood sufficiently decreases. Cells of brain nervous structure start to exhaust. Mental and emotional resources suffer as well. Such a state may give rise to a number of psychological disorders. A person may suffer panic attacks, hysterics, emotional lability, and depressions. Some people even make suicide attempts. Thus, the influence of chronic stress over human body may be quite different. However, according to Dr. Jane Ogden, a professor in health psychology at Surrey University, there is much variability in the link between stress and illness (Ogden, 2007). It is possible to prevent such disastrous conditions and preserve normal functioning of nervous system even under the conditions of chronic stress. Health psychologists sometimes recommend their patients to take antianxiety drugs. On the one hand, they may reduce the level of productivity of a person. On the other hand, they help maintain normal brain function and peace of mind. Sleep schedule is vitally important under the conditions of chronic stress. A person is recommended to sleep at least 7 hours. Sometimes people under chronic stress suffer insomnia. Psychologists provide them with a number of simple, but effective recommendations. It is sometimes enough just to take a warm shower and get rid of all the irritative factors (such as lights, noise, and vibration). A comfortable bed is also important – it should not be too soft. Healthy sleep also requires optimal temperature. Specialists also recommend abstaining from food. All of this is really important since bad nights sleep may redouble the influence of stress factors. However, not only nervous system is negatively influenced by the effects of chronic stress. People under chronic stress often suffer various digestive disorders. An imbalanced nervous system is considered to be one of the main reasons of gastritis. It disturbs the innervation of the gastric mucosa and gastric juice production. Besides, stresses may cause enterospasms and constipation. As a result, stomach walls become covered with ulcers. This is another reason of gastritis. What is more, chronic stress may become a reason of heart problems. It is known to be one of the widest-spread reasons of heart attacks. An acute stressful situation may become the last straw for a person suffering chronic stress. Such people are especially endangered. In this case even a minor worry may become a reason of heart attack. Among other reasons of heart attacks there are smoking, indulging in alcohol and sweets, excess weight. As it was mentioned, all these things accompany chronic stress. Chronic stress weakens abilities of an organism to resist different infections and diseases. Immune system becomes totally exhausted on late phases of chronic stress, though it is quite active at the beginning. Thus, chronic stress, smoking, unhealthy diet, and ecological factors may seriously damage immune system of a person. Chronic stress is especially dangerous in combination with alcohol and drugs. They may give an illusion of an inflated relaxation. A person may think that his or her problems have been solved. However, this is wrong. There is a danger that a person under chronic stress may become addicted to drugs or alcohol. It makes such people twice more difficult to help. A lot of people suffering chronic stress really need help of a specialist. Although t is wrong to think that a specialist may help a person solve his or her problems, a professional may help their patients develop an alternative view of a problem. Health psychologists, as well as representatives of other psychology branches, pay much attention to the way people adapt to chronic stress. Investigation of chronic stress and adaptation is inextricably connected with the fact that the number of stressful situations an ordinary person faces has considerably increased for the last years. The issue is especially acute if to take into consideration those people who suffer from the consequences of natural disasters and industrial catastrophes. The process of adaptation a person goes through is much longer in such extreme situations than in ordinary ones. However, extreme situations and their consequences make a person develop specific skills for adaptation in any situation. Lasting consequence of traumatic events may result into chronic posttraumatic stress disorder, a serious psychological injury. Another source of chronic stress is inadequate social conditions. Continuous conflicts of the Middle East and Eastern Europe may be a good example. Thus, it is crucially important to investigate the course of adaptation for chronic stress, though it is less studied than the way people adapt to acute stresses. The most dangerous thing about chronic stress is that a person may just forget it exists and get used to it. It may not happen if to talk about acute stresses. They are always new for a person, that is why he or she becomes immediately aware of them. However, chronic stresses are often ignored just because they seem to be old and familiar. A person may sometimes even find them comfortable. Human ability to adapt to any circumstances may even be called harmful from this point of view. Thus, physical and mental resources are depleted through long-term attrition, that is why chronic stresses are so difficult to treat (APA, 2012). A person has a risk to die of heart attack, stroke, and even cancer or to become a victim of suicide unless they receive timely assistance of a specialist. Another danger of chronic stress is that a person may start to treat its symptoms. Not so many people actually realize their origin. Human body and health may be an indicator of the level of stress a person suffers. In fact, it is true that the body and the mind are one entity. It is wrong to think they are separate. That is why stress cannot be considered emotional and mental only. And that is the reason why the response to both physical and emotional stress is the same. In fact, chronic stress is usually not so intense, though it makes an individual feel tense all the time. In other words, chronic stress demands constant adaptation from a person. Human mind and body are just forced to adapt to more and more stressful conditions. As it was mentioned, it may become a reason of various psychological disorders. Mind is getting exhausted just because a person tries to be prepared for any dangerous situation, even if it is unlikely to occur. It is worthy to mention that people under chronic stress are difficult to communicate with because they often resort to defense mechanisms. “If the stress is sufficiently prolonged and the person perceives no solutions or alternatives, the resort to defense mechanisms can take on harmful dimensions”, states Dr. Joe D. Wheeler, an American psychologist (Wheeler, 2003). As defined by Wheeler, among the most commonly recognized there are repression, regression, projection/introjection, reaction formation, displacement, attribution, rationalization, sublimation/displacement and misattribution or excessive optimism. For instance, those people who resort to repression prefer not to be aware of their problems. People just tend to block and forget unpleasant information, though its emotional, motive, autonomic, and psychosomatic markers are still present. That is why a person may say “I do not actually need it” or “It is not interesting for me” just in order to explain his or her failure. That is what reveals negative emotional marking. Another example is regression. Those who resort to this defense mechanism try to forget the actual motives of their actions. In other words, a person forgets the reason of an event, but not the event itself. The genuine motive is replaced by a false one, both for the self and for people around. Thus, communication with people under stress may be really difficult. A psychologist should follow both verbal and nonverbal communication methods. For instance, during conversation with a person who suffering chronic stress it is necessary to lean a little bit forward. It will encourage them to continue the dialogue. The issue of chronic stress is really important in terms of health psychology since one of its main tasks is to promote general well-being and understand physical illness (The British Psychological Society, 2011). Therefore, to release a person from a chronic stress would mean to make him or her healthier and happier. In other words, one of the aims of health psychology would be achieved. References American Psychological Association (2012). Stress, the Different Kinds of Stress. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-kinds.aspx Greenberg, M. (2010). Handbook of Health Psychology and Behavioral Medicine (1st ed.). NY: The Guilford Press. HolisticOnline. (2007). Our Body’s Reaction to Stress. [Data file]. Retrieved from http://holisticonline.com/stress/stress_GAS.htm Johnston, M. (1994). Current trends in Health Psychology. The Psychologist, 7, 114-118. Ogden, J. (2007). Health Psychology: a textbook (4th ed.). NY: McGraw-Hill. The British Psychological Society. (2011). What is health psychology? A guide for the public. Wheeler D. Joe. (2003). Chronic Stress and Coping with Denial. Retrieved from http://members.shaw.ca/vicjoe/Chronic_Stress_and_Coping.html Read More