This research paper explains stress and its causes and cures.
research paper will attempt to determine whether there is an effective way to
cure stress. Stress is an integral part of life. The complete absence of any
stress results in death. Stress plays a key role in daily life, influencing - if
not governing - happiness, productivity and health. Stress is known to cause
various psychiatric disorders involving anxiety and depression, including
posttraumatic stress disorder, major depression, generalized anxiety, and
multiple personality disorders.This research will also attempt to explain ways
to cure the illness's caused by Stress. The more stress one puts on thereselves
the weaker one's immune system becomes. With a weakened immune system we become
susceptible to disease and injury. Stress is an adaptive response. It's the
body's reaction to an event that is seen as emotionally disturbing, disquieting,
or threatening. To prepare for an event, the body increases its heart rate and
blood pressure; more blood is then sent to your heart and muscles, and your
respiration rate increases. . In the first stage of stress, alarm, the body
mobilizes its "fight or flight" defenses, either to resist the
stress-causing factor or adapt to it. In this stage, the pituitary-adrenocortical
system pours hormones into the bloodstream. The pulse quickens, the lungs take
in more oxygen to fuel the muscles, blood sugar increases to supply added
energy, digestion slows, and perspiration increases. In the second stage of
stress, resistance, the body begins to repair the incidental damage caused by
the arousal in the alarm stage. If the stressful situation is resolved, the
stress symptoms vanish. If the stressful situation continues, however, a third
stage, exhaustion, sets in, and the body's adaptive energy runs out. This stage
can continue until some vital organs are affected, and then disease or even
death can occur. There are three types of stress, mental, physical, chemical.
These different variations of stress all cause similar effects to one's body.
Each of these stresses can come from many sources. Most of these have appeared
as a primary threat in our environment. Mental stress occurs from a shock as
severe as the death of a loved one or from a simple thing like a faulty alarm
clock making one late for work. Physical stress on the body can be caused by
anything from not getting adequate sleep to a severe whiplash injury from a car
accident. In addition, there is a chemical stress which may come from
environmental pollution, the side affects of medications or even consumption of
overly refined food. Compounding all this is the tension cycle, in which mental
stress triggers physical stress or vice versa, leading to a downward spiral of
health and happiness and an increasingly painful series of symptoms. Mental
stress and Physical Stress are linked due to the fact that if one has mental
stress it can cause physical stress. Man's response to psychological stress
differs little from sources of potential physical harm (i.e., with surges of
adrenaline, a rise in blood pressure and heart rate, and a 4x increase in blood
flow to the muscles needed to fight or run away.) Physical symptoms may include
a headache, upset stomach, muscle tension, neck or backache, rapid breathing,
sweaty palms, and exhaustion. Mentally, you may feel distracted, have trouble
concentrating, be illogical or forgetful, or you may have scary thoughts or feel
suspicious. You may become easily irritated and impatient, or you may feel
tense, depressed, angry or alone. You may have difficulty sleeping. Chemical
Stress, however, is cause from manmade substances or objects. our body to make a
certain number and quality of enzymes, antibodies, and hormones. These are the
end products. The raw materials to make these end products come from our foods.
Lack of a suffiecient diet can cause chemical stress. Chemical stress can also
come from pesticides, insecticides, polluted air and water, heavy metals such as
mercury or lead, asbestos and artificial food additives. Stress in general
causes the immune system to weaken to a great extent. There are many health
problems related to diminished immune systems including allergies and
susceptibility to different diseases such as fungus and yeast infections. With
the premature degeneration the stress will cause an acceleration in the aging
and the break down of tissues. Physical consequnces such as cellular damage is
caused by highly unstable molecules called free radicals. Because of the highly
unstable nature of the "free radicals", they can be extremely toxic
and are a primary result of stress that undermine the immune system and threaten
health. Ironically, the body's immune system produces these highly toxic free
radicals in minute amounts because they are essential for the immune system to
remove a virus or bacteria. It is only when high concentration of free radicals
are present, or when the level of free radicals overwhelm the body's ability to
remove them, does a threat to health occur. Maintaining the balance between free
radical activity and antioxidant enzyme supply is one of the important functions
of the body. It is in the cell where free radicals are created and do the most
damage. In the case of the immune system, this random circulation of the free
radicals (molecules with an unpaired electron which is seeking to bind with any
and everything) cause communication break down between the immune system cells
and the body, thus weakening or wiping out some of their signals. Simply put
excess amounts of the free radicals create chemical reactions at the wrong place
at the wrong time causing havoc with the cellular environment. In doing so, the
excess amounts of the free radicals cause break down of the immune systems (i.e.allergic
reaction or auto immune reaction). You may ask then, why would there be excesses
amounts of these free radicals created. It would be easier to consider the fact
that the factors related to release of excess amount of the free radicals are
mostly originated from modern advancements in our society such as chemical
preservatives in the food or the polluted air and water. Then it is simple to
see why so many individuals can not over come the threats posed by germs,
viruses or abnormal cell growth (like cancer). Again, stress (of all types) and
the resultant free radicals are a primary cause in weakening of the immune
system and accelerated degenerative process. There are two kinds of stress. Good
Stress, positive reinforcement for human nature and Bad Stress that causes
diseases. Major causes of stress include illness, job changes, moving,
separations and divorces, deaths in the family, and financial difficulties. But
even joyous events, like marriage, the arrival of a baby, or entertaining
guests, can be stressful. Stress also appears associated with heart disease.
While evidence to date does not suggest that stress management strategies can be
the sole therapy to prevent or treat cardiovascular disease, some stress
reduction techniques, when used regularly, can be a valuable adjunct to other
behavioral, dietary, and medical interventions for reducing the risks of heart
disease.Stress is also related to blood pressure.Tension and hypertension are
not the same thing. Hypertension is the medical term for high blood pressure.
You can have high blood pressure without feeling stressed or tense. However,
continual stress may lead to permanently elevated blood pressure. Stress is also
associated with the the nervous system. We showed that stress activates a group
of noradrenergic neurons in the brainstem that project widely to other regions
of the central nervous system. When these neurons are stimulated by stress, they
release transmitter norepinephrine which, in addition to arousing the brain,
causes the activation of the c-fos gene in the noradrenergic target cells. The
c-fos protein, in turn, is known to activate other genes that may produce
prolonged changes in the function of the brain to stress is a key event in
causing persistent psychiatric disorders following stress.