How can stress affect people in the modern society?

It is undeniable that everyone experiences stress in our daily lives especially in this modern society where there are existence of unlimited uncertainties. Stress are in two forms, short term which is useful and long term also known as chronic stress which can cause a lot of problems to human. According to Blaug, Kenyon, & Lekhi (2007) “Modern definitions of stress share a number of essential ingredients. They all, to a greater or lesser extent, recognize that stress is a personal experience, caused by pressure or demands and impacts upon the individual’s ability to cope or, at least, his/her perception of that ability” (p. 15). Abstracted from The Telegraph (2012), there are increasing numbers of people suffering from stress, solely in England, the number of people treated in hospitals for stress related illness have risen by seven per cent in the year to May. Hence stress especially chronic stress, can affect our health significantly in terms of our heart, immune system and reproduction functions.

Our heart, which is one of the first physiological parts in our body that is affected by stress, can lead to several negative health effects. The negative health effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure. In addition, when the stress level rises for an extended period of time, it will become what is said to be chronic stress that can cause plaques to accumulate in the arteries and block the blood flow, this is known as, atherosclerosis which can over time result in fatal illnesses such as heart attacks, stroke and even take away the life of the person (Olive, 2007, p. 14). Referring to a press release by Grant Thornton International (2006) “in 30 countries around the world shows that 57% of all business owners reported higher stress, compared to 39% in 2004, and just 6% felt their stress levels had gone down.” Hence even the bosses are feeling the stress, subordinates whom have the stress of their work and in addition the authority stress from their bosses, with prolonged over a period of time, chronic stress will arise and eventually cost the health of everyone especially in this modern society whereby pace are much faster, competitions are harder and ideal result is of the utmost importance.

Chronic stress can also cause the functions of our immune system to be less effective and cost us our health due to the production of stress hormones and the ability of it to defend against infections, viruses and cancers. Stress hormone, Cortisol can cause the immune cells to shift outside of the bloodstream and into the tissues when the immune cells are supposed to do their work to immune the person from infections and viruses (Olive, 2007, p. 16). According to an investigation done on 75 first year medical student, the result reflects that stress, such as that of examination, indeed reduces the effectiveness of our immune system (McLeod, 2010). This can also explain why we are more susceptible to be falling sick during our examination periods like getting the cold virus. Stress is also impactful when it comes to defending against cancers. A landmark research done by Dr. David Spiegel of Stanford University, published in 1989 which conclude that women with breast cancer can live longer if social and psychological support was provided to them than those without supports (Holmes). Support is significant because it helps to reduce the stress of facing the health challenges alone meaning if more support were received, the stress of the patients will also be lowered. As quoted from a scientific review by Padgett & Glaser (2003), “It is now widely accepted that stressful life events can impact the health of an individual, including immunological health” (p. 447). Therefore, it is unavoidable to be relating stress as a cause for our immune system functions to be decreasing particularly in this ever advancing society.

Our reproduction health is also another victim of chronic stress as it can cause an individual of both genders to lose their “sex drive”, due to changes of hormones level and also cause ovarian dysfunction leading to infertility in females (Talbott, 2007, p. 101) (Vliet, 2003, p.127). According to a book by Talbott (2007), when individuals are under stress for a prolonged period of time, for the females, their hormones such as oestrogen and progesterone level will drop causing the uterine lining to stay rudimentary leading to their menstrual cycles to be abnormal or even stop totally. This will result in ovarian dysfunction whereby the female will be unable to ovulate and hence becoming infertile (p. 103). Referred from a book by Sapolsky (2004), while male due to the long term stress, they will have problem with erections and also produces less testosterone thus losing their “sex drive” and causing less sperms to be produced and therefore unable to be as fertile as someone who experiences less stress or shorter term of stress (p.9). Hence it is very evident that chronic stress can cause us to secrete more hormones than what is needed, thus able to stimulate our reproduction health to the critical stage of infertility.

So, how to prevent ourselves to becoming a victim of stress or most importantly chronic stress especially in this modern society? Take a vacation! We will be surprised with how much happier and healthier we will feel! Or just pay attention to our surroundings, relax and even slow down our pace of life, do not overestimate our ability and stress ourselves unnecessarily. The health of ours is within us to control, if we do not take charge of our own health and let stress on the loose then our heart, immune system and reproduction health will be at risk and will even cost us our life.

References:

• WebMD (2011, April 20). Stress Management-Effects of Stress. WebMD - Better information. Better health. Retrieved December 12, 2012, from http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/stress-management-effects-of-stress
• Blaug, R., Kenyon, A., & Lekhi, R. (2007, February). Stress at Work. The Work Foundation | Home. Retrieved December 10, 2012, from http://www.theworkfoundation.com/downloadpublication/report/69_69_stress_at_work.pdf
• Telegraph Reporters (2012, September 12). More people suffering from stress - Telegraph.Telegraph.co.uk - Telegraph online, Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph - Telegraph. Retrieved December 12, 2012, from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/9536841/More-people-suffering-from-stress.html
• Olive, M. F. (2007). Health effects of chronic stress. In C. Collins (Ed.). Child abuse and stress disorders (pp. 14-17). New York, USA: Chelsea House.
• Grant Thornton International (2006). Business leaders: stress levels increased by 50 per cent in 2005. Grant Thornton IBR. Retrieved December 13, 2012, from http://www.internationalbusinessreport.com/Press-room/2006/stress-international-press-release.asp
• McLeod, S. (2010). Stress and the Immune System. Simply Psychology - Articles for A level and Degree Students. Retrieved December 13, 2012, from http://www.simplypsychology.org/stress-immune.html
• Holmes, L. (n.d.). Breast Cancer Patients who get Group Therapy Live Longer. Mental Health - Information on Mental Health. Retrieved December 13, 2012, from http://mentalhealth.about.com/library/weekly/aa100200a.htm
• Padgett, D. A., & Glaser, R. (2003, August). How stress influences the immune response.TRENDS in Immunology. Retrieved December 14, 2012, from http://www.direct-ms.org/sites/default/files/Stress%20and%20immunity.pdf
• Vliet, E. L. (2003). Ovaries at Risk: Toxic Effects of Cigarettes, Alcohol, Marijuana, and Other Drugs. In It's my ovaries, stupid! (p. 127). New York, USA: Scribner.
• Talbott, S. M. (2007). The Relationship between Stress and Disease. In The cortisol connection: Why stress makes you fat and ruins your health--and what you can do about it (2nd ed., p. 101-103). Alameda, CA: Hunter House.
• Sapolsky, R. M. (2004). Why Don't Zebras Get Ulcers? In Why zebras don't get ulcers(3rd ed., p. 9). Retrieved from http://www.g2gfitness-mma-ccoach-sthqld.com/resources/Sapolsky%20why%20Zebras%20don't%20get%20ulcers.pdf.

Signing off, 

Evelyn