Stress and Its Impact on Body and Human Behavior

Question: Discuss about theStress and Its Impact on Body and Human Behavior. Answer: Introduction Stress can be considered as a particular type of mental tension and worry which is caused by problems in life, work etc. It is actually something that causes strong feeling of worry or anxiety. It is quite common and natural human response to pressure, it is caused when the people face with challenging and dangerous situations in life. Stress can be caused not only the external factors, also by internal factors like the demands which we face on ourselves. Stress also contribute to the increase in our conscious level and will increase our alertness and energy to meet the challenging situations. Stress is helpful when it leaves us feeling fatigues, tense, anxious, burnt out or overwhelmed. Stress can be both positive as well as negative. It do possess effect on both the body and the mind. Stress stimulates the body and the mind and will release in hormones and adrenaline to cope with the increases pressure and the prevailing external conditions (Vanderkolk, 2012). Whenever the body is under the stress, there will be response in the form of release of hormones as well as in the form of increasing the heart and the breathing rates. Whenever stressed, the brain will get more oxygen and will give you an edge and higher conscious to deal with the situation. If the chronic stress persists, the person will be subjected to the irritability, anxiety as well as depression. It is also possible that the person may suffer from headaches as well as insomnia when subjected to prolonged stress. Sometimes stress in a person will result in some behaviors such as overeating in the human beings, also it will result in symptoms like not eating at all. Problems such as alcohol usage, drug abuse and social with drawl are also some of the consequences of the human beings getting subjected to stress (Lovallo, 2015). Figure 1 Impact of stress on human body Effect of stress and the subsequent symptoms that which evolve in people will change from time to time. Some of the symptoms may be more impactive and other symptoms may be less impactive however more or less most of the stress related ailments in human beings will result in adverse health effects like head aches, high blood pressure, heart related problems, diabetes and skin conditional problems as well as breathing related ailments like asthma, arthritis depression and anxiety (Glaser, 2014). Central nervous system (CNS) is in charge of your fight or flight response. When a human body is subjected to stress, CNS will inform the body what to do, marshalling all the resources to the cause. Typical reaction of the CNS can be to let the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol. CNS facilitates normal operation of the systems, once the perceived stress is complete. If a human body is chronically exposed to the stress, it is more likely that there can be irritability, anxiety and depression to the subject. Respiratory system will get excited when exposed to the severe stress conditions. The breathing rate will increase due to the stress. Also it is possible that the heart will pump the blood at much faster rate. Stress hormones will cause your blood vessels to constrict and will result in hike in blood pressure. This will let the brain to get more oxygen to provide more strength and energy to the body to take an action. Digestive system will provide extra blood sugar t o give a boost of energy to the body. Chronic stress is also responsible for the cause of diabetes II in human beings, due to surge of glucose in the blood (Fisher, 2013). Chronic stresses will result in muscle contraction and subsequent problems like head ache, body and stomach pains. Excess stress exposure will elevate the male hormone release in men, chronic release of excess male hormones will result in erectile dysfunction and even impotence in men. For women more painful menstrual cycle may result in. Immune system will become weakened in people subjected to frequent stress and it will result in making them more prone to contagious diseases and infections (Thoits, 2013). Figure 2 Stress and its effect on body- behavior- emotions -mind Stress do have intensive effect on the human emotions, which will possess effect on the human behavior as well (Carlson, 2016). Typical problems which the person faces with emotions are loss of positive outlook, results in losing confidence, Individual will become highly susceptible to irritation, there will be accompanying depression for the person all the time, Individual will be apathetic towards external happenings. Always livers in detachment and will show derogated interest in the surrounding happenings, Also there will be remarked alienation and continuous apprehension. Whatever may be the causes of the stresses in individuals the impact of the stresses on human emotions is same. The immediate consequence of excess stress exposure is loss of healthy relations in the family and the surroundings and which will further contribute to the increase in the stress levels in the individuals (Lovallo, 2015). Stress will impact human beings behavior considerably. It will result in overeating or under-eating of human beings. Frequent exposure to the stress will result in angry outburst of the people. People may succumb to the drug or alcohol abuse with chronic stress exposure. Also there are fair chances for people to succumb to the tobacco usage. Psychologically people will get depressed and they will succumb to the social withdrawal. Other behavioral changes include reduction in the frequency of the exercises in daily life (Wilson, 2013). Long term exposure to the stress will have visibly distinct changes in the patterns of the human behavior, people will start feeling worrying and anxious, they often feel themselves out of control and overwhelmed, they may experience frequent changes in the mood, difficulties in concentration, unrest as well irritability, defensiveness, irrationality, sometimes unnecessary overreaction all are results of the long term stress exposure in human beings. Sometimes human beings develop irrational fears like physical illness, natural disasters like thunderstorms, earth quakes and even feel terrified of ordinary situations like heights and small spaces (Seaword, 2013). Chronic stress exposure in human beings will result in bipolar disorder. This is also a type of manic depression or bipolar affective disorder, which will result in dramatic shifts in the moods of the people, results in the variation of the energy levels and enthusiasm from time to time. This will also result in the changes in the behavior of the people from the highs of mania (one pole) to the lows of major depression (the opposite pole). Bipolar mood disorder in the people with increase with time and the intensity also increase with time becoming more and more severe. Chronically stressed people will experience loss of concentration, trouble in learning and understanding new information as well they will also possess problems in making decisions (Selve, 2013). Some of the other general characteristic traits of the stressed people are, decreased interest in the appearance, decreased concern with the punctuality, obsessive or compulsive behavior, reduced work efficiency and productivity, unnecessary defensiveness or suspicious ness in human beings, problems in communication, frequent isolation and social withdrawal, impulsive characteristics like impulse buying, gambling, sexual behavior etc. all symptoms of mentally stressed human beings(Koslowski,2013). Modern lifestyle and associated pressures in human beings calling upon consistent exposure to the physical and mental stresses in the human beings. Actually the stress in human beings will result in several physical and mental ailments to the human beings. People if they are alert towards the physical and mental symptoms of the human beings then naturally then necessary precautions need to be taken to reduce unwanted stress on the mental and physical conditions of the human beings. For example aches and pains in the human beings, diarrhea or constipation, nausea and dizziness, chest pain, rapid heartbeat, loss of sex drive, frequent cold or flu are some of the several physical symptoms which the people will be subjected to and necessary precautionary steps need to be taken in that regard. Once evidently if is clear that you are exposed to stress, the first and the immediately necessary step that we need to take is stress management. There are spectrum of techniques and psychotherapie s possible to control the level of stress in people particularly the chronic stresses. As a tool for stress managing, one should involve in more moving activities, moving of the bodies, limbs will increase the blood circulation and will result in better capability to the human beings to face the stress (Driskell, 2013). Being socially involved with people will result in better social IQ as well will contribute to the emotional health, adapt to the stressor, adapt to the things that cannot or will not be changed, take time for outgoing and fun and happiness are some of the several things which one should consider to cope themselves with the stress. Health lifestyle with minimum usage of caffeine, sugar, no to tobacco, drugs and alcohol coupled with healthy diet will result in better capabilities for human beings to face the stress. Apart from better physical routines and emotional betterment exercises, there are several other techniques. References: Carlson, N. R. (2016). Physiology of behavior. Pearson. Driskell, J. E., Salas, E. (Eds.). (2013). Stress and human performance. Psychology Press. Fisher, S. (2015). Stress and strategy. Routledge. Glaser, R., Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (Eds.). (2014). Handbook of human stress and immunity. Academic Press. Lovallo, W. R. (2015). Stress and health: Biological and psychological interactions.Sage publications. M., Kluger, A. N., Reich, M. (2013). Commuting stress: Causes, effects, and methods of coping. Springer Science Business Media. Selye, H. (2013). Stress in health and disease. Butterworth-Heinemann. Seaward, B. L. (2013). Managing stress. Jones Bartlett Publishers. Thoits, P. A. (2013). Self, identity, stress, and mental health. In Handbook of the sociology of mental health (pp. 357-377). Springer Netherlands. Van der Kolk, B. A., McFarlane, A. C. (Eds.). (2012). Traumatic stress: The effects of overwhelming experience on mind, body, and society. Guilford Press. Wilson, J. P., Raphael, B. (Eds.). (2013). International handbook of traumatic stress syndromes. Springer Science Business Media.