Stress has been identified as a factor in causing or exacerbating a range of health conditions. Identify two aspects of contemporary life which are said to cause stress and use examples of two stress-related illnesses. Discuss the extent to which increasing levels of stress in modern life are responsible for the deterioration of our general health.
Stress is our body’s reaction to a challenging situation where our physical and psychological systems are under pressure for a short or long while, depending on the nature of challenge or problem. In today’s world where everyone is overworked and has a lot of personal and professional responsibilities, stress has become a common phenomenon. Research suggests that when a person is stressed, his body and brain are involved in reactions and interactions and individuals depict various behaviors depending on the stress of major life events or everyday matters (Bruce 2012). In this paper, two aspects of contemporary life will be discussed which lead to stress and how that generated stress can lead to a stress-related psychological or physical illness.
As the world has become a global village with low trade barriers, increased and effective communication and surprising advancements in technology, the living patterns and behaviors have changed. With too much going on in everyone’s life, people are overburdened with plenty of thoughts and a lot of tasks, which result in short term and long term stress. A person’s life is divided into two key areas, that is, personal life and professional life. This paper will discuss on aspect from personal life and one aspect from professional life and analyze the process through which our circumstances lead to stress.
Having social and family ties is an important aspect of life hence everyone has different kind of relationships to manage. But be it the relationship with your parents, or your bond with siblings, your friendships in the social circle or your relations with your peer, your spouse or your kids; all the relationships tend to have complexities and challenges which have a deep impact on everyone’s life, routine, behavior and emotions. Among relationships, the relationship with spouse is a very delicate relationship because it is developed through a complex procedure between two complete strangers. Studies suggest that problems faced in the relationship of marriage and love have a strong impact on person’s biological and psychological behaviors (Jaremka et al. 2013). Studies further suggest that there is a direct relationship between our central nervous system and immune system and stress changes the functioning of white blood cells which are involved in the immune function (Jaremka et al. 2013). Hence when a couple undergoes stress in the martial relationship, the cellular immunity in both the partner decreases that is why the immunity is lower in distressed relationships as compared to happy relationships (Jaremka et al. 2013). Another important aspect in family relationships is the stress which results due to children and their matters. For example, studies highlight that worries about a child’s education, health, future, and the nature of relationship between parents and children also leads to stress which causes physical and psychological sickness (Sheidow et al. 2014). This kind of stress normally results in intense headaches and high or low blood pressure, which again depicts that a person’s immune system is weak and the tendency to fight diseases continues to reduce.
Another research has shown negative impacts of stress on a person’s immune system, and the research was conducted among the participants who had various kinds of viruses. In one of the studies, a stressed person who reported to have issues with spouse was noticed to have weak immunity against influenza virus (Koolhas et al. 2011). Another study conducted on respiratory virus suggested that people who are stressed have great intensity of cold symptoms as compared to people who were happy (Koolhas et al. 2011). There are certain other effects of stress on immune system as well, which include lack of energy, sleeplessness or extra sleepiness, loss of appetite etc. Studies suggest that when people undergo major life changes such as death of a close person or separation or divorce, they tend to feel these symptoms which makes them believe that they have physical illness, this physical illness is not a result of seasonal changes or any other biological changes, it is a result of the stress they face and hence it makes the body weaker and sensitive (Aldwin 2007).
Thus it can be said that stress in relationships results in weak immunity which leads to various diseases such as flu and cough, sleep and eating disorders, breathing issue, slow digestive system and increased chances of catching several other viral infections and cold (Wiener 2011).
Workplace stress or occupational stress is also an important aspect being discussed by many researchers and practitioners these days. People face various situations at work place which put them under pressure, sometimes they are overworked and sometimes the expectations are higher for them to meet, sometimes goals are too vague and sometimes the responsibilities are very demanding; whatever the case maybe, challenging situations at workplace lead to stress and demotivation (Butts et al. 2009). It is believed that all these situations can be dealt with a little bit of patience and extra effort, however there is one situation which cannot be dealt with very easily, which is the situation of a person losing his job or not having a job at all.
As our economy continues to struggle and stumble and the situation gets alarming with every padding day, job seekers are found to be dealing with mass depression and coping with the emotions and stress that result due to job loss or unemployment becomes very difficult (Donston-Miller 2009). Hence career related issues lead to stress but the most critical form of stress is generated by unemployment (Bordea et al. 2014). Unemployment has prevailed at a global scale and since it leads to long term stress, it has serious negative implications.
Ueyama et al (2008) discusses that continuous stress leads to strokes and heart attacks and people who have long term stress, they are more prone to such strokes and attacks. In order to study stress as a risk factor for heart attacks and stroke, a study was conducted among 6553 Japanese employees and during 11 years of duration, 147 incidents of strokes were identified and the results of the study revealed that job stress and job loss leads to two-fold increase in the chance of strong among men and the among Japanese men, job strain is highly related to strokes and heart attacks (Tsutsumi et al. 2009).
Stress normally leads to various behavioral changes including demotivation and absenteeism, physical changes such as headaches and heart diseases and psychological challenges such as anxiety and negative attitude however it is very difficult to ascertain the impact of stress on chronic diseases (Ganster and Rosen 2013). Chronic diseases are developed over long period of time and there could be factors other than stress which contribute to their intensity however there is some evidence which suggests that stress plays a vital role in developing and enhancing issues such as musculoskeletal disorders and cardiovascular diseases (NIOSH 1999; Ganster & Rosen 2013).
As mentioned above, stress leads to high blood pressure which is one of the most important factors leading to strokes. Unemployed people have to fight for the most important aspect of their life, that is, survival of their own being and their family or children hence unemployment is one of those critical issues which not only effects a person’s economic and social life but also impact health and body functions. In another study conducted in US, it was noticed that over thirteen thousand people in the United States were reported to show an increase in the heart attack risk within three months of losing their job and the probability kept increasing with more sackings (Roberts 2012).
Findings from various researches discussed above depict that stress has a significant impact on a person’s physical and psychological structure and with the increasing amount of stress; there is an obvious increase in the health issues that have been emerging lately. As discussed, in the times of stress a person faces various issues such as increasing blood pressure, sudden headaches and backaches, stomach issues and problems in digestion, rapid breathing, weak immunity, decreased or increased pulse rate and heartbeat, stretched and tenses muscles, loss of appetite and sleeplessness, however in this whole process some people focus on what has happened to them while others focus on the causes behind these changes in their body (What is stress 2014). In order to deal with stress, people find out various solutions such as use of caffeine, use of sedatives and increase the consumption of alcohol. However, there are other ways in which stress can be coped with, such as, indulging in physical activities and exercises, eating fruits and vegetables and drinking plenty of water, sharing the issue and seeking solution from friends or taking professional advice and using relaxation techniques such as yoga and meditation (Ruglass 2014).
To conclude the whole discussion, it will not be wrong to say that there are various reasons in everyone’s personal and professional life that contribute to short term and long term stress. And if one does not take measures to solve the issue and cope with stress, stress leaves a deep influence on our lives in the form of health issues. Two important aspects that develop stress are our relationships and workplace challenges and their short-term impacts include weak immunity and long term impacts include chronic diseases and strokes.
References
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