The documentary “Stress the Portrait of a killer” was quite interesting. This documentary teaches you about stress and the effects it has on both animals and humans. Stress plays a huge factor on our daily lives. There are two hormones that are the workhorses of the whole stress response. These hormones are the adrenaline and glucocorticoids and they tend to come out along with each other. However, there happens to be positive and negative stress. For instance, roller coaster rides are considered to be positive stress. In addition, fat can be considered as negative stress because fat that is brought on by stress is known as dangerous fat. Ultimately, there are different levels and outcomes of stress. Over 30 years ago, when people mention …show more content…
The film used a great an example, which is explaining the effects sleep can have on people. When people stress themselves by not getting any sleep at all and the next morning they cannot remember a single thing for that final exam. I can relate to that phenomenon because it has happened to me before. When I stay up late and wake up very early in the morning and slept for a total of 4-5 hours, I tend to not do as well on my exams as usual. There have been times that I had forgot things that I knew perfectly well due to lack of sleep. In documentary, there was a town shown named Richmond California that has different level of class environments. Cardiologist Jeffery Ritterman explained the differences between two neighborhoods. According to Ritterman, people in the lower class neighborhoods health outcome are a lot worse and the life expectancy is not the same as the middle class. I do not agree with Mr. Ritterman because I have experienced life in both high class and low class environments and in my opinion, the people health outcomes are mostly based on the individuals themselves and the family they come from. One of Mr. Ritterman patients named Emmanuel Johnson is a guardian counselor in one of America’s most dangerous places. Mr. Johnson claims that the society that he revolves himself around causes stress, in which leads to his illness. I have live in a low class environment my whole life that has a lot of violence, and witnessed a lot of people not get ill due to the stress that their environment can cause. Yes, I will admit living in a dangerous environment can be very stressful because you never know to except. Everytime you hear police siren, helicopters, ambulance or gunshot, you begin to worry about family and close friends. There are some nights that it is hard for me to sleep because I am worried about love ones at times. The only way for people to reduce their stress according to the documentary is by
Stress is natural and not necessarily a negative issue. Stress is a signal of change, whenever there is some significant change in one's life; it results to some level of stress in the body system. According to Smith (2008), Stress is a natural biological response to threat or luck of control in ones life. When the human brain perceives a threat, it sends messages to the adrenal glands, which in turn releases hormones that cause the body to be alert. One of these hormones is cortisol. Cortisol is a home that helps the body by reestablishing energy supplies, enhancing memory as well as the immune system. This hormonal activity in the body halts digestion and raises blood sugar level,
Stress is known to negatively impact health. Psychological responses, such as mood, emotion and coping, influence the way we perceive stress and the impact it has on the physiological response (Chida & Hamer, 2008). Past studies have used the hormone cortisol to test the stress response(Dickerson &
The major focus of this chapter was stress and the effect it has on the body. Stress is the process by which we perceive and respond to certain events, called stressors, that we appraise as threatening or challenging. The concept of appraisal is the important part here. Stress can be affected through this psychological filter, either making the stressor feel threatening or challenging. The way we perceive it can have either positive or negative effects. Stress, when perceived negatively can lead to issues such as coronary heart disease or increased susceptibleness to colds (Myers, 2014).
Stress can be broadly defined as any stimulus that disrupts homeostasis, with the stress response referring to physiological and behavioral reactions to such a stimulus (Selye, 1950). It
People handle stress in a myriad of ways. It is a love-hate relationship in every sense. Many laugh, cry, become catatonic or frenzied, gamble, hoard, act out or become structured. Stress, and it's perception, can be motivating- or literally a killer.
Stresses can result from the environment, psychological, or social situations (external) or from illness, or from a medical procedure (internal). The "fight or flight" response, which is a complex reaction of neurologic and endocrinologic systems can be initiated by stress . (1)
veryone experiences stress atleast one time in their lives. The human body shows signs of stress in two different ways; firstly, the boost of hormones that elevate your heart rate, then your blood pressure starts to rise, and stops digestion, then secondly the symptoms you are aware of such as clenced teeth, headaches and emotional upset. (Southern Cross, 2013). The most reconginziable symptoms of stress are sleeping problems such as insomnia, heartburn, nail-biting, trouble focusing, nausea and many more, but there are also conditions that you wouldn’t know was associated with stress like anorexia and depression. (Henry, 2011). Acute and chronic stress are both different forms of stress responses. Acute stress is one of the most common forms
Situations interpreted as being potentially dangerous, the body release hormones that respond to that stress stimuli. It is the body’s method of reaction to a challenge. A common stress hormone, released by the body, is cortisol which affects the metabolic system. An example of a stressful situation is when a student begins to write a four-page paper and the individual’s mind draws a blank and worries when the deadline near approaches. According to C. Bergland, stress is perceived as either negative or positive that can have an impact on a person 's mental and physical well-being (Bergland, 2013). Stress is something that every person endures in his or her life and is a difficult factor to control. Many people understand the symptoms and reasons for a stress response but are unaware of the biological physiology process to better control the symtoms. This paper will focus on the hormone, cortisol, and its background, cellular physiology, function, effects, and understood disorders associated with it.
Webster defines stress as a “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life, work, etc.” (1). There are a variety of factors that can cause someone to be stressed and stress can affect people in many different ways. “Nearly one-third of Americans are living with extreme stress and nearly half of Americans (48 percent) believe that their stress has increased over the past five years” (APA, 1). While a certain amount of stress is healthy and can increase productivity, it also has many negative physiological effects on people including weight gain, mental health issues, and immune deficiency. Stress is also linked to the leading physical causes of death including heart disease, cancer and stroke (Lazarus, 4, 8). There are many different situations that one might perceive as stressful and an ongoing stressful situation, or chronic stress, can be exaggerated by a poor diet and lack of exercise. Going to work in an unpleasant environment, speaking in public, or the death of a loved one are all examples of different stressors. (McEwen, 171).
According to McShane and Von Glinow, stress is a physiological and psychological response to a situation that is perceived as challenging or threatening to us (2015, p. 110). The human body reacts to stress with headaches, stomach aches, diarrhea, nausea, increased heart rate and blood pressure, muscle tightness, back pain, sweating, and increased production of cortisol and adrenaline (fight or flight hormones) (Stress management - the effects of stress, 2015). If left unmanaged, stress can affect the body’s immune system to fight off infection and disease and lead to depression and anxiety. Individuals who have persistent high blood pressure and don’t manage their stress levels are more likely to have heart disease, heart attacks and strokes (McShane &
Have you ever had to stand up in front of a class to give a speech and felt your hands getting sweaty? What about that last Halloween trail ride that you went on, did you feel your heart pounding when that goblin jumped out right in front of you? If so you know you can feel stress on both your body and your mind. Stress is so common in America today; we are calling it “the new normal.” Just saying the word may be enough to set your nerve on edge. These expressions are familiar to us, “I’m under too much stress,” “I’m stressed out,” or “Work is one big stress.” Definitely, stress is difficult to define because it means different things to different people. According to Hans Selye a pioneer who conducted groundbreaking scientific work
“Stress can be defined as any event or environmental stimulus (stressor) that we respond to because we perceive it as challenging or threatening.” (Pastorino, 2013). Stress is common and occurs when someone is experiencing a certain standard of pressure toward a situation or event that seems hard to cope with. Stress is classified and divided into four major categories: major life events, catastrophes, daily hassles, and conflict. Stress levels vary from person to person and from situation to situation. Stress cannot caused an illness on its own but research has shown that stress can make us more susceptible to illness because stress can caused our immune system to be less effective. Therefore, under stress our bodies become more prone to devolving
Stress as a useful adaptive response is a fairly new concept. In fact, a great emphasis on its detrimental effects has often disregarded the original purpose to evolution. Looking at the physiology of stress may shed some light on the problem of this protective response becoming so threatening in modern society, with more and more people getting stuck in dysregulation patterns, being these at psychological or somatic level.
At one time or another, most people experience stress. The term stress has been used to describe a variety of negative feelings and reactions that accompany threatening or challenging situations. However, not all stress reactions are negative. A certain amount of stress is actually necessary for survival. For example, birth is one of the most stressful experiences of life. The high level of hormones released during birth, which are also involved in the stress response, are believed to prepare the newborn infant for adaptation to the challenges of life outside the womb. These biological responses to stress make the newborn more alert promoting the bonding process and, by extension, the child's physical survival.
Stress is also linked low fertility in one’s reproductive organs, and can cause problems during pregnancy or one’s menstrual cycle (www.everydayhealth.com). This happens when one is overwhelmed with the stress he or she is going through in their lives. No one person is the same, meaning stressors as well as stress levels differ for each individual. This is why it is hard for scientists to reach the core because it is a subjective sensation related with a variety of symptoms that differ for each of us. Because of this, stress is not always a synonym for distress. Situations like a steep roller coaster ride that cause fear and anxiety for some can prove highly pleasurable for others (www.stress.org). Each person also responds to stress differently. There are numerous physical as well as emotional responses to stress. Stress can cause an ocean of different emotions that are often times unpredictable. It can have wide ranging effects on people’s emotions, mood and behavior (www.stress.org). Stress has said to have been America’s number one leading health problem. It has been shown that stress levels have escalated in children, teenagers, college students and the elderly for reasons that of which have lead to: increased crime, violence, and other threats to personal safety; pernicious peer pressures that lead to substance abuse and other unhealthy life style habits; social isolation and loneliness; the erosion of family and religious