can you do this buy tomorrow

Effects of Stress

Author

Institution

Up to date researchers have not yet come up with an agreeable definition of the term stress. Researchers in the biomedical science define stress as the response of organism to adverse stimulation. On the other hand, Researchers in the field of psychology define stress as the interaction process between individuals and their environment. We can further define stress as a feeling of pressure or strain that is caused by either the internal or the external pressure. Stressors cause stress. Stressors include all events that an individual find difficult to handle or threat to him/her causing excess pressure on a person. Thus, any circumstance, situation, or any stimulus, which is perceived as a threat, is defined as stressor. This study paper discusses effects of stress.

My grandmother is old she barely can see and her teeth can barely eat hard food staff, initially when she come to live with us last month I thought it was going to be fun. I imagined the stories we would share and the walks we would take to the park every evening as we once did in the past during her visits. However, this is not the case and living with grandmother has made my life miserable, first the snoring at night so irritating I am forced to either cover my ears with the pillow or to play some music so that I get some sleep. In the morning since both my parent are working I have to feed grandmother an additional role that I have had to accept since am also supposed to feed and dress my young brother who goes to school too.

I feel like even running away from home because I even have no time to have fun with my friends since I have to go home immediately after school to look after grandmother and my younger brother. In school, I cannot concentrate in my studies since am always sleepy. Some of my friends claim that am avoiding them but I just want to be left alone. At home, my mother keeps complaining that I have developed a bad habit of remaining food but I have lost my appetite for food.

Being a charismatic person I like sharing jokes teasing and been teased back but since grandmother arrived nothing is funny anymore I get irritate by small things. Recently I got into a fight with my desk mate for placing a book on my head when I was sleeping in class. I know that I should not be selfish and that I should execute my duties without complaining but this load is too much for me since I also need time to study.

Describe the physiological changes in the brain that occur due to the stress response.

When a person perceives that something is threatening him or her, their brain is triggered to action in preparation to either run away from the threat or to stay and fight. These responses are referred to as flight or fight response. When under stressful situation the brain instructs the body to increase rate of heartbeat, the blood pressure, the production of adrenaline, to slows the digestion process and to increase the production of cortisol. Cortisol is also referred to as stress hormone due to the role it plays when one is having stress such as it regulate the blood pressure. Cortisol also makes some glucose to metabolize in the body properly, aids the body immune system, releases insulin to ensure there is proper balance of the blood sugar, and helps the body to respond to inflammations. Autonomic nervous system is responsible for controlling the reflexive function and other involuntary functions that takes place in the body such as digestion heart rate and perspiration. The automatic nervous system is important due to two situations in emergencies and in non-emergencies. In emergencies, the automatic nervous system using the sensory nerves gathers and transmits impulse from the visceral tissues and takes it to the hypothalamus or at the hindbrain. From here using the motor nerves it transmit response to the appropriate organs. (Soreq, at el, 2009). The Automatic nervous system is sub-divided into parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. Sympathetic is responsible for stimulating activities that are associated with flight or fight response. On the other hand, the parasympathetic stimulates activities that occurs in the body when the body is resting.

What emotional and cognitive effects might occur due to this stressful situation?

A stressful situation could cause the following cognitive effect: inability to concentrate this means that a person with stress fails to pay attention. Additionally, a person suffering from stress is a poor judge and makes poor judgments on different issues. Another cognitive effect of a person with stress is he/she only sees things in a negative perspective according to him, or her nothing is neither fair nor just. Lastly, the individual has anxious thoughts (Steckler, 2005).

Emotional effects could cause the following irritability, which is getting annoyed by small things. Moodiness whereby one is always in a bad mood, furthermore one feels lonely and isolated by others. General unhappiness or depression is also an emotional effect whereby one is always absorbed in his or her thought and is always dull. Another emotional symptom is the inability to relax or agitation.

Would the above changes (physiological, cognitive, or emotional) be any different if the same stress were being experienced by a person of the opposite sex, or someone much older or younger than you?

Yes, the changes would have been a different this is because there is a great disparity in the way men and women respond to stress. Women tend to have greater distress compared to men the following reasons explain why. Women unlike men are exposed to social responsibility, which present them with opportunity for distress this social responsibility includes housework, childcare and caring for elderly relative, which at times may be frustrating. In most cases, men are spared from these chores (Cardwell & Flanagan, 2005).

From research carried out men and women, tend to react differently when faced by stress, when men are faced by a stressful situation their either fight or flee from it. While as women respond to stress by tending or befriending the stressor causing stress. Tending means that they nurture the stressor in order to relieve the distress and protect themselves. Befriending means that they seek to maintain the social connections. Age difference, people respond differently to stress based on their age this is because elderly people have more experience and each generation has its own cultural and social pressure, which influences their response to stress so yes a person from a different age group would have reacted differently.

If the situation continues, how might your physical health be affected?

My physical health will be affected. This is because when a person is exposed to a stressful situation for a long time the body stress system becomes hard to shut off due to the fact that it is activated on most times. This long exposure to stress leads to health problems that disrupt most body system. Exposure to stress can cause suppression of the immune system, increased heart attack risk, infertility, raise blood pressure, and cause the aging process to speed up. Additionally it can rewire the brain thus exposing the individual to be vulnerable to depression and anxiety.

Describe 3 behavioral strategies that you could implement to reduce the effects of this stressor. Explain how each behavior could cause changes in brain physiology (for example, exercise can raise serotonin levels).

Get enough sleep

Sleeping is paramount for any person physical and emotional wellbeing. From my experience, sleep can have a negative impact especially if one is not getting enough sleep. If one is not getting enough sleep he or she is likely not to function properly a good night sleep causes the relaxation response which makes the brain to return normal thus the heart rate returns to normal blood pressure returns to normal and one is able live a normal life

Maintain social support

This is done by expanding the social circle and cultivating supportive friendship this is paramount since one has someone to listen to and to lean on when he or she is going through a rough time. Friends can help blow off the steam and bring each other to the relaxation response especially when one is going through a stressful situation. Relaxation helps reduce negative impact done by stress on the brain, which in turn will normalize the body system functions.

Exercising

Regular helps in reducing frustrations and anger in addition combining exercises with the relaxation process helps one to cope with numerous responsibilities. This is because when exercising one is able to mediatate and switches his or her mind from the cause of stress. Exercise causes the secretion of serotonin. Serotonin is paramount because it reduces individual’s aggressive behaviors, irritability, and impulsive behavior. Imbalance of serotonin level affects people’s mood, which at times leads to depression.

Would there be any ethical considerations you would have to keep in mind as you seek to implement these behavioral strategies to reduce the effects of this stressor? How would you ensure your strategies do not negatively influence other aspects of your life or those in your life?

Yes, I would consider ethics when implementing the behavioral strategies. Ethical behaviors are values and principles held by the society and acts as guides to individual’s behavior. There are numerous advantages of considering ethics when adopting strategies to reduce the stress impact. Being disciplined would help in reducing the effects of the stress this means that I would have to sleep early or ask my brother if I can share his room with him for sometimes so that I can start getting enough sleep. In addition to this, respecting my friend’s feelings and self-control is another way of being ethical when implementing the behavioral strategies. Exercising to keep body fit and handle stress requires me to be ethical. Exercise also helps in production of serotonin, which reduces aggressiveness. This means that incidence like the fight I had with my desk mate will cease.

To ensure that the strategies do not have negative impact on other aspects in my life and that of others I will first seek the advice of a higher authority inform him/her of what am going through currently in my life. Tell him/her of what I have resolved to do to deal with the stressful situation and listen to his opinion.

Reference

Soreq, H., Friedman, A., & Kaufer, D. (2009). Stress: From molecules to behavior : a comprehensive analysis of the neurobiology of stress responses. Weinheim: Wiley-VCH.

Steckler, T. (2005). Handbook of stress and the brain: 1. Amsterdam [u.a.: Elsevier.

Cardwell, M., & Flanagan, C. (2005). Psychology AS: The complete companion. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.