Psychology Research Paper Chapter 13 Stress,coping and Health - What Are the Effects of Stress on Physical Health?

Chapter 13: Stress, Coping, and Health: What are the effects of stress on physical health?

PSYC 290

Research Paper

January 26, 2016

WeChapter 13: Stress, Coping, and Health: What are the effects of stress on physical health?

What is stress? Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand or threat.

This paper explores the question: Does stress effect your physical health? Stress is an inevitable element in the fabric of modern life. Additionally, it is widely acknowledged that psychological stress exerts a negative impact on physical health (Weiten & McCann, 2013). Research evidence supporting the claim that stress leads to disease directly and indirectly has been increasing steadily over the history of health psychology. Statistically, the notion that stress contributes to disease is striking. This paper provides a direct link between stress and your physical health.

Stress is a complex concept, which refers to any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten the well-being of a person, hence, taxing their ability to cope (Weiten & McCann, 2013, p 597). The threat may be to immediate physical safety, self-esteem, comprehensive security, peace of mind, reputation, or numerous other aspects that individual’s value. The link between stress and physical health has been explored extensively. Some scholars argue that stress plays a beneficial role while numerous others affirm that it has a negative impact on physical health.

Stress is correlated to various diseases. Many studies have connected it to other diseases including herpes, cancer, diabetes, irritable bowel syndrome or flare-ups, epileptic seizures, pregnancy complications, common cold, chronic back pain, asthma, AIDS, ulcers, stroke, skin disorders, premenstrual distress, and fibromyalgia (Weiten & McCann, 2013, p.619). Besides, it is linked to periodontal disease, multiple sclerosis, migraine headaches, inflammatory bowel disease, hyperthyroidism, hypertension, and vaginal infections (Weiten & McCann, 2013, p. 619).

Whereas some scholars identify a strong relationship between stress and various diseases, others consider there is a weak link between them. (Macledo, Davey-Smith, Heslop, Metcalfe, Carroll, and Hart, 2002). Examined the connection between apparent psychological stress and the cardiovascular disease in participants whose stress did not accrue from being socially disadvantaged. The results indicate that there is a strong connection between perceived stress and skewed heart symptoms. However, there is a weak inverse relation between stress and objective heart disease indices. As a result, the researchers conclude that the notion that psychological stress determines heart disease might be premature.

(Hapuarachchi, Chalmers, Winefield, and Blake-Mortimer, 2003). Examined variations in clinically important metabolites with mental stress factors. The outcome of the research indicates that there is a positive relationship between psychological stress and pro-inflammatory and pro-oxidant states. Conversely, low or positive stress factors, denoting good life mechanism, are linked to increased lymphocytic 5’-ectonucleotidase (NT) and/or higher C-reactive protein (CRP) amounts. The findings further indicate that the elevated oxidative stress might be addressed through administration of antioxidants or normalizing mental