Stress, according to Dr. Burke, can be caused by working too hard without breaks. He stated that working for too many days without taking any breaks or rests can cause stress. It is important that one should take a rest after every 90 minutes. Abnormal sleep can also cause stress. Activities late at night can cause erratic sleep or even sleeplessness. The “Monday morning blues” is one example that manifests the effect of stress from less sleep over the weekends.
Negative significant events in an individual’s life can also cause stress such as the death of a loved one, being fired from work, breaking up from a relationship, and a like. Minor stressors that occur on a daily basis can even more dangerous than major stressors if not applied with proper stress-reduction techniques. Also, physical illnesses that are chronic can be stressful. This can be experienced after a surgery or hospitalization. Why Manage Stress? If stress goes unmanaged, it could lead to significantly harmful results.
Burke states that chronic stress can diminish cognitive functioning, which can lead to problems in concentration, attention, memory, decision making, and abstract thinking. These effects are mostly suffered by the brain. Excessive amounts of cortisol are produced from the adrenal cortex which damages the arteries, increasing the risk of myocardial infarction, stroke, and damage to the hippocampus, which is critical in the consolidation of memories. Also, too much cortisol can affect sleeping patterns and the production of brain-derived neurotropic factor (BDNF) and growth hormones that are essential in proper body functioning.
Moreover, it can also trigger the impairment of the immune system since large amounts of cortisol can decrease the number of white blood cells, causing illnesses. As mentioned in the previous page, stress is part of nature. Thus, it is an inevitable experience for everybody. It is important to manage stress in order to prevent serious illness. Individuals must also be aware of stress and its effects on the human body. People are usually prone to drinking alcohol, smoking, excessive eating, and taking drugs as a mean to cope with stress.
However, they are unaware that these activities actually undue stress to the vital organs of the body, increasing the risk of heart disease in the later part of the lives. Also, almost ninety percent of people who are stressed on a daily basis are more likely to develop a stroke in their life, compared to those have a less stressful lifestyle. Thirdly, stress can cause irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which is caused by spasm of the nerves that control the digestive tract.
This results to abdominal pain and changes in bowel habits (“Physical Illnesses”, n. d. ). Because of the underlying risks involved in stress, there is therefore a need for an intervention that would help man reduce the chances of acquiring illnesses related to it. Man must also be made aware on how to properly cope with this condition, so as to increase his productivity and use stress as a motivating factor in his daily endeavors. It is also because of these conditions that a need to establish a stress management wellness center arises.
Such a center should provide individuals suffering from the effects of stress, comprehensive treatment programs which will cater for their needs and help them manage stress on their own. The Stress Management Wellness Center: An Overview To resolve the issues on stress, a wellness center must be conceptualized. The said center will involve stress management techniques and therapies which future clients will avail to help them cope with their stress. This paper discusses the formation of a stress management wellness center which will cater the needs of individuals who are suffering from different levels of stress.