In today’s world, stress is ever present, and is a normal physiological response to environments that are hostile (StressFocus. Com, online. ) Erica Goode at the New York Times writes that humans are usually subject to stress that they themselves inflict on themselves. Usually, stress is a response to chronic pressures of daily life, but there is also the danger of a shutdown of the body’s mechanisms to handle stress (Goode, 1). Rojas and Kleiner states that stress is not necessarily a bad thing.
Adequate levels of stress is necessary to generate creativity, productivity and enthusiasm (Rojas & Kleiner, 86). It is when stress becomes excessive that makes it problematic. Physiologically, the body secretes hormones like adrenalin and glucocorticoids in response to a stressful situation. These hormones increase the person’s heart rate and energy level. Robert Sapolsky, a professor of biological sciences and of neurology and neurological sciences at Standord, explains that the body additionally shuts down all other processes like digestion, growth and reproduction.
The individual’s learning and memory processes are also enhanced making one think more clearly (Schwartz, online). Over time, however, these desired effects tend to wear down the body. Activating the stress response in more frequently would be harmful to the body. Sapolsky explains that being exposed to chronic stress can lead to a higher risk of getting diabetes and high blood pressure. If an individual repeatedly shuts down the digestive system, it will lead to a lot of gastrointestinal diseases.
Other diseases also follow the same logic: shutting down the body’s reproductive processes frequently can lead to impotence, disrupted menstrual cycles, and lower fertility. Stress can affect the brain too, making it more difficult for some neurons, specifically those related to learning, judgment and memory, to malfunction or shut down. In children, too much stress can hinder their proper growth and development (Schwartz, online).
Goode further explains that a growing body of research has shown that chronic stress, with its overproduction of cortisol can damage the hippocampus, the area of the brain that is responsible for registering events and their contexts. In times of trouble, the hippocampus is also responsible for signaling to the body that the danger has passed. High levels of cortisol shrinks the nerve cells in this area and hinders the creation of new ones, leading to aging and memory problems. Stress increases the level of cortisol (2).
Stress also increases the risk of dying from a heart attack since the activation of the fight and flight response that follows as a natural response to stressful conditions increases the heart rate, and thus makes the individual more prone to suffering a heart attack (Beaton, online). Speaking of heart attacks, stress has also been found to be the culprit in sending fat deposits to the abdomen rather than to the buttocks or hips, which increases the risk of cancer, heart disease and other illnesses (Goode, 2)