Stress: Its Effect On Us

Stress means many different things to many people. Contemporary definitions view stress in the form of a stressor such as problems at work and the response to the stressor as stress and experienced as a feeling of tension. Stress involves physiological, hormonal, biochemical, behavioral and psychological changes. Cohen et al in 1998 defined stress as environmental demands which tax or exceed the adaptive capacity of an organism, resulting in biological and psychological changes that maybe detrimental and place the organism at risk of disease. Stress has many emotional, cognitive and physical consequences. Forty three per cent of all adults suffer adverse health effects from stress. 75 to 90 % of all physician office visits are for stress related ailments and complaints. The six leading causes of death which include heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, suicide and cirrhosis of the liver have stress as a causative factor. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has declared stress as a workplace hazard. One in four people in a poll done in 2004 said they a took a day off due to work stress. (APA help center, 2004). Time magazine’s issue of June 6, 1983 had a cover story titled “Stress: The Epidemic of the Eighties” and called it the leading problem of the community. The Situation since then has only worsened. Numerous surveys found out that people today feel more stressed out than a decade ago. Job stress is the leading cause of stress among adults and stress levels have increased in children, teenagers, college students and the elderly.

Stress affects the community in different ways, some of the illnesses caused being heart disease, hypertension, atherosclerosis, depression, insomnia, increased cortisol levels, panic attacks and decreased immune function. Long term exposure to stress causes other problems in the body. Stress weakens the immune function of the body and this leads to infections and other illnesses. Lack of relief from chronic stress affects the immune system, blood and nervous systems. According to an APA survey in 2004, 54% of Americans are concerned about the level of stress in their life and 62% of Americans say that their work has a significant impact on stress levels. Two-thirds of Americans are likely to seek help for stress.

No one in the community is immune to stress. Adults experience it and so do other age groups. Symptoms of stress in these days are also seen in teenagers. Even toddlers are affected by stress. Stress actually occurs even before the first breath is taken by the infant and this was proved by studies on the fetus. There are more stressors as chronological age increases. Exposure to constant stressors can result in a loss of neural and hormonal balance and this increases oxidative damage which accelerates the ageing process. In a survey of adults aged 25 to 74 years, only 8% of young adults said they ever had even one stress free day in the given week compared with 12% of mid-lifers and 19% of those over sixty. The effect of stress seems to mellow down as we age. The nature of what can be a stressor also changes with age. Almeida et al from the University of Arizona found in their study that in the 20’s or 30’s, stress was likely to be due to interpersonal tension whereas mid-life adults have an overload of work and too many demands as stressors. For those above sixty years, health problems and care giving responsibilities contribute to stress. Job stress seems to be the number one stressor in the life of one-fourth of all employees. Mood and sleep disturbances, headaches, depression, disturbed relationships, upset stomach are problems which are due to acute stress but chronic diseases take a longer time to develop and the effect of stress on them is likely to be underestimated. But evidence supporting the definitive role of stress on cardiovascular disease, musculoskeletal problems and psychological disorders like depression in the community has accumulated due to research.

Stress is often assessed using rating scales for stressful life events or magnitude of exposure (job stress) or presence or absence of chronic stress. Stress has a role to play in the explanation for the racial and ethnic differences in health. Stress influences a number of risk factors for disease and hence is indirectly predictive of morbidity and mortality. The Commonwealth Minority Health Survey gave a glimpse of racial ethnic variations in stress. Blacks, Hispanics and Asians reported higher levels of stress than Whites based on five analyzed factors – occupation, finances, relationships, racial bias and violence. Reactions to stressors also differ among the groups. Blacks, especially those who are at the lower end of the economic spectrum report more number of stressful events and also a stronger stress response than the Whites. Blacks react with greater psychological distress to unpleasant events. These differences are partially attributable to group differences in socio-economic status. Minority older adults have a greater exposure than younger adults to potential stressors related to acculturation stress, spousal and family care giving etc. Today’s fast paced, work oriented society with goals and deadlines is a continual victim of the effects of stress. A new research suggested that the body’s reaction to stress may increase the cholesterol levels in the blood. Transient increases in Cholesterol were known to occur but recently it has been found that these transient increases may actually predict long term elevation in the cholesterol levels. It was understood that chronic stress contributed to high cholesterol in those who were exposed to stress daily over a period of time. High cholesterol is a risk factor for atherosclerosis and heart disease.

Stressful situations interfere with mental agility according to findings at the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience, Washington D.C. Cigarettes, Caffeine, high sugar content foods, drugs and alcohol intensify stress and thus act as stress enhancers. Acute stress has more effects on the individual than on the community. Acute stress causes anxiety states, shock states and panic disorders with physiological changes associated with them. Chronic stress that occurs on a daily basis is harmful to the community as a whole as it increases the burden of disease and the expenditure on the health care for these chronic diseases. Ulcers, heart disease, asthma etc are common problems due to stress. This type of chronic stress is ignored till the signs of disease are manifested. Sudden emotional stress has been linked to severe heart dysfunction in otherwise healthy people. Osteoporosis, inflammatory arthritis, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers are all related to the adverse effects of stress. Stress can worsen existing risk factors such as hypertension and high cholesterol levels. Stress can also complicate one’s ability to recover from a serious illness. Feelings of despair that accompany stress can easily worsen into chronic depression. Hence as understood from the discussion above, apart from the effects of stress on the individual causing heart disease, hypertension, immune dysfunction, memory loss and psychological disorders, it has a major effect on the Health Care costs of the community.