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Krista Wells

Dr. Lisa Cook

ENG 1201

2 Aug 2020

What effect does stress have on the body and how might we maintain it healthily?

“[M]ore than one-fifth of the college students reported mental disorders, which revealed

that mental health is an urgent and salient issue that requires immediate attention and

intervention (Wu, 2020).” Each day, Americans experience stress due to many varying factors.

Whether it be environmental, mental, physical, etc, it cannot be avoided. So, what is stress?

Stress is medically defined as the body's response to physical, mental, or emotional pressure.

This is what then causes changes to your body in such a way that is detrimental if not managed

quickly. It is the natural reaction of adjustment that the body has to change. Of course, for each

individual, it is displayed differently. I will explain this later on when describing the common

misconceptions of stress. “Students who were 23 years old and more had a greater likelihood of

mental disorder. The higher the grade the students attended, the higher risk for mental disorder.

This might be related with the increased stress in the later period of university and the need for

students to begin considering employment after graduation (Wu, 2020).” Stress is the common

reason for increased health complications, but if we find ways to decrease that risk, people will

lead happier and healthier lives.

Stress is often split into two categories--good and bad or better yet, positive and negative.

Positive stress is the adrenaline rush attained before an important speech, an amusement park

ride, or before an exciting event to name a few. Generally, most will begin to fidget or move

their body, indicating that they feel nervous and by moving, they hope to offset the feeling. On
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the other hand, negative or bad stress can also be experienced. This usually occurs when there is

a traumatic event or post-event for those who suffer from PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder). Unfortunately, stress induced from bad encounters have the likelihood to lead an

individual to depression, anxiety, and other mental health issues. However, there are different

approaches to aid these problems.

Because stress is a very real thing that everyone has yet to come to terms with, what

specifically causes stress? What is the physical effect it has on the human race? Stress can then

be further broken down into two more categories of internal versus external stressors. More

specifically, some will call stressors “triggers.” Internal stressors are usually associated with your

thoughts and beliefs. When a thought comes to mind that brings up an uneasy feeling, stress can

happen. Unfortunately, it needs to be made clear that one only has the opportunity to change

within themselves, yet, they will push for change to happen because they are not the one in

control. Without control, they feel helpless. On the contrary, external stress seems to have the

greatest effect on oneself. Usually, environmental change such as living on a college campus

takes some adjustment to feel at home. When a student no longer lives at home full-time, their

social circle has changed and they feel as though they have no “social support” like they used to

have. One of the most common causes of stress is the effect of divorce it has on the children. The

entire dynamic of the home has drastically been altered. However, there is so much more that

transpires in the human body when stress happens. And when it does, it can have a damaging

influence.

Both internal and external stressors have a great effect on a person’s mental and physical

health. More importantly, what exactly occurs when the body experiences stress? According to

the American Psychological Association, stress affects every system. I will only cover three.
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First the respiratory system is essential to live as oxygen needs to be exchanged for carbon

dioxide when the body undergoes cellular respiration. Oxygen is the last electron acceptor in the

electron transport chain. Without it, one cannot take a breath of air. Therefore, when once is

under physical or mental pressure, the airway is constricted, cutting off the primary source of air

supply to the body. Breathing becomes quicker and shortness of breath is expected. For those

who suffer from asthma, stress can ultimately lead to an asthma attack or even a panic attack for

any person. The cardiovascular system, better known as the heart, plays a vital role in human

anatomy. This is how individuals receive nutrients to upkeep all the other systems and organs to

good health. Heart rate will increase with the amount of stress induced, causing hormones known

as cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline to deliver the messages to the rest of the body as a

response. Many like to call this the fight or flight response. “[T]he blood vessels that direct blood

to the large muscles and the heart dilate, thereby increasing the amount of blood pumped to these

parts of the body and elevating blood pressure (APA, 2020).” Keep in mind, that this will differ

between males and females. Each gender reacts differently to stressful situations. Finally, the

nervous system has the greatest possibility of suffering long-term damage to stress. Each body

system coexists with one another, intertwining to work together to make the body work properly.

When one fails to function, all the others struggle to do the same. The nervous system once again

can be associated with the fight or flight response. Humans have two types of nervous systems--

the autonomic and somatic nervous systems. It signals the glands to release three hormones (as

noted earlier under the cardiovascular system discussion) causing an increased heart rate and

changes within the other body systems.

There are so many ways to describe the differing types of stress. One item I ought to take

a moment to mention is the difference between acute vs chronic stress, as it seems to pop up
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often in my list of sources. Acute stress is defined as stress that is short term. Normally, it is

correlated with the cardiovascular system in the sense that it is connected with the fight or flight

response. Examples would include fights with your significant other, traffic jam stress, or the

feeling before a job interview. As reported by the Mayo Clinic, for most healthy people, acute

stress usually does not have a large enough effect to cause mental health issues, but there still is

that chance if one had acute severe stress. This is commonly connected to PTSD, gastrointestinal

complications, headaches, and the plausibility of a heart attack. Nevertheless, chronic stress is

when those seemingly small and mild stressors develop and expand over a period of time,

leading to more severe health issues such as insomnia, greater headaches, etc that will last

longer, posing a higher risk for health to decline quicker. How this can be effectively managed

will be discussed later on. For now, examine what your triggers are and ways to effectively treat

them.

Now that the overview of stress and the effects of stress on the human body has been

extensively discussed, how individuals can better cope with stress in a way that is healthy can be

better explained. For one, breathing exercises are an effective way to relax and slow the heart to

a reasonable rate. Even for most, practicing breathing is good for overall health. One of the more

popular opinions is to exercise daily. Whether that be a walk around the park or doing a few

exercises in one’s home, it is another path to relaxation. The body releases a hormone called

endorphins that will lessen the perception of pain but also give a “boost,” much like the effects of

the drug morphine, but healthier. “Exercise doesn’t eliminate stress, but it does give your body

the physical conditioning it needs to recover from it (Parker-Pope, 2020).” When one eats, the

body determines whether or not it is good or bad nutrients. This is why it is vital to maintain a

healthy diet with foods specific to your meal plan.

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Every person is built with a conscience that tells right from wrongs, according to what is

believed in addition to choices that are made. Most often, people will choose what they wish to

believe and what they do not. Unfortunately, with stress comes lies and misconceptions that

people are told to which is entirely untrue. One of which is the myth that stress is the same for

every when in fact is it not. Each and every individual will have a reaction unique to them in how

they manage stress. Some will become mobile, others have panic attacks, and then there are the

ones who work themselves to the brink of exhaustion. “You may be stressed out by a high-

pressure job, while your coworker thrives on it (Premier Health, 2017).” Another common

misconception is that all stress is unhealthy. There has to be a healthy balance between having it

together and a little pressure and competition. Without a little bit of stress, life begins to become

boring as time passes. It is what makes it exciting with the anticipation of what will come next.

Like mentioned before, I outlined good versus bad stress. The situation that arises makes a great

difference in how the outcome will result. The third myth I believe is worth mentioning is that if

there are no symptoms, it means there is no stress present. This is a very unhealthy way to think

and process stressful situations. Stress will affect every system, even when unaware. While there

may not be physical stress, what happens mentally could be a whole other story. There will be

people with chronic conditions that require medication to manage outbursts or excessive stress.

“And if you’re masking your symptoms with medication, you may miss the signals you need to

reduce the strain on your physiological and psychological systems (Premier Health, 2017).”.

Our thoughts play a great role in how the body will function. Stress is known to be a

reaction to our subconscious thoughts from events that have been experienced. Although I do

believe that exercise is an excellent way to aid in stress and overall health, it is not the “fix-all”
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solution. According to Psychology Today, Andrew Bernstein back in 2010 made a stellar

argument.

“Stress is a choice. Stress is a byproduct of subconscious beliefs you have about the

world. You can't choose not to believe something. You believe it because you think it's

true. To eliminate stress, you must learn to challenge these beliefs so that you see

them differently. That's not a function of choice. It's a function of insight.”

Overall, there are so many factors that make up the body and how it functions. To

overview, I had discussed what stress specifically was, the difference between good and bad

stress, the causes of stress, the internal process of three systems, common misconceptions

associated with stress, acute vs chronic stress, as well as ways one can manage that stress. By

taking a moment to fully understand the science behind it, we are now better prepared not just

educationally, but mentally. Stress is unavoidable, but it is manageable. Stop stuffing the feeling

deep under until the explosion. Find ways that help you get into a mindset that will not

negatively affect your health. Use the techniques learned to better the mind, soul, and body.
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Works Cited

Bernstein, Andrew. “8 Deadly Myths About Stress.” Psychology Today, Sussex Publishers, 25

May 2010, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-myth-stress/201005/8-deadly-myths-

about-stress.

Dan Wu, Lingwei Yu, Tingzhong Yang, Randall Cottrell, Sihui Peng, Wei Guo, &

Shuhan Jiang. (2020). The Impacts of Uncertainty Stress on Mental Disorders of Chinese

College Students: Evidence From a Nationwide Study. Frontiers in Psychology, 11.

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.00243

Mayo Clinic Staff. “How Stress Affects Your Body and Behavior.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo

Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 4 Apr. 2019,

www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress-symptoms/art-

20050987.

Moawad, Ruba Abdelmatloub. “Online Learning during the COVID- 19 Pandemic and

Academic Stress in University Students.” Revista Romaneasca Pentru Educatie

Multidimensionala, vol. 12, no. 1Sup2, 2020, pp. 100–107.,

doi:10.18662/rrem/12.1sup2/252.

Parker-Pope, Tara. “How to Be Better at Stress.” The New York Times,

www.nytimes.com/guides/well/how-to-deal-with-stress.

“6 Stress Myths You Might Believe.” Premier Health, 5 Feb. 2017,

www.premierhealth.com/your-health/articles/women-wisdom-wellness-/6-Stress-Myths-

You-Might-Believe/.
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Tortora, Gerard J, and Bryan Derrickson. Introduction to the Human Body. 11th ed.,

Wiley, 2019.