St.

Joseph College of Bulacan

San Jose Patag, Sta. Maria Bulacan
Psychology Department

PHYSIOLOGICAL/ BIOLOGICAL PSYCHOLOGY

FINAL PERIOD
DECEMBER 10, 2020

STRESS AND HEALTH

STRESS
- a feeling of emotional or physical tension
- nonspecific response of the body to any demand made upon it

Types of Stress

● Acute stress. This is short-term stress that goes away quickly. It also occurs when you do something new or
exciting.
● Chronic stress. This is stress that lasts for a longer period of time. Any type of stress that goes on for weeks or
months is chronic stress.

Effects of Stress in the Body

A. Musculoskeletal
When the body is stressed, muscles tense up. Chronic stress causes the muscles in the body to be in a more
or less constant state of guardedness. When muscles are taut and tense for long periods of time, this may
trigger other reactions of the body and even promote stress-related disorders.

B. Respiratory
Stress and strong emotions can present with respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath and rapid
breathing, as the airway between the nose and the lungs constricts.

C. Cardiovascular
Acute stress causes an increase in heart rate and stronger contractions of the heart muscle, with the stress
hormones acting as messengers for these effects.
Chronic stress, or a constant stress experienced over a prolonged period of time, can contribute to long-
term problems for heart and blood vessels. The consistent and ongoing increase in heart rate, and the
elevated levels of stress hormones and of blood pressure, can take a toll on the body. This long-term
ongoing stress can increase the risk for hypertension, heart attack, or stroke.

D. Endocrine
When someone perceives a situation to be challenging, threatening, or uncontrollable, the brain initiates a
cascade of events involving the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which is the primary driver of
the endocrine stress response. This ultimately results in an increase in the production of steroid hormones
called glucocorticoids, which include cortisol, often referred to as the “stress hormone”.

E. Gastrointestinal
Stress can affect this brain-gut communication, and may trigger pain, bloating, and other gut discomfort to
be felt more easily. Stress is associated with changes in gut bacteria which in turn can influence mood.
Thus, the gut’s nerves and bacteria strongly influence the brain and vice versa.
 F. Nervous System
Chronic stress, experiencing stressors over a prolonged period of time, can result in a long-term drain on
the body. As the autonomic nervous system continues to trigger physical reactions, it causes a wear-and-
tear on the body. It’s not so much what chronic stress does to the nervous system, but what continuous
activation of the nervous system does to other bodily systems that become problematic.

Causes of Stress
1. External Causes
Major life changes
Work or school
Relationship difficulties
Financial problems
Being too busy
Children and family

2. Internal Causes
Pessimism
Inability to accept uncertainty
Rigid thinking, lack of flexibility
Negative self-talk
Unrealistic expectations / perfectionism
All-or-nothing attitude

Consequences of Long-term Stress

● Mental health problems, such as depression and anxiety
● Cardiovascular disease
● Obesity and other eating disorders
● Menstrual problems
● Sexual dysfunction
● Skin and hair problems
● Gastrointestinal problems

Stress Management

A. Maintaining a healthy social support network

B. Engaging in regular physical exercise
C. Getting an adequate amount of rest and sleep each night
D. Eat a healthy diet

Treatments
1. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: helps individuals to understand thought patterns, recognize trigger points
and identify positive actions to take
2. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR): combines mindfulness, meditation and yoga with a
particular focus on reducing stress
3. Ecotherapy: a way of improving wellbeing and self-esteem by spending time in nature
4. Complimentary Therapy: acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage
5. Medications: sleeping pills, antidepressants

Mental health problem, such as depression and anxiety is one of the most common consequence of stress. Many
people are suffering from it and it can be all started from a stress whether from external or internal causes.
Although there is some positive effect of stress, the longer you experience it the negative things begins to
happen. Such as turning from stress to depression, stress do so many damage to our body as we experience it
longer, how much more if it turn into a depression? Maybe worse things may happen if it is not treated. Although
stress is a part of our existence and it can come into our life whether we like it or not, we should learn how to
manage it properly so that we can overcome it before it is too late. There are many things that we can do so, like
simple laughing, as they say laughter is the best medicine and it can improve our mood. We can also write down
our feelings and thoughts that causes our stress, and as we write it down the paper becomes like a sponge that
absorbs our stress. Also we can listen to a relaxing music while doing deep breaths and we can also pray or
meditate. Most importantly we should have a social support from our family and friends where we can lean on
them in hard times like having stress.

In my opinion the most important sense organ in the body is the nose. Nose is the responsible organ for olfaction
or smell and it is also an airway for us to breath. Smell is important and we use it since we were born, like for
example we know the smell of our mother even our eyes are closed. Smell also triggers our memory, like when
we smell our favorite food we remember our mother cooking it. One more example is when we smell our
ancestral home, we remember so many memories. Smell also evoke or influence our emotion, of course when we
smell something really good it can improve our mood, and when we smell something bad it can be upsetting.
Example is flowers, flowers that has a good smell can give good mood or may have a romantic meaning. Another
example is when we smell so disgusting we may be in a bad mood. Smell also serve as warning from a danger, for
example the spaghetti is looking good to our eyes but when we smell it, we can say that it is not good to eat it.
Other species also does not have an eye or a clear vision during day or night that is why they rely on the sense of
smell. Other people for example those who are blind practice their sense of smell very well so that they know if
somethings wrong.

Our aggression can be cause by genetic influences or mostly environmental influences. There are many factors in
our environment that can trigger our aggressive behavior. Like when we are in danger, we may become
aggressive. When we are angry at home we can also become angry at the work place and may do some
aggressive behaviors. Also when we are in a situation that we don't like we can be aggressive. When someone
look at you in a threatful way you can also become aggressive. When we are fear and someone startle us we can
be aggressive. Also when we are exposed to lead during the pregnancy it can damage our developing brain
resulting to violence that involves aggressive behavior. When we are also in a stress environment we can be
aggressive. So let's make sure that our environment is a positive one so that we cannot be triggered by it.

Placebos is a big help in our body especially when we experience pain or anything else. Placebo's fundamental is
belief. When you believe something in your mind it can happen possibly. Like when you believe that eating sugar
may treat your pain, it can happen. Although placebo does not have any therapeutic effect it can heal you. You
just need to believe in something. That is something amazing in our human mind. Placebo shows a good effect
instead of taking traditional pain medicine that can have an side effects. Although medicine is a big help we
should not rely on them too much. But when the medicine is prescribed by a professional doctors make sure that
you follow it.
Maintaining a positive mental heath during hard times like this pandemic is so hard. Many already gave up, but
we should fight it even when time comes that we see no worth of fighting. Fighting alos=ne is not good so we
need to make sure that we are connected with other even it is a virtual it may be a good help. make sure also to
busy your self in doing task that you can focus on. We can also practice self-mindfulness like doing meditation
and prayers that can be good to our mental health