Brennan 1

Sarah Brennan

Professor Johnson

English 1201

20 March 2022

How does stress affect a person’s physical and psychological state?

Everyone has felt stressed at some point in their lifetime. Some people, feel stressed all of

the time. This level and consistency is not normal and has been credited to the deteriorating

health of many people. This raises the question of how much of a person’s physical being can be

affected by stress?

The original stress testing was done on animals, so researchers thought that the only

places stress came from were outside stressors like extreme temperatures, electric shock, or food

deprivation. From this research, scientists concluded that there were three stages to stress

response: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion (Thoits). More in-depth research has been conducted

as the connections between psychological stressors and health issues specifically, heart issues are

prominent. It was discovered that stress starts in the brain’s fear center activating the response

commonly known as “fight-or-flight”. This response released hormones that caused a cascade of

other health issues in line with cardiovascular disease (Brody).

One report shows that the United States had the fourth most stressed population out of

143 other countries. This is matched with 55% of American adults feeling stressed on the day

prior to taking this survey. There are many issues when it comes to how the United States deals

with its overall stress level however, nothing seems to be done to change any of this (“Anxiety

and Stress Management”).

 Brennan 2

A study has proven that chronic psychological stress has a direct effect on cardiovascular

disease over time. Some temporary stress like an argument with a significant other or a test is

normal and acceptable however, chronic stress is what needs more attention as it is more

detrimental to the health of the person than the normal risks (Brody).

Experts say that more than just the cardiovascular system is affected by acute or chronic

stress. They claim that every system including the skin and tissues is affected by stress. This

author also claims that every person’s stress response is specific to them. They also argue that

some stress is good stress because it is the body’s protective reaction (Çakmur).

The human body is built to have and deal with small amounts of stress. This is good

because it is how the human body can protect itself and be alert in possibly dangerous situations.

However, when the stress becomes more chronic is when the human body begins to become

affected. Chronic stress has detrimental effects on all of the systems inside the human body

(“Stress Affects”). Prolonged stress can cause the body to continue to attack itself causing many

autoimmune disorders that doctors may not be able to catch before they become too much for the

body to handle. This is when the body begins to attack all of the tissues of the body because it is

convinced that they are viruses and need to be killed (Balcioglu). Stress can also have severe

effects on many of the basic functions of the brain. Some of them are a person’s memory and a

person’s cognitive abilities. Stress can make a person feel sluggish and tired which is a result of

their brain actually moving slower than it normally would because it is physically unable to

process information any faster than it already is due to the prolonged stress (“Protect your

brain”).

Many people believe that stress is a common thing to deal with and that there is nothing

that can be done about it. This is a complete misconception because while stress is normal and
 Brennan 3

everyone should have it, the person should not feel stressed all the time. There are also some

measures that can be taken to prevent or reduce the amount of stress a person has like calming

themselves down or trying to avoid the situation that makes them feel that type of stress.

America as a whole needs to take the research around stress management more seriously

as it has been proven that too much stress for too long can be detrimental to a person’s lifestyle

and health. America also needs to work to pinpoint what about the American lifestyle makes it so

much more stressful than the 139 other countries that were surveyed.
 Brennan 4

Works Cited

"Anxiety and Stress Management." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2021.

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/LJEMBG341907216/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC

&xid=30b0d9c0. Accessed 19 Mar. 2022.

Balcioglu, Hasret. “The War between the Brain and the Body Caused by Stress.” Journal of

Clinical & Experimental Investigations, vol. 13, no. 1, Mar. 2022, pp. 1–5. EBSCOhost,

https://doi.org/10.29333/jcei/11513.

Brody, Jane E. "Cardiovascular Ills From Mental Stress." New York Times, 4 Jan. 2022, p. D7(L).

Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A688550279/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=2

c6b436a. Accessed 6 Mar. 2022.

Çakmur, Hülya, editor. Effects of Stress on Human Health. IntechOpen, 2020.

10.5772/intechopen.79782.

“Protect your brain from stress.” Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School, 15 Feb.

2021, https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/protect-your-brain-from-stress.

Accessed 25 Mar. 2022.

“Stress Effects on the Body.” American Physiological Association, American Psychological

Association, 1 Nov. 2018, https://www.apa.org/topics/stress.body. Accessed 6 Mar. 2022.

Thoits, Peggy A. “Stress and Health: Major Findings and Policy Implications.” Journal of Health

and Social Behavior, vol. 51, no. 1_suppl, Mar. 2010, pp. S41–S53,

doi:10.1177/0022146510383499. Accessed 6 Mar. 2022.