People unavoidably face daily challenges which make them susceptible to experiencing stress. The compensatory response from the human body to such stimulus is called the stress response. Although the human body can easily cope with minor stress, it becomes feeble about chronic and long-term stress. In such cases, stress has detrimental effects on the human body, from the musculoskeletal system to the reproductive system, becoming the cause of dangerous illnesses and pathological conditions.
Two types of stress affect the human body but at different levels. Acute stress is the short-term stress caused by minor worries such as being late to a job or approaching a deadline. It causes an instant fight-or-flight reaction, a physiological response to stress forcing the human body to either resist or fight (American Psychological Association [APA], 2018). However, once a person relieves stress, the body returns to normal. In contrast, chronic stress is constant and affects the human body for longer. In both cases, stress changes stress hormone levels such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, generating various problems for the human immune system.
The most apparent stress effect is a headache which bothers people when they worry even about little things. It is caused by the musculoskeletal system’s response to stress and facilitated by tensing up muscles in the shoulders, neck, and head (APA, 2018). Once a person is relaxed, his muscles relieve, and body aches disappear. However, relaxing needs special stress-relieving activities, not just exercising, to stop the musculoskeletal guarding system.
Moving to the respiratory system, it supplies body cells with oxygen, thus, being a critical part of blood circulation and breathing. When people start to worry due to feeling pressured or somebody’s death, they experience shortness of breath (APA, 2018). Although healthy people can cope with such reactions by controlling their lungs’ constriction, people with respiratory diseases would struggle with asthma attacks or hyperventilation, rapid breathing caused by panic attacks. Thus, stress exacerbates the existing health conditions of patients with obstructive pulmonary diseases, posing a potential risk to their lives.
Meanwhile, stress causes detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system by affecting heart rate and blood pressure. For example, acute stress instantly increases heart rate and blood pressure by increasing the blood pumped into body parts (Yaribeygi et al., 2017). Although it seems harmless since the body quickly recovers after such periods, prolonged exposure to stress results in hypertension and heart attack. Consequently, avoiding stress results in better circulation, healthy heartbeat, and blood pressure.
When people experience significant and life-changing stress, their probability of having certain diseases increases due to the impaired immune system. It is justified by the fact that melancholic women under stress are likelier to have cancer compared to their peers with more positive attitudes toward stress (Yaribeygi et al., 2017). Moreover, stress increases the risks of tuberculosis due to the enhanced activity of phagocytes caused by stress hormones. Interestingly, people who experience stress regularly tend to overeat because of an enhanced appetite. Therefore, it results in obesity, disrupted absorption, and stomach acid secretion. Such changes in nutrition manipulate human mental health, forcing them to either overeat or control food intake to that extent so that they develop eating disorders.
People tend to undermine the effects of stress on the reproductive system because it involves several body systems, which sometimes makes the connection between them unclear. However, when cortisol is released in response to stress, its excessive production decreases libido and becomes a potential cause of impotence (APA, 2018). Moreover, males who experienced more than two stressful life events have less motile sperm with standard size and shape compared to men with less severe stress experiences in life. For females, stress becomes the reason for “irregular menstrual cycles, more painful periods, and changes in the length of cycles” (APA, 2018). More importantly, high-stress levels increase the chances of developing depression during pregnancy which affects fetal development and disrupts the development of affection towards a baby in the early periods. This way, stress regulates the patient’s sexual behavior by affecting his reproductive system.
Considering all mentioned stress effects on the human body, it is essential to start regulating stress levels to avoid the risks and diseases. It is better to start by maintaining support from close people so that the stress does not absorb the person’s all attention. Moreover, sleeping, exercising and consuming healthy food help cope with acute stress causes (APA, 2018). However, patients should contact psychologists during chronic stress to conduct therapies and learn meditations, breathing exercises, and controlling emotions. Being healthy is not about having medical check-ups every month but also about responding to stress.
To conclude, when people experience anxiety and stress daily, they sometimes risk their lives. Fight-or-flight response forces their blood pressure and heartbeat to increase and body muscles to tense up immediately after the acute stress. When people suffer from stress for a long time, the possibility of getting heart stroke, mental health disorders, and asthma attacks increase. Therefore, eliminating these risks requires them to practice stress-relieving activities, have professional therapies, and learn to cope with acute stress causes.
References
American Psychological Association. (2018). Stress effects on the body. Web.
Yaribeygi, H., Panahi, Y., Sahraei, H., Johnston, T. P., & Sahebkar, A. (2017). The impact of stress on body function: A review. EXCLI journal, 16, 1057–1072. Web.