CBA268 Stress And Health assignment sample

Stress & Health Assignment 

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Question 1

To fully get the idea of the stress it is very important to absorb the idea of the Homeostasis. Homeostasis can be defined as the physiological and the mental stage of the person where the person feels mostly relaxed and all the organs and the system inside of the body working in a cordial way to promote the good spirit. So the easy way to describe the event of stress is the physiological or mental event which can disrupt the event of homeostasis. The venet r the phenomenon which can induce the stress in the individual is commonly known as to be the stressors (Acharya et al., 2018).

In order to get a more detailed idea of the correlation between the stressors and distorted human homeostasis the researcher Hans Selye discovered a new collaborative measure known as “Generalised Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)”. Ths syndrome can be used to get the more detailed and medically perfect measure to check the behavioural pattern of the individual when they come close to the stressors. 

This syndrome as described by the researcher is quite fast paced in the onset so it requires a constant observation of each and every stage to get a more clear idea about the stressors and their effect on the homeostasis of the individual. The three main stages of the GAS can be analysed as follows:

Alarm: This is the first stage when the body of an individual first recognizes stress. The “Central Nervous system” initiates the primary response of “flight or fight”. The body secretes more “adrenaline hormone” which provides additional mental and physical capability to cope up with the situation and initiate a “flight or fight response”. The physiological state of the body will remain more or less in the normal condition but the rate of breathing can be a little elevated. In this stage the individual may get susceptible to “hypertension” (Brosschot et al., 2018).

Resistance: If the “flight or fight response of the body” does not meet the necessary level to evade from the stressor then the body will try to put a resistance to manage the event of stress. The “Thyroid Stimulating Hormone” will start to secrete at more concentration and raises the normal metabolic level of the body. This will increase the energy production which can be used to maintain the physiological homeostasis in the body. But it is found in the studies that the resistance put by the body is mostly temporary. In order to maintain the working capability of the excretory system the body will again lower the level of metabolism. Eventually the body will come back to its normal energy level.

Exhaustion: As mentioned in the previous stage the body will increase the metabolic activity of the body to provide resistance against the stressors. The higher metabolic rate results in the higher calorie burning which requires lots of resources i.e., food. This depletion of the resources required for the normal activity of the body suppresses the normal immunological response of the body. Other than this the other function of the body will start to get damaged. This stage can be considered as the ultimate stage of the body dealing with stress. If the necessary treatment is not provided to the person and the body remains in this stage for a long time that individual will face easy susceptibility towards the disease and other physiological conditions.

There can be many causes for the onset of stress. Studies also found that there are no universally accepted events which can be described as the stress causing agent for all the people of the world. But depending on the psychological state of the individual the scholars now identified some certain agent which can be described as the stressors (Enriquez et al., 2018). The main causes of stress are as follows:

• Most of the people reported that the excessive workload is their chief reason to face stress. They also stated that the absence of job satisfaction can be the chief reason for this.
• Due to the global financial instability the job security of many people is in face of turmoil; which causes a burden of stress on the mind the individual.
• Childhood traumas can also be the agent of stress.
• The turmoil in the personal relationship like marriage can have a great influence to bring up the stress of the individual.
• It is also found in the studies that the children are also facing excessive stress due to the election of their parents regarding their education.
• The homework and the assignments provided by the school can also be the stressor for some students.
• Social discrimination can also be a great factor for increasing the stress of the individual. A study arranged by the “University Of Michigan” found that the stress level of the African American citizens in the United States is much greater than the Caucasian descendants. They stated that the main causes of theis high level of stress is the continuous fear of facing racial discremination by the Afro American people.

The stress can have a great ill effect on the normal; health of the individual. It is found in the studies that as the stress of an individual can disrupt the natural homeostasis it can cause various health issues (Frost et al., 2018)

Suppressed Immune System: As discussed above the immune system of the individual can get heavily suppressed due to the inadequate supply of resources to the body. This suppressed immune system can cause a series of health related issues as the body is now incapable to provide primary response against the invasion of the foreign antigens. So the chance of the individual to get affected by the disease causing pathogens increases. It is found that the increase in the chances can be more than 1.2% than the normal person (Homan and Sirois 2017).

Headache: The stress causes the nerves to get over excited. Teh over excited nerves put a lot of pressure on the blood vessel especially in the forehead region and the cerebellum. This excess pressure causes a headache.

Difficulty in Sleeping: In stressful events the body tends to secret more “adrenaline hormone”. Due to the secretion of the hormone the body tends to go in a state known as insomnia. In this stage the person faces difficulties to get adequate sleep.

Question 2

Stress in a human body caused by “feeling of emotion” or “physical tension”. It is a normal phenomena that can happen to any human body in terms of any event or thought that makes them feel angry, anxious, sad or nervous. At that moment of time, the human body depends on the reaction of the body that demands and challenges (Patriquin and Mathew 2017). This theory has been referred to as two different strategies with the help of cognitive reaction of the body and psychological reaction of the body.

The cognitive based reactions to reduce stress are as follows:

Guided imaginary is one of the most useful techniques and globally implemented tools of management technique used by most of the people globally. A guided imagination is an effective stress management technique that helps to boost an individual's imagination and convert it to a picture of a particular individual, or time, or place that leads two animals to the winter satisfaction of that particular individual. Guided imagination thus makes some man or an individual stay relaxed, feel good, happy, and most importantly stay in a peaceful manner. Guided imaginary subject the potential use and application of an individual overall sense organ to get the job done. Guided imaginary dance is considered as one of the most important tools and also is considered to be different from other stress management techniques that are used globally for this particular purpose.

In this context, an individual can feel various things in their imagination. For example, a person can feel the taste of cold drinks, be able to hear the chirping voice of birds, be able to feel the breeze and sensation on the skin, and be able to smell the fragrance of flowers. These collective imagination and power of sensations contribute to the ultimate goal accomplishment of guided imagination. With the help of this imagination, it is possible for a human being or an individual to stay relaxed, feel good, happy, and leave peacefully. Currently there are several ways and techniques that can be used to develop the guided imagination for the purpose of relaxation and happiness of a particular individual. 

The psychological based reactions to reduce stress are as follows:

Psychological reaction to stress is considered as a silent killer of the body. It is generally avoided as it does not leave any bruises and signs that they are suffering from a chronic situation yet lethal. According to studies it has been found that when a human body is tired it becomes weak to handle its brain. It increases the tension and stress of the body (Ribeiro et al., 2017). There are certain activities that are beneficial for the reduction of stress. Exercising is considered as the best way to reduce stress in a human body. The significance of exercise are, it helps in the reduction of body’s stress hormones. The stress hormones are embodied with caroline and adrenaline production is reduced by the brain. It also helps in the well-being of the human body where they not only maintain the diseases of obesity and blood sugar level but on the other hand it also helps to sleep better. Yoga and pilates are considered as the best way to reduce stress and anxiety as it keeps mindfulness in a good purpose with the help of neurotransmitters. 

In that context, the brain starts in the stimulation of producing the endorphins as the natural chemicals of the human body functioning in reduction of pain and mood elevators.

Figure 2: Reduction of the stress hormone after exercise

(Source: www.stresstostrength.com)

Contraction and comparison of the psychological and cognitive based stress relieving strategies are in the following paragraph:

Comparison

Table 1: Comparison Regarding the coping mechanism

(Source: Self Created)

Reference list

Journals

Acharya, P., Boggess, B. and Zhang, K., 2018. Assessing heat stress and health among construction workers in a changing climate: a review. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(2), p.247.

Brosschot, J.F., Verkuil, B. and Thayer, J.F., 2018. Generalized unsafety theory of stress: Unsafe environments and conditions, and the default stress response. International journal of environmental research and public health, 15(3), p.464.

Enriquez, L.E., Hernandez, M.M. and Ro, A., 2018. Deconstructing immigrant illegality: A mixed-methods investigation of stress and health among undocumented college students. Race and Social Problems, 10(3), pp.193-208.

Frost, D.M., Hammack, P.L., Wilson, B.D., Russell, S.T., Lightfoot, M. and Meyer, I.H., 2020. The qualitative interview in psychology and the study of social change: sexual identity development, minority stress, and health in the generations study. Qualitative Psychology, 7(3), p.245.

Homan, K.J. and Sirois, F.M., 2017. Self-compassion and physical health: Exploring the roles of perceived stress and health-promoting behaviors. Health Psychology Open, 4(2), p.2055102917729542.

Patriquin, M.A. and Mathew, S.J., 2017. The neurobiological mechanisms of generalized anxiety disorder and chronic stress. Chronic Stress, 1, p.2470547017703993.

Pedersen, S.S., Von Känel, R., Tully, P.J. and Denollet, J., 2017. Psychosocial perspectives in cardiovascular disease. European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, 24(3_suppl), pp.108-115.

Ribeiro, R.P., Marziale, M.H.P., Martins, J.T., Galdino, M.J.Q. and Ribeiro, P.H.V., 2018. Occupational stress among health workers of a university hospital. Rev Gaúcha Enferm, 39(1).

Taylor, S., Landry, C.A., Paluszek, M.M., Fergus, T.A., McKay, D. and Asmundson, G.J., 2020. COVID stress syndrome: Concept, structure, and correlates. Depression and anxiety, 37(8), pp.706-714.