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How stress affects your health essay
Effects of stress on health and wellbeing
Effects of stress on health and wellbeing
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What is health psychology? Health psychology is a field of psychology that was introduced in the late 1970’s to examine the causes of illnesses and to study ways to promote and maintain health, Also to prevent and treat illness and improve the health care system. Health is define as a positive state of physical, mental, and social well-being that changes in degree over time it’s not simply the absence of injury or disease. There are contributing factors that affect a person health weather its stress, substance abuse, nutrition, exercising and losing weight and even pain can be contributor to your health and how it is affected.
What is stress and how does it affect your health you may ask. Stress as to components one being physical meaning the involving of direct material or bodily challenges. The other component is psychological this involves how individuals perceive circumstances in their lives. The components can be tested in three different ways. One way is stress is seen as a stimulus for example if a person has a demanding job or experience severe pain. Stress is also viewed as a response , this focus on people’s reactions to stressors for example people use the word stress to refer how they are feeling in their state of tension. Third stress can be described as a process, which includes stressors and strains from the other components but also adds the relationship between a person and the environment.
Measuring your stress levels is important to maintain good health. There are three common research methods for measuring stress, physiological arousal, life events measurement, and daily hassle measurement. Physiological arousal typically measures blood pressure, heart rate, respiration rate, and galvanic skin resp...
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...pain can change due to what pleasure comes from it. But there might be no pleasure at all. Chronic pain may be from experiencing high levels of anger, fear, and sadness. Pain and emotions are linked together and what links them is cognitive process. For the body to bare the pain that as occur, the body tissues that contain chemical substances are released at anytime where an injury seems to have happen.
If you get sick do you can you seek treatment without worrying about the cost? When most people get sick and are in need of treatment their health insurance will cover the cost of their visit to the doctor. Many people are covered under the government insurance program such as medicare for the elderly and Medicaid for low-income people. But they are some people that are not insured at all. So you can basically say these people can’t afford to get sick literally.
In the past few decades, clinical treatment has moved on from biomedical approach to the biopsychosocial approach. Scientists now believe that health of an individual is not merely due to physiological conditions but may also depend on psychological and socio-cultural perspectives(Engel, 1977). The term health psychology was developed by the American Psychological Association to describe health and wellness issues that arise from psychological problems. Health psychology stems from Systems theory, which says that human events such as injury and illness exist within several interconnected systems, such as our peer relationships, childhood experiences, personality and other factors (Schwartz, 1982).
A health psychologist has a substantial functions including primary care programs, inpatient medical units, and specialized health care programs such as pain management, rehabilitation, women 's health, oncology, smoking cessation, headache management, and various other aspects of health (APA Division 38, 2015). This is an important subfield of psychology with a vast majority of health psychologist working with federal agencies, colleges and universities. Health psychologists focuses on cognition, feelings, and actions that effect social issues, that are important to human health as a whole (APA Division 38, 2015). Career prospects in this area of psychology have expanded with positions available in many employment areas
Health psychology is the combination of medical and psychological ideas used to identify how an individual’s mind and body work, using models to help contribute to the maintenance and promotion of health. To truly define a person as healthy they must be in a state of wellness, physically and mentally. A modern definition of health is the WHO constitution of 1948 as: “A state of complete physical, social and mental well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.” (Wellness, n.d.)
Stress, as defined as a reaction to a stimulus that breaks our physical and mental harmony, is ubiquitous. However, stress has two sides – the bad and the good, in which the latter is mostly overlooked as most people suffer from the affliction of the former.
It is hard to imagine life without health insurance. If you have any type of medical problem that requires attention, and you have appropriate health care insurance, you can be cared for in the finest of private hospitals. You can get great treatment and your ailments, depending on the severity, can be treated as soon as possible. Doctors, physicians and surgeons are willing to put out a big effort if they know that they are dealing with patients who are insured and have the money to go under extensive medical treatment. But imagine life without such luxuries. For example, what happens if a relative requires much needed surgery, but does not have health insurance to cover the procedure? What happens if a lack of medical insurance prevents you or your family from seeing a doctor, which could result in health problems that had not been identified but could have been treated before they became life threatening? These scenarios may seem far-fetched, but these types of situations happen to people who lack health coverage everyday. There is a true story about a patient who was insured and diagnosed with treatable cervical cancer. Unfortunately, she lost her job and with it her insurance. She was then unable to see her private doctor, and was turned away from other hospitals because ?cancer treatment is not considered an emergency in a patient who can?t pay? (?Help for D.C.?s Uninsured?). The woman later died at her home without ever being treated. This example raises the question, since when are people with less money less deserving of health care or appropriate treatment?
Stress means different things to different people and stress effects people in different ways. Some people think stress is something that happens to them such as an injury or a promotion and others think that stress is what happens to our mind, body and behaviors in response to an event. While stress does involve events and how one responds to them these are not the critical factors, but our thoughts about the situation in which we are involved are the critical factors. Essentially, stress exists whenever homeostasis is disturbed or cannot be maintained (Stress and the Social System Course Guide, 2013). Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to keep the internal chemical and physical environments constant. As your body begins to react to stress several changes occur. These changes include increased heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of stimulatory hormones. Ones body prepares itself in stressful situations to either stand ground and fight or to flee from the situation. Walter Cannon called this stressful reaction the fight-or-flight response (Greenberg, 2012).
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions. Most people have a response to events that challenge or threaten them. Stress good and bad. Good stress is called eustress.
"Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences which can be beneficial to your health and safety." (8 Ways Stress Is More Dangerous Than You Think) Everyone 's body responds to stress by releasing hormones, also, you brain receives more oxygen. Stress starts to occur when we become worried about a task or responsibilities we face. Major stress is called chronic stress. It can cause symptoms that can affect your health in a larger way. Some people may say that they succeed more under stress, but sadly, that’s rarely the case. Research has shown that "stress makes a person more likely to make mistakes" (Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes). For most people, stress is extremely normal for them that they don 't see it as anything but ordinary. However, stress can motivate someone while under pressure and even get you through a tough or dangerous
What is Stress? Stress is a feeling that is created when you react to certain things. For example, tests and schoolwork can cause stress. It’s a way the body prepares for what’s to come by helping with focus and alertness. What provokes stress is something called stressors. Some examples of stressors are losing jobs, getting pregnant, and car wreckages .Stressors can be bad or good and can cause many situations. The way the body reacts to stressors is unique. First, the body activates the nervous system and hormones. Then the hypothalamus has the adrenal glands produce more hormones so it could be released into the bloodstream. The hormones that are being released cause the heart rate, blood pressure and many other things to increase. After the hormones are released, our blood vessels open even wider so more blood can flow. The blood goes to the larger muscle groups and causes the muscles to be alert. Also, as the blood flows to the muscle groups, other things start to occur. Your vision is improved because the pupils are dilated. The liver releases glucose so the body can increase its energy. And sweat starts to occur because this is a way to cool the body down. All of these things try to help people handle being under pressure and dealing with stress. Stress response is something that happens when you are under...
Stress is defined in the dictionary as “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life”. Everyone encounters stress in their life caused by many different variables in life and we all cope with in different ways. The way one copes with the stress is how it can affect our body. Some take to working out, eating healthy, take breaks from what is stressing you out and getting plenty of sleep which are good ways to cope with it. Some take to other coping mechanisms that are not very great for the body. Some examples are stress eating, abuse of drugs and alcohol, bottling up the stress, and depression. These bad methods can cause serious damage to one’s health on the body.
Health psychology has been an appealing subject to me because it is relatable on many levels. Of the topics we have covered in class I think unit 3 have left the deepest impression. Stress is something everyone can relate to but probably understood on the minimum. Stress is a common experience for university students and without an exception I fall victim to it every time an exam or presentation comes up. Learning about this topic, what stress is, what it does to your body, how it affects your behavior has lead me to reflect upon past experiences in a way that I can learn to better cope with the effects of stress.
With the prevalence of society, the rhythms of modern life is becoming faster and faster. Many people suffer a lot of pressure from work, study, family, and society, all of which lead to stress and strain of life. Therefore, stress is everywhere and it has become
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
Stress is defined as “any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and thereby tax one’s coping abilities” (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 72). Stress is a natural event that exists literally in all areas of one’s life. It can be embedded in the environment, culture, or perception of an event or idea. Stress is a constant burden, and can be detrimental to one’s physical and mental health. However stress can also provide beneficial effects; it can satisfy one’s need for stimulation and challenge, promote personal growth, and can provide an individual with the tools to cope with, and be less affected by tomorrow’s stress (Weiten & Lloyd, 2006, p. 93).
First, stress is defined as an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well being (Patel, 14). Stress is a universal feeling to everyone but the word stress means different things to different people. Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure or negative emotions such as anxiety or anger (Patel, 15). Other people may view stress as a process involving a person’s interpretation and response to a threatening event. In any case, stress has many facets of how one perceives and responds to the certain predicament that is ailing them.