In the Unnatural Causes film, UC Berkley Professor and Epidemiologist, Leonard Syme, states that an important component of overall health is the “ability to influence the events that impinge on your life,” or another words, the means by which you are able to effectively manage the stressors in your life will greatly impact your health (2015). It is common knowledge that stress can negatively impact your health and the film points out that chronic stress affects the body by increasing cortisol levels, heart rate, blood pressure, circulating glucose levels and decreases the immune system’s response. All of this increases the risks of diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic illnesses (Smith, director, 2015). If we have power, control and …show more content…
access to the appropriate resources, our ability to manage stress effectively increases (Smith, director, 2015). Unfortunately, power, control and access to resources are not equitable in our society and are greatly influenced by where we fall in the social class (Smith, director, 2015). This is demonstrated in the film by examining four people from four different social classes. Specifically looking at Corey Anderson who works as a floor technician doing janitorial-type work where he has high demands and low control (2015). In the film, Corey is seen cleaning a floor when he receives several calls to go take care of other janitorial issues some place else in the building without finishing his current assignment. While working on the new assignment, he receives calls to go back and finish the first assignment without completing the new assignment. Clearly evident are the pressures he faces due to the high demands on his time and energy from above with no decision making control or power, creating a great deal of stress (Smith, director, 2015). At home, we see physical and economic stressors that he can not control (Smith, director, 2015).
One point in the film shows Corey and his wife discussing the high incidents of murders in their neighborhood, from stabbing, strangulation, to gunshots, all in close proximity to their house (2015). To ensure his safety in this neighborhood, he must be at a constant heightened level of vigilance which creates chronic stress and it is not surprising that Corey has high blood pressure (Smith, director, 2015).
Unfortunately, this is the neighborhood he can afford. He and his wife both work full-time, combined making approximately $45,000, and are just barely able to pay their basic bills. They can not afford any luxuries and discuss that the only conceivable way to start a savings account would mean one of them would have to get a second job (Smith, director, 2015).
Conversely, we see Jim Taylor, a CEO, with obvious wealth, power and control (Smith, director, 2015). Jim’s position as CEO is understandably extremely stressful, but he is empowered to make decisions and has control and access to a substantial amount of resources. Like Corey, Jim also has high demands, however Jim has high control, which makes all the difference (Smith, director,
2015). Even Jim’s home life is setup to promote better health than Corey’s (Smith, director, 2015). First, Jim’s neighborhood has more access to supermarkets with healthy foods, where Corey’s neighborhood mainly has fast food chains and convenience stores. Even if Corey were to have better access to healthy food, it is not cheap and as Mary Turner stated in the film, “you have to eat what fits your budget” (Smith, director, 2015). Also, Jim’s neighborhood is relatively safe, so he is able to go outside for exercise without constant fear. However, he also has the financial means for luxuries, such as a gym membership, if he preferred to exercise there (Smith, director, 2015). Therefore, it is not surprising that the higher your income level, the lower your stress level and the less cortisol that is released (Smith, director, 2015). That is not to say that if you have money, you do not have stress, it is just emphasizing you have more resources to better manage that stress (Smith, director, 2015). Overall, the film clearly makes the case that good health and quality of life are predominantly determined by the resources and choices we have available to us to manage all stressors and less importantly by our genes and our personal lifestyle choices (2015).
The film Jindabyne, is a story about death, marriage, and race in an Australian town in New South Wales called Jindabyne. In the film, four men go fishing, and one of them discovers the dead body of a young indigenous girl. Instead of reporting what they found to the police immediately, they decide to stay and continue fishing. They decide that there is nothing they could do for her, so they tie her legs to a tree and continue with their fishing, reporting the death only when they return home. After they are done with their weekend of fishing and report the incident, conflict starts, as the men are criticized for not respecting the dead. Through the story of the town’s reaction to the four fishermen’s response to the dead girl, the movie shows Australia to be fragmented and divided over white-indigenous relations.
Madness: A History, a film by the Films Media Group, is the final installment of a five part series, Kill or Cure: A History of Medical Treatment. It presents a history of the medical science community and it’s relationship with those who suffer from mental illness. The program uses original manuscripts, photos, testimonials, and video footage from medical archives, detailing the historical progression of doctors and scientists’ understanding and treatment of mental illness. The film compares and contrasts the techniques utilized today, with the methods of the past. The film offers an often grim and disturbing recounting of the road we’ve taken from madness to illness.
Hocus Pocus is a 1993 film directed by Kenny Ortega. It is a very enjoyable movie with a good cast. The movie genre is comedy, horror, and fantasy. The film is based on a story about Garris and David Kirchner. And it is starring Bette Midler, Kathy Najimy, and Sarah Jessica Parker. The story follows the villainous trio of witches, who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage male virgin. It takes place in Salem, Massachusetts.
Therefore, prolonged stress included adverse psychological and physical health effects as well as the increased risk of premature death (Denollet, J., et al.
Classical Hollywood Cinema is a chain of events that has a cause – effect relationship within a time and space. The environment looks realistic and believable to the viewers because the style is predictable, and the time is linear throughout the film. Each scene with the development of the plot and story is motivated by cause and effect. The filmmaking process involves four major steps that cut across the board. The process revolves around these levels that make it orderly to every individual involved in filming. The process has the following stages: Idea and Development, Pre-Production, Production and Post- Production. In Idea and Development it is normally
CEO Johnston also has plans to bolster the company’s leadership with the best minds available and also use motivational techniques to invigorate his employees. These ideas show the character of the CEO in enhancing productivity from his work force.
Within the German Democratic Republic, there was a secret police force known as the Stasi, which was responsible for state surveillance, attempting to permeate every facet of life. Agents within and informants tied to the Stasi were both feared and hated, as there was no true semblance of privacy for most citizens. Directed by Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, the movie The Lives of Others follows one particular Stasi agent as he carries out his mission to spy on a well-known writer and his lover. As the film progresses, the audience is able to see the moral transformation of Stasi Captain Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler primarily through the director 's use of the script, colors and lighting, and music.
In the past thirty years there have been a significant number of studies done to establish a connection between psychological stress and the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD). CVD refers to the negative change towards the normal process of the heart and blood vessel system (What Is Cardiovascular Disease (Heart Disease)?, online). Psychological stress is defined, but not limited to being a demanding condition in which the normal behavioral conditions are exceeded thus overwhelming the behavioral resources of the organism (Kamarck, 2012). In the world today it has been shown that the impacts of psychological, social, and environmental stressors from daily lives are increasing the physical well being of individuals. Two different types of stressors can attain cardiovascular responses: "acute major life stressors and chronic exposure to continuing stressors" (Dimsdale, 2008). A stressor is any condition which causes stress on an individual. One may be exposed to acute stressors during periods of intense stress that are not regular to one’s lifestyle. Those who are exposed to constant chronic stressors are at an increased risk for hypertension, atherosclerosis, and stroke (Hojt, online). The increased levels of psychological stress present in individuals lives is providing for alarm due to the direct correlation it has with risk for cardiovascular disease.
Together, these show that chronic stress is often a result of inequality and lower status. This stress, to a great extent, is adverse to one’s health and can cause anything from obesity to mental illness and even premature
The good stress, or “eustress”, plays a significant factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment. Positive stress also helps enhance one’s athletic performance. Excessive stress, on the other hand, can unleash all the negative sides and cause a myriad of health risks. Bad stress can increase the risk of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, dwarfism and mental illnesses such as depression.
“All of us have a personal relationship with stress, but few of us know how it affects us.” In the film “Stress- Portrait of a Killer” by National Geographic, Robert Sapolsky is researching baboon’s to find a link in stress and potential health risks in humans, Carol Shively is also researching macaques for that reason. Sapolsky is an american neuroendocrinologist that went to Africa “on a hunch” to study non-human subjects to test his theory, this experiment actually got Robert Sapolsky “MacArthur Foundations Genius Fellowship”. He did this by darting the baboons with anesthetic to put them to sleep, to make for easier blood samples. In the samples Sapolsky is measuring the levels of stress hormones found in the blood, he devoted thirty years of his life to this study with the help of his wife Lisa Sapolsky. This experiment relates to sociologic analysis, because Sapolsky’s study happens to draw a conclusion between economic activities and how it genuinely affects the quality of life. Some of the sociological themes we’ll be discussing are how “stress impacts our bodies and how our social standing can make us more or less susceptible”.
Life is full of obstacles and has shown people that stress is very common and a part of life. When you are running around all the time like you are in an emergency mode, your body will pay the price. What some people do not know is that stress can actually be helpful and can cause a positive effect on you. It can serve as a motivation and be useful under pressure. Without stress, our lives would be boring and pointless.
he lives in a poor house with his family who have a shortage of money.
Stress can be a negative social determinant of health in very many ways. Numerous poignant and physical disarrays have been associated with stress. For instance, high levels of stress may cause depression, heart attacks, anxiety, hypertension, stroke, and immune system disorders that augment susceptibility to infectivity (Folkman, 2010). In addition, stress is responsible for a host of viral allied disorders that range from herpes to common colds, various cancers, in addition to autoimmune infections like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. On the other hand, stress can bear direct consequences on the skin, manifesting itself in the form of rashes, atopic dermatitis, goose bumps, and hives (Harrington, 2012). Additionally, the gastrointestinal system might also be negatively affected by stress, causing irritable bowel syndrome, peptic ulcers, and ulcerative colitis. Studies have also shown that stress can lead to degenerative neurological disarrays akin to Parkinson’s disease and restlessness. In actual sense, it is difficult to conjure up any syndrome where stress cannot play a maddening part or any element of the human body that is not impinged on by it in any way (Landow, 2006).
Stress is defined as “any circumstance that threatens or is 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).