Stress

Stress refers to any external or internal demands placed on the body. Stress is the natural and sometimes appropriate way your body reacts to a situation that causes fear or that your perception of it seems to be overwhelming. Stress is necessary for us to rise to meet the challenges we encounter in our lives, so it is fine and appropriate in the short term, but if the stress response is allowed to continue unabated in the background of our lives then it can be detrimental to our physical and emotional health and wellbeing.

When an individual can no longer adapt to a stressor, homeostasis is not maintained. The body cannot continue its normal functions. Stress causes chronic suppression of the immune system, increasing the risk for contracting certain diseases. (Melmed,2001 )

Some findings that point out the relationship between stress and disease are noteworthy.

Research suggests : there is an increased risk for heart disease for individuals experiencing either acute or chronic stress ( Krantz, Sheps, Carney and Natelson, 2000, O'Connor, C,M Gurbel P, A, & Serebruany 2000) These researchers have shown that stress increases platelet activation, which is a cause of heart attacks. Other correlations are pointed out between stress and gastrointestinal disorders, chronic pain and diabetes. (Jacobs 2001 ) It has also been confirmed that stress is responsible for catching the comon cold ( Cohen & Miller 2000) Chronic stress has also been found to have devestating effects on the brain (McEwen, 2000) it decreases the size of the hippocampus, which impairs memory.