There are many different factors that affect human health and well-being. Stress is one of the most significant as it often comes from within and can be increased by external ones. Hence, this work aims to determine what contribution a stressful state makes to the state of health of the human body. Moreover, a method has been identified that can help counter the impact of this phenomenon.
First of all, it is necessary to understand what stress is. Stress is a reaction of the human body to changing environmental conditions (Van Tongeren et al. 757). The body’s responses to it are manifested with physical, mental, and emotional states. Further, all people are subject to stress to varying degrees, which affects their health. In this process lies the procedure of releasing hormones that increase the heart and breathing rates and prepare muscles to respond to stress. This happens in immediate, short-term situations, which can positively affect the well-being of the body, but its more severe manifestations can be very dangerous.
Initially, stress is a natural reaction of the body to external and internal stimuli. The positive side of this phenomenon is a warning to avoid threats. Examples of such stress are the acceptance of a new job the reaction to a birthday gift. At the same time, hormones are released, and the heartbeat accelerates. The same symptoms can have a negative consequence if stress has arisen due to unpleasant situations for the body. It can be either a simple discord in communication or processing at work (Branson et al. 627). In this case, the person becomes irritated, and he or she may feel worse.
Therefore, the negative impact of stress on health can have several manifestations. Thus, such characteristics as headache, chest pain, or serious sleep problems may manifest themselves, which also affect a person’s life as a whole. Stress paired with the use of narcotic substances, drinking alcohol, and smoking can only aggravate the negative consequences of these three projects. Thus, instead of releasing stress and working on restoring health, these substances tend to keep the body in a stressed state and cause even more problems.
Despite the fact that stress can become a positive aspect of the functioning of the human body, the intermittent stress response becomes constant each day. Due to this circumstance, it ceases to be an advantage and becomes a threat to several working functions in the body at once. One of the most terrible results of the negative impact of stress on health is the possibility of the heart principle (O’Connor et al. 670). The heart is both the strongest and the weakest human organ at the same time. That is why it can easily succumb to stress due to increased heartbeat oxygen demand, resulting in the constriction of the heart’s arteries.
Other symptoms of the negative impact of stress on the body are irritability, sad and overwhelming feelings, and problems with the functioning of the body. To minimize the harmful effects of the environment and internal aspects on people’s well-being, it is necessary to expand knowledge that people should have a clear understanding of their sources of stress and develop mechanisms based on personal experience.
When people feel themselves getting stressed, it helps to have some coping strategies to alleviate any stress symptoms they are feeling. Breathing exercises, yoga, and meditation have all been shown to reduce stress. A psychologist or counselor is a great resource to help you discover your stress’s root causes and work through and manage it safely and effectively. Such small changes as learning breathing practices or yoga can have a precious role.
Works Cited
Branson, Victoria, et al. “A Holistic Understanding of the Effect of Stress on Adolescent Well‐Being: A Conditional Process Analysis.” Stress and Health, vol. 35, no. 5, 2019, pp. 626-641.
O’Connor, Daryl B., Julian F. Thayer, and Kavita Vedhara. “Stress and Health: A Review of Psychobiological Processes.” Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 72, 2021, pp. 663-688.
Van Tongeren, Daryl R., et al. “The Mediating Role of Meaning in the Association Between Stress and Health.” Annals of Behavioral Medicine, vol. 51, no. 5, 2017, p. 775-781.