The Health Effects of Stress

The Health Effects of Stress

Chelsa Reese

Salt Lake Community College

The Health Effects of Stress

2
Abstract

The branch of psychology called health psychology focuses on the different ways that a
persons mind can affect their physical well-being. Thinking about this idea, one might ask the
question To what extent can a psychological factor such as stress cause physical illness?. This
research paper explores the influence that the mind has on the body with the focus of the
preceding research question. Research to answer this question was carried out by collecting,
analyzing, and evaluating relevant studies and theories pertaining to stress and illness; both old
and new. The conclusion drawn suggested that stress can indeed play a role in causing physical
illness. An individuals level of stress and stress induced illness will vary based on factors such
as their evaluation of a stressful situation, their gender, and personality type. These findings also
revealed that stress is not always negative. Short periods of stress can actually be beneficial for
the immune system, whereas chronic stress causes physical harm. Continued studies on this topic
are very beneficial in increasing understanding of mind-body interactions pertaining to wellness
and illness.

The Health Effects of Stress

In psychology, monism is an idea that stresses a single underlying existence of mind and
body (Santrock 1986). Conversley, dualism claims that the mind and body have a separate
existence; the mind being non-physical and the brain being physical (Santrock 1986). In reality,
it can sometimes be difficult to decide which idea is true. Can changes in the mind have direct
influence on changes in the body and vice versa? The philosopher Ren Descartes was the first
dualist to argue that while mind and body have a separate existence, they can interact
(Santrock 1986). Interactionism is the view that mind and bodyor mental events and physical
eventscausally influence each other (Robinson 2011) and it is through this idea that the
relationship between the psychological and the physical can be seen. When considering this
correlation, health psychologists may ask the question To what extent can a psychological factor
such as stress cause physical illness?.
Stress is a pattern of behavioral, psychological, and physiological responses to events
that match or exceed an organisms ability to respond in a healthy way (Gazzaniga 2011). There
are two commonly known types of stress. The first is stress from positive events, or eustress, and
second is stress from negative events, or duress. Stress begins with the presence of a stressor,
defined as specific events or chronic pressures that place demands on a person or threaten the
persons well being (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, and Nock 2013, p. 550). While stress is not
something new to mankind, the type of stressors humans are faced with today look very different
than how they used to. For early humans, daily threats and physical stressors were common,
because physical survival the predominant concern. Because of advancements in culture and
technology, stressors today are often less survival-oriented and occur more in the mind. The
stressors seen today can be classified under two categories; major life stressors and daily hassles.
Major life stressors are events such as natural disasters that cause serious strain on a persons

The Health Effects of Stress

life, while daily hassles include smaller, everyday struggles such as waiting in a long line or even
finishing a final paper for your psychology 1010 class. Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe (1967)
created the Social Readjustment Rating Scale to measure the stressful impact of life events both
large and small (Santrock 1986). The scale measures what is understood to be the leading cause
of stress; life changes. The greater number of changes, the greater the stress, and the more likely
it is that the stress will affect our physiological states (Gazzaniga 2011).
When humans encounter a stressor, the body initiates a coping response, which is defined
as any response an organism makes to avoid, escape from, or minimize an aversive stimulus
(Gazzaniga 2011). The bodys typical coping response is described through Hans Selyes General
Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) in which he defined a three-stage physiological stress response
that appears regardless of the stressor encountered (Schacter et al., 555). The first stage is the
alarm phase, wherein the body releases cortisol, epinephrine, norepinephrine and utilizes other
resources to exert energy and respond to the stressor. This stage is commonly known as the
fight-or-flight response. The next phase is the resistance phase, where the body continues to
draw on its resources for a longer sustained attack against the stressor. In this phase the body
shuts down unnecessary process like digestion, growth, sex drive, menstruation, production of
testosterone and sperm (Schacter et al., 555). If the stressor continues, the body will reach the
final stage, called the exhaustion phase. In this phase the bodys resistance collapses as resources
run out and it will have an increased susceptibility to infection, tumor growth, irreversible organ
damage, and even death. (Schacter et al., 555). During all phases of GAS the body is more
susceptible to infection, but it is during the final exhaustion phase that the immune system no
longer has the resources to properly prevent infection and is more likely to become ill.

The Health Effects of Stress

Although the Fight or Flight response is usually the first physical response to stress, it
is not always the way people deal with stressors. Shelly Taylor (2002) researched the differences
in reactions to stress to demonstrate the opposite ways that men and women cope under stress
(Schacter et al., 567). The study determined that stress responses may differ based upon gender,
sometimes characterized as Fight or Flight in men and Tend and Befriend in women. The
Tend and Befriend response includes tending to and quieting offspring, hiding, and forming
alliances in social groups to reduce risk to individuals (Sutton 2011). In their stress responses,
both men and women show increased sympathetic nervous system arousal with the release of
ephinephrine and norepinephrine, but in women oxytocin was also released. Oxytocin is
generally released in women as a hormone that bonds them to their offspring after birth.
Researchers believe that the release of this hormone during times of stress encourages women to
affiliate with, or befriend, others (Taylor, Saphire-Bernstien & Seeman 2010). To further validate
these findings, another study conducted by Repetti (1992) found that men who experience high
levels of stress at work tend to keep themselves away from home and work, for short periods of
social withdrawal to relax and recover, thus expressing the flight response. Because of the
difference in tend and befriend or fight or flight stress response, women may not stay in the
alarm phase for as long, thus coping with the stressor and overcoming it better than men.
Often times it is very difficult to determine the level of stress that an individual is
experiencing. It is easy to remember a situation that has been personally stressful, because stress
is extremely common in modern society, but it is surprisingly difficult to arrive at a rule that
fully specifies what kinds of circumstances are and are not stressful (Suter 1986). A situation
may be more stressful at one time than it would be at a different time. For example, an individual
will be more stressed about planning a family gathering if they are experiencing tension with a

The Health Effects of Stress

sibling versus if they were not. A situation may also be more stressful for one person than it is for
another based on personal circumstances and personality traits. Lazaruss transactional model of
stress emphasizes the idea that whether stimuli are stressful or not, depends greatly on how an
individual evaluates or appraises them, the actual events of potential stressors are mediated by
our appraisal of them (Lazarus 1966). The root of the problem is that the stressful qualities of
the event reside, not in the events themselves, but in our perception of them (Robinson 2011).
Evaluating a situation starts with the primary appraisal, where a person decides whether or not
the thing they are perceiving (like the dark spot on their shirt) is stressful or not (is it a spider, or
just a stain?) (Schacter et al., 559). Then, they move to the secondary appraisal which determines
if the stressor is something that can be handled or not. Stressors generally challenge an individual
to do something in order to face and overcome it, so events can often be most stressful when
there is nothing to do (Schacter et al., 553). Therefore, the intensity of stress an individual might
be experiencing and any physical illness caused by that stress will ultimately be determined
based off of their perception and control over the stressful situation.
Considering Lazaruss theory of appraisal of stress, one might wonder what causes some
individuals to perceive an event as stressful while others do not. An individuals behavior and
attitude will determine the way that they will evaluate a situation, therefore personality will play
a big role in determining if stress can lead to illness. In a study conducted by Meyer Friedman
and Ray Rosenman (1974) the link between work-related stress and coronary heart disease was
discovered. The results of this study helped the cardiologists develop the concept of Type A and
Type B behavior patterns (Schacter et al., 558). In the study, the individuals exhibiting Type A
behavior pattern were described as competitive, achievement oriented, aggressive, hostile,
impatient, and time-pressed. These individuals were much more likely to develop coronary heart

The Health Effects of Stress

disease than those who exhibited the Type B behavior pattern. Type B behavioral pattern
describes the non-competitive, relaxed, easygoing, accommodating people. Friedman and
Rosenman found that hostility, particularly in men, predicts heart disease better than smoking,
unhealthful eating, or high cholesterol. This showed that although stress can negatively affect the
cardiovascular system of anyone, it is more harmful to people who respond to stressful events
with hostility. (Schacter et al., 558). While this study greatly substantiates Lazeruss theory of
appraisal of stress, it is important to note that this study has been criticized by other
psychologists, such as Ragland & Brand (1988), as they were unable to collect the same results.
So, can stress really cause physical illness? It depends on the level of stress that an
individual has. Theoretically, a little stress can be good for the body; it is when an individual
experiences chronic stress, that the bodys defenses begin to weaken and health declines. For
example, in the alarm phase of General Adaptation Syndrome, the immune system is
strengthened as resources are pulled together to counteract the vulnerability the body might have.
On the other hand, during the bodys organs can fail due to extreme overuse and decrease in
bodily resources in the exhaustion phase. Many studies in health psychology demonstrate that
short-term stress boosts the immune system, whereas chronic stress weakens it, leaving the
body less able to deal with infection (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004). Many studies seem to
suggest that factors such as appraisal of stressors, personality type, and gender all play a role in
the way that stress affects an individuals health. The way an individual perceives a situation will
determine how much stress they will have. All people have stress, but men with Type A
personality who lead more stressful lifestyles are more likely to suffer from long term physical
illnesses like coronary heart disease. Abundant amounts of stress that is not dealt with properly
can most definitely lead to physical illness in one way or another.

The Health Effects of Stress

Works Cited & Consulted

Gazzaniga, Michael, Todd Heatherton, and Diane Halpern. Psychological Science. Fourth
Edition. London, New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2011. Print.
Repetti, R. L. H. S. Friedman: Hostility, Coping and Health. Washington, D.C.: American
Psychological Association. 1992.
Robinson, Howard, "Dualism", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2011 Edition),
Edward N. Zalta (ed.), Web.
<http://plato.stanford.edu/archives/win2011/entries/dualism/>.
Santrock, John W. . Psychology The Science of Mind and Behavior. Second Edition. Dubuque,
Iowa: C. Brown Publishers, 1986. Print.
Schacter, D., Gilbert, D., Wegner, D., & Nock, M. (2014). Stress and Health. In Psychology
(Third ed., pp. 549-581). New York, New York: Kevin Feyen, Worth.
Suter, Steve. Health Psychophysiology: Mind and Body Interactions in Wellness and Illness.
London, Hillsdale New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1986. Print.
Sutton , Amy L. Stress-Related Disorders Sourcebook. Third Edition. Omigraphics Inc., 2011.
Print.