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informative essay about stress and health brainly

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What Is Stress?

Stress is Inevitable - Learn to Maintain Your Emotional and Physical Well-Being

The Inner-Workings of the Stress Response

Ways to cope with stress, final thoughts.

  • Next in How Stress Impacts Your Health Guide How to Recognize Burnout Symptoms

Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional, or mental strain. Stress is your body's response to anything that requires attention or action. 

Everyone experiences stress to some degree. The way you respond to stress, however, makes a big difference to your overall mental and physical well-being.

Verywell / Brianna Gilmartin

Sometimes, the best way to manage your stress involves changing your situation. At other times, the best strategy involves changing the way you respond to the situation.

Developing a clear understanding of how stress impacts your physical and mental health is important. It's also important to recognize how your mental and physical health affects your stress level.

Watch Now: 5 Ways Stress Can Cause Weight Gain

Clues that indicate you might be stressed.

Stress is not always easy to recognize, but there are some ways to identify some signs that you might be experiencing too much pressure. Sometimes stress can come from an obvious source, but sometimes even small daily stresses from work, school, family, and friends can take a toll on your mind and body.

If you think stress might be affecting you, there are a few things you can watch for:

  • Cognitive signs such as difficulty concentrating, worrying, anxiety, and trouble remembering
  • Emotional signs such as being angry, irritated, fearful, or moody
  • Physical signs such as high blood pressure, headaches , clammy/sweaty hands, muscle tension and neck pain , changes in weight, frequent colds or infections , teeth grinding, digestive problems , and changes in the menstrual cycle and sex drive
  • Behavioral signs such as poor self-care, not having time for the things you enjoy, or relying on drugs and alcohol to cope

What Does Stress Feel Like?

Stress can manifest in a variety of ways in your mind and body, and there is no one-size-fits-all answer. It can contribute to feelings of frustration, worry, and burnout. You may feel physically exhausted, worn out, and unable to cope.

Stress vs. Anxiety: What's the Difference?

Stress can sometimes be mistaken for anxiety, and experiencing a great deal of stress can contribute to feelings of anxiety. Stress and anxiety both contribute to nervousness, poor sleep, high blood pressure , muscle tension, and excess worry. Experiencing anxiety can make it more difficult to cope with stress and may contribute to other health issues, including increased depression, susceptibility to illness, and digestive problems.

In most cases, stress is caused by external events, while anxiety is caused by your internal reaction to stress. Stress may go away once the threat or the situation resolves, whereas anxiety may persist even after the original stressor is gone.

The Usual Suspects: Main Causes of Stress

There are many different things in life that can cause stress. Some of the main sources of stress include work, finances, relationships, parenting, and day-to-day inconveniences.

Mental Health in the Workplace Webinar

On May 19, 2022, Verywell Mind hosted a virtual Mental Health in the Workplace webinar, hosted by Amy Morin, LCSW. If you missed it, check out  this recap  to learn ways to foster supportive work environments and helpful strategies to improve your well-being on the job.

The Four Types of Stress

Not all types of stress are harmful or even negative. Some of the different types of stress that you might experience include:

  • Acute stress : Acute stress is a very short-term type of stress that can be upsetting or traumatic ; this is the type of stress that is out of the ordinary, such as a car accident, assault, or natural disaster.
  • Chronic stress : Chronic stress is what we most often encounter in day-to-day life and seems never-ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or an extremely taxing job.
  • Episodic acute stress : Episodic acute stress is acute stress that seems to run rampant and be a way of life, creating a life of ongoing distress; episodic stress can be recurring illness, ongoing domestic violence, child abuse , and living through conflict and war.
  • Eustress : Eustress , on the other hand, is fun and exciting. It's known as a positive type of stress that can keep you energized. It's associated with surges of adrenaline, such as when you are skiing or racing to meet a deadline. 

Harmful Types of Stress:

The main harmful types of stress are acute stress, chronic stress, and episodic acute stress. Acute stress is usually brief, chronic stress is prolonged, and episodic acute stress is short-term but frequent. Positive stress, known as eustress, can be fun and exciting, but it can also take a toll if you don't keep your life in balance.

Stress can trigger the body’s response to a perceived threat or danger, known as the fight-or-flight response . During this reaction, certain hormones like adrenaline and cortisol are released. This speeds the heart rate, slows digestion, shunts blood flow to major muscle groups, and changes various other autonomic nervous functions, giving the body a burst of energy and strength.

Originally named for its ability to enable us to physically fight or run away when faced with danger, the fight-or-flight response is now activated in situations where neither response is appropriate—like in traffic or during a stressful day at work.

When the perceived threat is gone, systems are designed to return to normal function via the relaxation response . But in cases of chronic stress, the relaxation response doesn't occur often enough, and being in a near-constant state of fight-or-flight can cause damage to the body.

Stress can also lead to some unhealthy habits that have a negative impact on your health. For example, many people cope with stress by eating too much or by smoking. These unhealthy habits damage the body and create bigger problems in the long term.

Brace For Impact: How Stress Affects Your Health

Stress can have several effects on your health and well-being. It can make it more challenging to deal with life's daily hassles, affect your interpersonal relationships, and have detrimental effects on your health. The connection between your mind and body is apparent when you examine stress's impact on your life.

Feeling stressed over a relationship, money, or living situation can create physical health issues. The inverse is also true. Health problems, whether you're dealing with high blood pressure or diabetes , will also affect your stress level and mental health. When your brain experiences high degrees of stress , your body reacts accordingly.

Serious acute stress, like being involved in a natural disaster or getting into a verbal altercation, can trigger heart attacks, arrhythmias, and even sudden death. However, this happens mostly in individuals who already have heart disease.

Stress also takes an emotional toll. While some stress may produce feelings of mild anxiety or frustration, prolonged stress can also lead to burnout , anxiety disorders , and depression.

Chronic stress can have a serious impact on your health as well. If you experience chronic stress, your autonomic nervous system will be overactive, which is likely to damage your body.

Stress-Influenced Conditions

  • Chronic Pain
  • Inflammatory diseases
  • Heart disease
  • Hyperthyroidism
  • Sexual dysfunction
  • Skin problems
  • Sleep disorders
  • Tooth and gum disease

What Can I Do When I Have Too Much Stress?

There are some treatment options for acute and chronic stress, as well as a variety of stress management strategies you can implement on your own. Stress may be inevitable; however, whenever possible, prevention is the best strategy.

An Old Proverb by Benjamin Franklin

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Treatment Options

Stress is not a distinct medical diagnosis and there is no single, specific treatment for it. Treatment for stress focuses on changing the situation, developing stress-coping skills , implementing relaxation techniques, and treating symptoms or conditions that may have been caused by chronic stress.

Some interventions that may be helpful include therapy, medication, and complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).

Psychotherapy

Some forms of therapy that may be particularly helpful in addressing symptoms of stress including cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) . CBT focuses on helping people identify and change negative thinking patterns, while MBSR utilizes meditation and mindfulness to help reduce stress levels.

Medication may sometimes be prescribed to address some specific symptoms that are related to stress. Such medications may include sleep aids, antacids, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications.

Complementary and Alternative Medicine

Some complementary approaches that may also be helpful for reducing stress include acupuncture, aromatherapy, massage, yoga, and meditation .

Although stress is inevitable, it can be manageable. When you understand the toll it takes on you and the steps to combat stress, you can take charge of your health and reduce the impact stress has on your life.

Press Play for Advice On Managing Stress

Hosted by therapist Amy Morin, LCSW, this episode of The Verywell Mind Podcast featuring professor Elissa Epel, shares ways to manage stress. Click below to listen now.

Follow Now : Apple Podcasts / Spotify / Google Podcasts / Amazon Music

Here are a few things to get you started:

  • Learn to recognize the signs of burnout. High levels of stress may place you at a high risk of burnout. Burnout can leave you feeling exhausted and apathetic about your job. When you start to feel symptoms of emotional exhaustion, it's a sign that you need to find a way to get a handle on your stress.
  • Try to get regular exercise. Physical activity has a big impact on your brain and your body . Whether you enjoy a walk in the park, stretching, pilates, or you want to begin jogging, exercise reduces stress and improves many symptoms associated with mental illness.
  • Take care of yourself. Incorporating regular self-care activities into your daily life is essential to stress management. Learn how to take care of your mind, body, and spirit and discover how to equip yourself to live your best life.
  • Practice mindfulness in your life. Mindfulness isn't just something you practice for 10 minutes each day. It can also be a way of life. Discover how to live more mindfully throughout your day so you can become more awake and conscious throughout your life.

If you or a loved one are struggling with stress, contact the  Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) National Helpline  at 1-800-662-4357 for information on support and treatment facilities in your area.

For more mental health resources, see our  National Helpline Database .

Stress is a part of life and comes in all shapes and sizes. There are things we can do to minimize or even prevent much of the stress in our lives. But some stress is unavoidable.

If you find you are overwhelmed by an acute stressor, or the daily grind, there are ways to cope and recover. Whether you try some stress management strategies on your own or seek professional help... it is important to keep stress levels in check to avoid the negative impact on your cognitive, emotional, and physical well being.

National Institute of Mental Health. I'm so stressed out! Fact sheet .

Goldstein DS. Adrenal responses to stress .  Cell Mol Neurobiol . 2010;30(8):1433–1440. doi:10.1007/s10571-010-9606-9

Stahl JE, Dossett ML, LaJoie AS, et al. Relaxation response and resiliency training and its effect on healthcare resource utilization . PLoS ONE . 2015;10(10). doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0140212

Chi JS, Kloner RA. Stress and myocardial infarction .  Heart . 2003;89(5):475–476. doi:10.1136/heart.89.5.475

Salvagioni DAJ, Melanda FN, Mesas AE, González AD, Gabani FL, Andrade SM. Physical, psychological and occupational consequences of job burnout: A systematic review of prospective studies .  PLoS ONE . 2017;12(10). doi:10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0185781

Bitonte RA, DeSanto DJ II. Mandatory physical exercise for the prevention of mental illness in medical students .  Ment Illn . 2014;6(2):5549. doi:10.4081/mi.2014.5549

Ayala EE, Winseman JS, Johnsen RD, Mason HRC. U.S. medical students who engage in self-care report less stress and higher quality of life .  BMC Med Educ . 2018;18(1):189. doi:10.1186/s12909-018-1296-x

Richards KC, Campenni CE, Muse-Burke JL. Self-care and well-being in mental health professionals: The mediating effects of self-awareness and mindfulness .  J Ment Health Couns . 2010;32(3):247. doi:10.17744/mehc.32.3.0n31v88304423806.

American Psychological Association. Stress in America 2023 .

Krantz DS, Whittaker KS, Sheps DS.  Psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease: Pathophysiologic mechanisms .  In Heart and Mind: The Practice of Cardiac Psychology (2nd Ed.). American Psychological Association; 2011:91-113. doi:10.1037/13086-004

By Elizabeth Scott, PhD Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

Effects of Stress on Human Health

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Introduction

Stress and health.

Stress has an adverse effect on human health; it leads to numerous health complications if not effectively managed. When stressed, people risk suffering from stress-related complications. According to Ciccarelli & White, 2012, health can broadly be divided as physical health (free of diseases) and psychological health (being able to make sound decisions).

When under stress, an individual’s decision making capacity is hampered making the person psychologically unhealthy (Ciccarelli & White, 2012). This paper discusses the relationship between stress and human health.

There are numerous theories and researches on stress and health, they all agree that stress has an adverse effect on human health; the statement goes “a stressed man is an unhealthy man”. Although human life cannot be free of stress, it becomes unmanaged stress which causes havoc to human body and mind . According to psychologists, human body is “wired’’ to communicate with the state of the mind; the communication is meant to protect threats against predators and other aggressors.

The statements predators and other aggressors used to mean life threatening activities or actions which include meeting deadlines, fighting back, reacting to a certain situation, or making life challenging decisions. The challenge facing human kind is failing to understand the right way to manage stress; in most cases the activities they engage in lead to more stress (Ciccarelli & White, 2012).

When someone is stressed for a long period, he or she exposes his body to uncontrolled brain cortisol and other stress managing hormones, which in turn can result in health complications like eczema, obesity, depression, digestive problems, sleeping challenges, and heart diseases.

Human state of mind determines the kind of life decisions they make; in the event that someone is stressed, his or her mind will be hampered from making sound and reliable decision as their mind, soul, and body are not at peace with each other. Some day-to-day health feelings like fatigue, headaches, and boredom can be attributed to the state of the mind; state of the mind is unhealthy with stress.

Stress affects human body, thoughts and feelings, when the above have been affected, then the behaviors and to some extent the personality of an affected person change. When unchecked, stress results in health complications like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes (Ciccarelli & White, 2012).

According to Ciccarelli & White, 2012, the human body responds differently to stress; some people are likely to show fast heath deterioration when stressed while others are likely to have slowed health complications. What remain constant is that prolonged stress without proper management will have a negative effect on human health.

Stressed people need to enroll in stress management classes/lessons where they can be trained on basic methods of preventing and managing stress. In the event that an individual is suffering from a certain ailment, and then happens to be stressed, the recovery rate of such an individual is low. There is much connection between the rate of recovery from health complication and stress that the patient has (Ciccarelli & White, 2012).

Stress is a common occurrence in human beings; well-managed stress is of benefit to human beings as it assists when making decisions. However when stress is not managed effectively, it has an adverse effect on human health. Some complications related with ineffective stress management include depression, heart diseases, and diabetes.

Ciccarelli, S. K., & White, J. N. (2012). Psychology. New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.

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Home / Essay Samples / Health / Stress / Informative Essay About Stress

Informative Essay About Stress

  • Category: Health
  • Topic: Stress , Stress Management

Pages: 1 (483 words)

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  • Concentrating on breathing - consciously noticing the movement of air out of your body or counting your breath in various ways;
  • Grounding and mindfulness - being aware of inner experiences and observing them;
  • Yoga - stretching and breathing;
  • Using visual strategies to increase positive feelings - stare at and object and cancel out everything but the object your staring at;
  • Also eating healthy and exercising and boost your self-esteem.

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