Health Psychology

The endocrine system, a biological resistor to stress, releases hormones into the bloodstream producing effects to help the body cope with stress. The chain reaction of stress-relief by the endocrine system begins with the hypothalamus, which releases the corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), and in effect this leads to the secretion of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary glands. The ACTH than makes its way to the adrenal cortex, where it can finally release the stress hormone corticosteroids, the stress-resistant hormone used to make stored nutrients more accessible to the body during times of stress. The stress hormones epinephrine and norepinephrine are released from the adrenal medulla located in the autonomic nervous system. These stress hormones help prepare the body during fight or flight reactions by causing faster heart rate, and allowing more oxygen and nutrient-rich blood flow to needed areas for response to the situation.

For short periods of time stress hormones are needed for our bodies to overcome stressful situations, but over long periods of time they can become damaging to the body’s immune system. Because the immune system is the body’s primary defense against foreign invaders, it possesses many small white blood cells called lymphocytes which help to alert the body of objects not recognized by the system. These foreign objects are known as antigens. When antigens are discovered in the body, the white blood cells alert, and than antibodies are produced to help destroy the antigens. When too many corticosteroids are released into the body (stress hormones – result of stress), it weakens the immune system’s response to outside invaders, causing higher susceptibility to sickness, which is why we can conclude that stress is bad for the body.

Burnout is another result of stress. It results from being both physically and emotionally drained by demands at work, school, home, etc. It is not directly related to hard work, but rather the imbalance of work and other activities.

Because stress is a prevalent factor in many peoples’ lives, measures must be taken to cope with it. Some psychological approaches which can be taken to battle stress include social support, self-efficacy, predictability and controllability, psychological hardiness, and optimism. Studies have shown that individuals who have social support tend to also be more resistant to sickness, and overcome stress easier. Self-efficate individuals tend to reduce stressful situations by seeing them as more of a challenge than an obstacle. Self-efficacy can also be linked to the factor of predictability and controllability, because self-efficate individuals tend to think in terms that they can accomplish whatever it is they put their mind to. Individuals who see situations as under their control are termed as internal locus of control individuals. They believe that occurrences are a direct result of their actions. The opposite are individuals who possess the external locus of control. They believe that luck or some other external force controls events which occur in their lives. Individuals with the internal locus of control aspect tend be less affected by stress, because they believe that they have some control of the situation as opposed to none. Psychological hardiness is a term used to describe those individuals who have a variety of personality traits linked to internal locus of control. This set of personality traits basically helps people to better accept stress as a part of life. Lastly, optimism, having a positive outlook on life is another measure which can be taken to battle stress.