Psychology

There is a growing amount of evidence that has associated stress exposure with the physical body deterioration. Stressors occur in many forms some of which can be brought by any changes that the body encounters and that the body should get adjusted to. In situations when the body fails to adjust to stressors, stress can subsequently result to physical body deteriorations due to stress-related disorders. Although some psychologists have claimed that stress can have some positive effects in keeping individuals alert and escape some danger, stress in larger part cause some array of physical body effects derailing an individual and causing health conditions such as ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome (MedlinePlus, 2009).

Stress often leads to irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), which does not seem to easily improve on treatment in case the afflicted individuals do not avoid being stressed (MedlinePlus, 2009). I have often experienced this condition especially when am facing difficult situations. Perhaps this does not apply to me alone it has happened to a number of people especially students who experience bowel syndromes when facing examinations. In irritable bowel syndrome, students heading to their semester examinations experience loose bowels which are very disturbing. One feels to relieve him or herself but cannot accomplish the need.

Another physical effect of stress is heart attack and hypertension (Cohen, Kessler,  Gordon, 1995). Constant exposure to stress can cause the blood pressure to increase. The consequence of high blood pressure is the intense stress on the walls of the blood vessels. The stress may cause the vessels to burst leading to stroke. The intense pressure is also inflicted to the heart leading to conditions of heart attack (MedlinePlus, 2009). It has been identified that the lowering of stress reduces the chances of heart attack and stroke. Stress which only originates from the brain causes the afflicted individuals to have stomach ulcers (Dua, 1993). There is massive production of stomach acids, gastric acids during stress. A number of reasons are attributed to the excessive production of stomach acids. Some of the reason that causes overproduction of the acids in the stomach cam be attributed to lack of having regular meals, which compromises on the health of the stomach hence ulcerations from the acids. In normal situations, the acid is produced in order to help in digestions process. Hydrochloric acid, the acid which makes up gastric acid is important in the activation of the precursor forms of the enzyme that digest proteins. Incase food is not provided to the stomach this acid will always be produced and will encounter an empty stomach wall. The stomach wall will be worked upon by the acid causing ulcerations in the stomach. This condition usually leads to physical health breakdown as a result of poor eating habits (MedlinePlus, 2009). 

Ulcerations in the stomach have always occurred among some of my friends. I remember one of my friends who lost both his parents at once in a road accident. He was all left alone with his younger sister. The situation was a sad one and the boy could not keep up with the stress. He often refused to eat for up to four days even after several months when the death of his parents occurred. One great consequence was that the boy developed many health complications including stomach ulcers. The boy became frail often experiencing loose bowels and to make it worse, he developed problems of high blood pressure despite him not having any genetic predisposal factors to hypertension.

The friend of mine then developed chronic fatigue and insomnia which his doctors recommended him to try and eat some food to regain the energy. Chronic fatigue is a condition that can be caused by the excessive release of hormones that are produced only during stress (Cohen, Kessler,  Gordon, 1995). The hormones such as adrenaline will stimulate the brain which will communicate to the peripheral organs in order to cause a response. Insomnia sometimes continues without the afflicted individuals having any sleep (Dua, 1993). The person then becomes tired a condition called chronic fatigue. This is an example of physical signs of stress.

Chronic stress can also be associated with obesity (MedlinePlus, 2009).  In another situation, our family friend processed for a divorce with his wife who they had stayed together for over ten years. He later developed a habit of comfort eating where he thought he was reducing his stress. Later, he became obese after what he thought was an enjoyment for a while which turned to be another suffering for a while. I have observed other typical cases where stress has caused a number of physical health problems to the afflicted individuals. Other problems which might as well be associated with stress include muscle aches and cancer.

In general, stress which is a process that takes place in the mind brings about problems to the physical body, which can range from simple effects to complicated conditions which might require serious medical intervention. It should therefore be important for individuals afflicted by stress to learn on how to prevent such stressors before they get worse with the conditions. It follows that early prevention of stressors improves the quality of life.