Time magazine's June 6, 1983 cover story called
stress "The Epidemic of the Eighties" and referred to it as our leading health
problem; there can be little doubt that the situation has progressively worsened
since then. Numerous surveys confirm that adult Americans perceive they are
under much more stress than a decade or two ago. A 1996 Prevention
magazine survey found that almost 75% feel they have "great stress" one day a
week with one out of three indicating they feel this way more than twice a week.
In the same 1983 survey only 55% said they felt under great stress on a weekly
basis. It has been estimated that 75 - 90 percent of all visits to primary care
physicians are for stress related problems. Job Stress is far and away the leading
source of stress for adults but stress levels have also escalated in children,
teenagers, college students and the elderly for other reasons,
including: increased crime, violence and other threats to personal
safety; pernicious peer pressures that lead to substance abuse and other
unhealthy life style habits; social isolation and loneliness; the erosion
of family and religious values and ties; the loss of other strong sources of
social support that are powerful stress busters. |
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Contemporary stress tends to be more pervasive, persistent
and insidious because it stems primarily from psychological than physical
threats. It is associated with ingrained and immediate reactions over
which we have no control that were originally designed to be beneficial such as:
- heart rate and blood pressure soar to increase the flow of blood to the brain to improve decision making,
- blood sugar rises to furnish more fuel for energy as the result of the breakdown of glycogen, fat and protein stores,
- blood is shunted away from the gut, where it not immediately needed for purposes of digestion, to the large muscles of the arms and legs to provide more strength in combat, or greater speed in getting away from a scene of potential peril,
- clotting occurs more quickly to prevent blood loss from lacerations or internal hemorrhage.
How Can Stress Cause So Many
Different Diseases?
Many of these effects
are due to increased sympathetic nervous system activity and an outpouring of
adrenaline, cortisol and other stress-related hormones. Certain types of
chronic and more insidious stress due to loneliness, poverty, bereavement,
depression and frustration due to discrimination are associated with impaired
immune system resistance to viral linked disorders ranging from the common cold
and herpes to AIDS and cancer. Stress can have effects on other hormones,
brain neurotransmitters, additional small chemical messengers elsewhere,
prostaglandins, as well as crucial enzyme systems, and metabolic activities that
are still unknown. Research in these areas may help to explain how stress
can contribute to depression, anxiety and its diverse effects on the
gastrointestinal tract, skin and other organs.For the latest "STRESS" related news and
research, click on the following link:
... What happens in the mind of man is always reflected in the disease of his body ...
Newsletter Table of Contents
First Page of Current Newsletter
Fellowship, Membership and Subscription Information
Informational Packets on Stress and Health Related Topics
Consultation Services
International Congress on Stress and Hans Selye Award Recipients
Mementos - Reminiscences of Hans Selye, and the Birth of "Stress"