Effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning and Health

Effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning and Health

Stress does not only affect the body. It produces changes across four major domains: emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavioural. These effects are interconnected and can feed into one another, creating a downward spiral if left unchecked.

Emotional Effects

People under stress experience mood swings and erratic behaviour that can push away family and friends. This often starts a vicious circle: poor social support leads to decreasing confidence, which in turn worsens the emotional state. Common emotional effects include:

• Feelings of anxiety and depression
• Increased physical tension
• Increased psychological tension
• Mood swings

Examination Anxiety is a specific example of this. It involves feelings of tension or uneasiness before, during, or after an exam. While some anxiety can be motivating and help a student stay focused, excessive stress produces debilitating effects. High test anxiety leads students to perceive evaluative situations as personally threatening. They become tense, apprehensive, nervous, and emotionally aroused. Negative self-centred cognitions distract their attention and interfere with concentration. Instead of plunging into the task, the high test-anxious student plunges inward — neglecting or misinterpreting available information, or experiencing attentional blocks. This impairs performance despite the student having the ability to do better in less stressful settings.

Physiological Effects

When the body is placed under physical or psychological stress, it increases production of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones produce marked changes in heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism, and physical activity. In the short term, this reaction helps us function more effectively under pressure. But long-term exposure is extremely damaging.

Specific physiological effects include:

• Release of epinephrine and norepinephrine
• Slowing down of the digestive system
• Expansion of air passages in the lungs
• Increased heart rate
• Constriction of blood vessels

Cognitive Effects

If pressure continues, one may suffer from mental overload. High levels of stress rapidly impair the ability to make sound decisions. Faulty decisions at home, in a career, or at the workplace can lead to arguments, failure, financial loss, or even loss of a job.

Cognitive effects of stress are:

• Poor concentration
• Reduced short-term memory capacity

Behavioural Effects

Stress changes behaviour in observable ways. People under stress tend to eat less nutritional food, increase their intake of stimulants such as caffeine, and consume excessive amounts of cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs such as tranquillisers. Tranquillisers can be addictive and have side effects including loss of concentration, poor coordination, and dizziness.

Typical behavioural effects include:

• Disrupted sleep patterns
• Increased absenteeism
• Reduced work performance

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Stress and Health

You may have noticed that many students fall sick during examination time — stomach upsets, body aches, nausea, diarrhoea, and fever are common. People who are unhappy in their personal lives also fall sick more often than those who are happy and enjoy life.

Chronic daily stress diverts an individual's attention from caring for themselves. When stress is prolonged, it affects physical health and impairs psychological functioning. People experience exhaustion and attitudinal problems when environmental demands and constraints are too high and little support is available from family and friends.

Physical exhaustion shows up as chronic fatigue, weakness, and low energy. Mental exhaustion appears as irritability, anxiety, and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. This state of physical, emotional, and psychological exhaustion is known as burnout.

There is convincing evidence that stress produces changes in the immune system and increases the chances of becoming ill. Stress has been implicated in the development of:

• Cardiovascular disorders
• High blood pressure
• Psychosomatic disorders including ulcers, asthma, allergies, and headaches

Researchers estimate that stress plays an important role in fifty to seventy per cent of all physical illnesses. Studies also reveal that sixty per cent of medical visits are primarily for stress-related symptoms.

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General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Hans Selye studied what happens to the body when stress is prolonged. He subjected animals to various stressors such as high temperature, X-rays, and insulin injections over long periods, and also observed patients with various injuries and illnesses in hospitals. He noticed a similar pattern of bodily response in all of them, which he called the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) .

GAS involves three stages:

1. Alarm Reaction Stage: The presence of a noxious stimulus or stressor leads to activation of the adrenal-pituitary-cortex system. This triggers the release of hormones producing the stress response. The individual is now ready for fight or flight.

2. Resistance Stage: If stress is prolonged, the resistance stage begins. The parasympathetic nervous system calls for more cautious use of the body's resources. The organism makes efforts to cope with the threat, as through confrontation.

3. Exhaustion Stage: Continued exposure to the same stressor or additional stressors drains the body of its resources and leads to exhaustion. The physiological systems involved in alarm reaction and resistance become ineffective. Susceptibility to stress-related diseases such as high blood pressure becomes more likely.

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Stress and the Immune System

Stress can cause illness by impairing the workings of the immune system. The immune system guards the body against attackers, both from within and outside. Psychoneuroimmunology focuses on the links between the mind, the brain, and the immune system — it studies the effects of stress on the immune system.

How the Immune System Works

The white blood cells (leucocytes) within the immune system identify and destroy foreign bodies (antigens) such as viruses. They also lead to the production of antibodies. There are several kinds of white blood cells:

Stress can affect natural killer cell cytotoxicity, which is of major importance in defence against various infections and cancer. Reduced levels of natural killer cell cytotoxicity have been found in people who are highly stressed, including students facing important examinations, bereaved persons, and those who are severely depressed.

Studies reveal that immune functioning is better in individuals receiving social support. Also, changes in the immune system will have more effect on health among those whose immune systems are already weakened.

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Negative Emotions and Stress

Psychological stress is accompanied by negative emotions and associated behaviours, including depression, hostility, anger, and aggression. Negative emotion states are of particular concern to the study of effects of stress on health.

The incidence of psychological disorders such as panic attacks and obsessive behaviour increases with the build-up of long-term stress. Worries can reach such a level that they surface as a frightening, painful physical sensation, which can be mistaken for a heart attack. People under prolonged stress are more prone to irrational fears, mood swings, and phobias, and may experience fits of depression, anger, and irritability. …