Stress and Our Health
We, as students, experience a lot of situations where our health is put on edge and both body and mental health are subdued to big amounts of stress.
Most of us do not understand the effects that stress has in our bodies, and today we are going to show how dangerous this feeling is.
Scientists found that the earliest response to stress happens in the brain within seconds of perceiving a ‘stressor’, so chemicals which send signals between nerve cells are released, which include serotonin and adrenaline. Following this, stress hormones are released, which particularly affect areas of the brain key for memory and regulating emotions. Repeated stressful issues change how well these systems are able to control the stress response.
Researchers are also investigating how these systems are
Another link between stress and mental health is the immune system. During the stress response, the immune system is activated, helping to keep us safe. But chronic stress and prolonged activation of the immune system could negatively affect how the brain functions.
A prolonged activation of the immune system is also linked to depression. Researchers are working to understand how this activation can lead to depression and other types of mental illness in some people. About 30% of people with depression have increased immune activity in their bodies. Researchers are also undertaking clinical trials to find out if anti-inflammatory drugs might be able to help people with this kind of depression.
This and a lot of more effects such as short-term effects or the realease of some hormones are some other impacts that stress has in our bodies. By stressing ourselves we will not get to anything useful, what we are doing is just affecting, literally, our health.
by Susana Rengifo and
Andrés Argel, Step 10
