Illness Caused by Stress

7 Key excerpts on "Illness Caused by Stress"

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  eBook - ePub

  Psychology of Health 2nd Ed

  • Beth Alder(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  9 Stress and Illness

  Stress

  We have become increasingly aware of the effects of stress on health, although physical health has improved markedly in the last century. We may regard living in an industrialized society in the twentieth century as being very stressful. Yet a hundred years ago there must have been a great deal of stress that came from chronic poor health, worries about housing, accident rates, high infant mortality and the threat of violence. However, there is no doubt that although we may have the physical comforts of warmth, housing and food, life events can cause much disruption and distress.

  We now know more about helping people to cope with change and about managing the effects of stress. Stress is related to changes in health and the changes in morbidity discussed in Chapter 2 may be related in part to stress. Illness itself can also have stressful consequences and medical treatments themselves may be stressful. Psychobiological concepts are closely related to our understanding of stress and its relation to illness and health care,

  Definitions of Stress

  The term 'stress' is often used as a general term, meaning disagreeable stimuli. It can have at least three meanings in the context of health. These meanings tend to be confused and stress is thought to precede a great variety of life's problems or ill health (Wilkinson, 1992).

  The terms stress, stressor, and strain all have precise meanings in mechanical engineering and can be distinguished in physiology. Their distinction in health psychology may lead to a mechanistic model of health (see Chapter 2 ), but it can be useful to try and sort out some of the conflicting views about stress and health.

  Stressors

  The term 'stress can be used to mean the stimuli that produce physiological behavioural and psychological responses to stress. These might be described as stressors.

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  eBook - ePub

  Health Psychology: Stress, Behaviour And Disease

  • Douglas Carroll(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  4 , I shall examine in more detail the effects of stress on the cardiovascular and immunological systems respectively and the implications of such effects for disease.

  Stress can also exert an influence at a behavioural level. Certain behaviours, cigarette smoking, excessive alcohol consumption, particular dietary habits, low levels of physical activity and exercise, have all been identified as contributing negatively to physical health and as positive risk factors for a range of diseases. While such behaviours have complex determinants, it is more than possible that one determinant is psychological stress. There is evidence (see Steptoe, 1984) that the incidence of such unhealthy behaviours increases during periods of stress.

  Finally, stress may influence subjective symptomatology and what is called illness behaviour. Individuals vary markedly in the extent to which they perceive, acknowledge and respond to the physical symptoms of disease and illness. At one end of the scale we have hypochondriasis, where individuals are pathologically obsessed by symptomatology and constantly behave as if seriously ill, and at the other end, instances of sudden death, where there was little or no previously acknowledged symptomatology or medical consultation. It is possible that psychological stress may be one factor prompting individuals to attend more to symptoms of illness and seek medical advice. House et al. (1979) present an example. Subjective complaints of skin rashes and upper respiratory difficulties, coughs and excessive sputum, in a group of industrial workers were compared with reports of stress at work. A positive relationship was recorded; those who reported most work stress, complained most of physical symptoms. Further, in this particular study, work stress was not reliably associated with actual medical evidence of dermatological or respiratory problems; the relationship held only for subjective complaints of such problems. In Chapter 9

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  Adaptation and Well-Being

  Meeting the Challenges of Life

  • Knud S Larsen(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  7 Stress and illness

  Maladaptation or coping rationally with adversity

  Only dead people experience no stress. Struggling with personal problems is an integral part of life as we adjust to challenges throughout the human journey. Perceptions and cognitive appraisals of stressors play a determining role in what is considered stressful and that varies between people. This chapter will discuss the long-established relationship between chronic stress and psychosomatic illness, as well as examine the effects of stress on the immune system and the long-term consequences that create serious illness. The relationship of personality traits, the work environment and the broader socio-economic conditions to stress is then outlined. As we shall see, stress is part of the very fabric of life and cannot be avoided.

  However, not all stress is negative, and to live a life without stress or problems is not only unrealistic but would be a boring life without challenges. When life is faced with courage, and when people don’t run away from problems, the stress that has negative consequences on health can be reduced and ameliorated. All significant life events cause stress, whether it is moving a family to a new location or experiencing the death of a loved person. Therefore, seeking a stress-free life is neither possible nor reasonable. Nevertheless, people can do much to alleviate stress by taking resolute steps, which will be discussed toward the end of the chapter.

  However, stress is increasing in the world. Social trust that is a foundation of a just society decreased during the last half of the twentieth and beginning of the twenty-first centuries. Consequences can be observed broadly in society and in individual lives. For example, about 50% of all households are now led by single mothers (mostly) and fathers. That is not unrelated to the deterioration of children’s health and well-being. Mental health reflects this increase in stress and has come to the point that more than half of the US population will suffer from some mental illness in their lifetime. We can observe a general crisis of morality as empathy is decreasing. Self-regulation of negative feelings is evaporating in the presence of anything goes in cyberspace and the ease of hiding behind anonymity on the internet. It is strange to acknowledge that, for Darwin, moral agency was the most potent force in evolution expressed in the human species by pervasive desires to help one another. At this point in history, we are electing leaders who express with pride negativity toward all possible ‘others’ (Heckman, 2008; Klinenberg, 2012).

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  Stress at Work

  • Jeremy Stranks(Author)
  • 2005(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  As with any form of stressor, not only must the nature of the stressor be considered, but also the duration of exposure to the stressor. Physical responses to prolonged stress can include a number of minor disorders which create discomfort, but which may lead to serious ill health including headaches, migraine, allergies, skin disorders and arthritis.

  The following diseases have been linked to stress, but there is no clear-cut medical evidence to this effect.

  • Coronary heart disease: Studies have identified a positive link with competitive and aggressive behaviour and coronary heart disease.
  • Cancer: Some people, who are prone to symptoms of stress, such as anger, fear and feelings of hopelessness, may be more susceptible to cancer.
  • Digestive disorders: Persistent indigestion or stomach discomfort is a classic manifestation of stress for some people. Approximately one person in 10 suffers from a stomach ulcer at some time in their life.
  • Diabetes: Diabetes commonly follows some form of emotional or physical upset to the system.

  The lessons to be learnt are that people need to be aware, firstly, of their own personal stress response and, secondly, to take positive action, rather than ignoring the evidence and pushing themselves even further.

  3.3 The Stages of the Stress Response

  The response to stress commonly takes place in a number of stages in which a number of symptoms may be present. These are summarized in Table 3.2

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  Stress and Strategy

  • Shirley Fisher(Author)
  • 2015(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  12 A Cognitive Model of Stress and Disease: An Attempted Synthesis

  In this book there has been an attempt to understand the effects of stress in terms of the implications for strategies for achieving control. It could be argued that people use strategies to achieve desired goals in all aspects of problems in daily life. Stressful circumstances merely create additional and vital problems for the individual. Whether these problems are seen as challenging and positive or distressing and negative depends on circumstance. A particular feature of circumstance is the perception of control: If control is possible, the stress will be seen as demanding and challenging; if control is not possible but the stress is threatening, high distress is a likely outcome. Yet the perception of control is a demanding and complex cognitive process which either depends on noting contingent relationships between action and outcome or on noting progress made.

  Personality and situational constraints are assumed to influence the strategic response to stress: The individual is not free to select strategies. The relationship between a selected strategy and the ideal strategy will determine efficiency and in turn influence perceived control.

  In this chapter we consider the implications of some of these ideas for a model of stress and disease and attempt to produce a synthesis. Because this book is intended for advanced students as well as researchers, there is some attempt to provide details of existing models as well as some indication of methodological difficulties in this complex research area. Because of the confines of space, it has been necessary to be selective; where appropriate, references for further reading are indicated.

  1. METHODOLOGICAL DIFFICULTIES IN INTERPRETATION OF STRESS AND ILLNESS ASSOCIATIONS

  Countless literary and folk-law sources have hinted at relationships between unhappiness and ill health. Many primitive societies incorporate the belief that disharmony in social relationships

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  Health Psychophysiology

  • S. Suter(Author)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  In summary, if the organism can control stressful events via effective coping responses that are not themselves excessively demanding, then the act of control buffers the organism against the potentially stressful qualities of the situation. The potential for control does not automatically defuse stress. The act of coping can be stressful. Brady’s monkeys and humans who, from day to day, feel that they have no respite from their perceived responsibilities are in such a dilemma. Behavioral studies suggest that a steady diet of stressful experiences, with which one cannot cope, leads to giving up, helpless behavior in the face of future stressors, and possibly depression. If the safety-signal hypothesis is correct, it is important for individuals in chronically high-stress circumstances to have regular safe periods, perhaps daily periods of psychophysiological relaxation.

  Coping With Illness

  Becoming ill and being treated can be highly stressful. The daily routine of the person is drastically rearranged, new and possibly very serious threats to the physical and psychological well-being of the patient are introduced, and the future is uncertain. Coping with the emotional distress caused by these and other stressors is a critical aspect of recovery. Individuals differ in their psychological responses to illness and treatment, and these responses can differentially facilitate or interfere with recovery.

  Practitioners generally recognize that psychological factors in the patient can maintain illness in the face of treatment that should be effective. However, there is very little detailed practical knowledge about how to minimize the negative effects of coping on illness, and possibly recruit the coping process as a positive force in healing. Useful working procedures are limited to general practices such as conducting surgery first thing in the morning for anxious patients thereby shortening the period of pre-surgical distress. Many complex issues remain. For example, consider screening programs that identify individuals who are at increased risk of early CHD. Giving the person this knowledge, in itself, is a potential stressor, and could possibly accelerate the course of the disorder if the patient does not cope effectively with this threatening information (Horowitz et al, 1983).

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  Perceptions of Health & Illnes

  • Petrie(Author)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Psychology Press

    (Publisher)

  (1991) proposed the formative cognitive behavioural model of CFS. They suggested that an organic insult such as a virus precipitates a cycle of psychological responses, which mediate between the acute organic illness and the chronic syndrome. In other words, while organic factors precipitate the illness, cognitive behavioural factors perpetuate the condition. Wessely et al. (1991) explain that when resuming normal activity levels following a viral infection, it is common to experience symptoms of physical deconditioning. If people attribute these symptoms to signs of ongoing disease rather than deconditioning, they will tend to resort to rest and inactivity in an attempt to “cure” the symptoms. A cycle of avoidance and symptom experience develops, which can lead to loss of control, demoralisation and possible depression and anxiety. These psychological states can further perpetuate the illness through generating more physical symptoms. Surawy et al. (1995) expanded this earlier formulation to include an explanation of predisposing factors. They suggest that predisposed people are highly achievement orientated and base their selfesteem and the respect from others on their ability to live up to certain high standards. When such people are faced with precipitating factors which affect their ability to perform, such as a combination of excessive stress and an acute illness, their initial reaction is to press on and keep coping. This behaviour leads to exhaustion. In making sense of the situation a physical attribution for the exhaustion is made, which protects their self-esteem by avoiding the suggestion that their inability to cope is a sign of personal weakness. Physical attributions result in people focusing on the somatic rather than emotional aspects of their illness. Symptoms which could be physiological concomitants of chronic psychological distress or inactivity such as fatigue, poor concentration and muscle pain, are interpreted as signs of an ongoing disease

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