Stress Portrait Of A Killer Summary

Another interesting part of this book, talks about the decreased immune response during times of stress. Hans Selye, one of the godfathers of stress physiology, discovered the first evidence of stress-induced immunosuppression back in the 1930s. Selye learned that the same glucocorticoids that are responsible for sympathetic response, was also a large contributor in immune system suppression. Glucocorticoids stop the formation of lymphocytes as well as inhibit the release of interleukins and interferons which make already circulating lymphocytes less responsive to infections. Sapolsky hypothesized why evolution would create this process from happening. He wanted to know why

In an acute stressor, the immune system is heightened. But is suppressed in a chronic stressor. In this situation the cortisol levels rise, and weaken the immune system. This weaken system can make the human body more susceptible to serious disease, infections

Animals and Humans have a biological stress response intended to facilitate survival in the case of a life threatening attack or severe illness. This is commonly referred to the “fight or flight” response. Some primates, including humans have developed the unhealthy propensity to trigger this response for psychological or social reasons. Humans in particular experience the stress response exponentially more often for psychological reasons than for the purpose of survival (Stress, 2008). For example, we are may feel “stressed out” about work or school and if we think about it too much and get upset, we may experience a stress response Just by thinking about something that is bothering us, we can trigger the biological “fight or flight”

Most studies of the relationship between stress and the immune system have focussed on acute(i.e. short lived) stressors and have found a decrease in immune cell function.

All of this stress has a significant impact on one’s overall health and wellness. From cancer to child mortality, nearly every

Initial response to stress activates immune systems; prolonged stress weakens the immune system making you more susceptible to getting sick.

I decided to read the book Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers chapter 8 a chapter we didn’t cover in class. The chapter is named Immunity, stress, and disease which made me interested in the chapter. The reason is because, in the past, I have been sick many times and want to see how stress may impact from someone getting sick. Reading the chapter first thing that caught my attention was how the body’s immune system works. The system is very complex and has many ways to which it protects us from infectious agents. I also learned how stress may inhibit the immune functions, but also there may be other factors that contribute as well. The human immune system fascinates me and I want to learn more about it. The fact is killing bacteria, makes antibodies

Kelly McGonigal discusses the importance of viewing stress as positive, as opposed to negative, by detailing three specific studies and findings about stress. In the first study, it was discovered that people with a significant amount of stress had a higher mortality rate; however, this was only statistically significant if the subject viewed stress as harmful. If the overly-stressed subject didn’t view stress as harmful, they were actually at the lowest risk of dying, even compared to those with a minimal amount. Therefore, it is important to change a person’s perspective of stress. In particular, McGonigal emphasizes that stress is important for a person’s body: it energizes and prepares them to meet whatever challenge they are facing. Furthermore, it helps the blood vessels remain relaxed, thereby allowing the heart to remain healthy.

People with stress also engage in behaviors that are not good for their immune system. This is shown many times in Evicted when people get sick and get diagnosed with a disease after years of living in poverty, getting evicted, or being stressed. For example, Scott grew up in awful conditions and was in poverty as a child, but later was able to educate himself and get a good job. Unfortunately, after an incident at his nursing home that he worked at and his doctor retiring, he became very stressed out and started taking prescription drugs. He also began stilling drugs from people at the nursing home. This affected him a lot and he had to leave his job and live in poverty due to all the money he spent on drugs. After all of these events, he became even more stressed, which made his health even worse. Similar to what the textbook said, when people are stressed, they do things that are not good for their bodies, such as stop exercising, not sleeping well, not eating well, and turning to drugs and alcohol. For Scott, he turned to drugs and alcohol when he was stressed, which affected his life in a negative way. Another example was Ned, who had the stress of having to move his family after an eviction. The eviction was a huge stress on him. He began to miss work and make mistakes at work. This lead to him getting fired from his construction

Everyone experiences stress in a different way: some shut down while others cry or become frustrated. Moreover, although a instinctual necessity, too much stress can definitely cause problems for one’s physical or psychological well-being. When I get too stressed, for example, my immune system drops which causes me to get sick sometimes even three times in a month. Other times, I just have to take breaks from my responsibilities to prevent myself from breaking down or becoming so exhausted that I cannot finish the task at

The nervous, endocrine, and immune systems share a close relationship critical to maintaining homeostasis during psychological and immune stress (Carlsson, Anneli, Ludvigsson, & Faresjö, 2014). Chronic stress, primarily mediated by the glucocorticoid cortisol, is associated with deleterious health outcomes and immune deficiency. However, acute stress is associated with protective health effects and immune enhancement. Stress has generally been regarded as adaptive when acute and short-term but maladaptive when chronic (Dhabhar, 2006; Carlsson, Anneli, Ludvigsson, & Faresjö, 2014; Johnson, Riley, Douglas, & Riis, 2013; Flinn and England, 2003; Wiegers, Reul, Holsboer, & de Kloet, 1994).

Stress can get bad enough to where it starts to affect your body system. Things like depression, heart attacks, diseases, rashes and a low immune system can all occur to people dealing with stress bad enough. The number of common signs and symptoms is outrageous and is depressing to see that there are so many people dealing with this and how it’s such a common thing in this world. On stress.org, they talk about the different body systems and how they’re affected. The nervous, musculoskeletal, respiratory, cardiovascular, endocrine, gastro and reproductive systems are all affected in some way and in many ways to say the least. If your stress ever gets so bad, I consider seeing a doctor or specialist seeing how dangerous this can get.

Dr. McEwen explains what happens to the brain when it is on stress, “The brain perceives and determines what is threatening as well as the behavioral and physiological responses to the stressor, which not only promote adaptation (“allostasis”) but also contribute to pathophysiology (“allostatic load/overload”) when those responses are overused and dysregulated.” (McEwen,1)

life experiences have significant effects on the human state of awareness, a verity of biological systems are affected, these systems are the autonomic nervous system and the immune system, due to these system having a biological relationship as they all interact within the human body; depending on the level of stress these systems can have varying degrees of effects. the human body is complex and no system is emplaced without a need for it such as stress, our bodies need an appropriate amount of stress to function though it's optimum level and length can very quite differently depending on the person and how they react to it and are able to

The documentary “Stress the Portrait of a killer” was quite interesting. This documentary teaches you about stress and the effects it has on both animals and humans. Stress plays a huge factor on our daily lives. There are two hormones that are the workhorses of the whole stress response. These hormones are the adrenaline and glucocorticoids and they tend to come out along with each other. However, there happens to be positive and negative stress. For instance, roller coaster rides are considered to be positive stress. In addition, fat can be considered as negative stress because fat that is brought on by stress is known as dangerous fat. Ultimately, there are different levels and outcomes of stress.