Effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning and Health

You may feel slightly agitated when waiting to cross the street on a crowded Monday morning. However, you can cross the road safely because you are awake, watchful, and aware of the danger. When confronted with a task, we make extra efforts and mobilise our resources and support systems to face the issue. We are stressed due to all of the obstacles, issues, and unpleasant conditions. As a result, if stress is managed appropriately, it raises the chances of survival. Stress may be compared to electricity. It provides energy, raises human arousal, and impacts performance. 

However, if the electric current is too high, lamps can be blown out, the equipment can be damaged, and so on. High levels of Effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning and Health can sometimes have negative consequences and impair our effectiveness. On the other hand, too little stress can make us feel listless and unmotivated, causing us to work more slowly and inefficiently. It’s vital to realise that not all effects of Stress on Psychological Functioning and Health are harmful. 

Nature of Stress

The word stress comes from ‘strictus,’ which means tight or narrow, and ‘stringere,’ which means tighten. Many stressed people describe internal sensations of muscular stiffness and constriction, as well as difficulty breathing. Stress is frequently characterised by environmental factors that are bothersome to the individual. Events that trigger the stress reaction in our bodies are known as stressors. Noise, congestion, a strained relationship, or the everyday commute to school or work are examples of such experiences. The response to external stimuli is referred to as ‘strain.’ 

Stress has become related to both the causes and the consequences of many diseases. However, this perspective on stress might be perplexing. Stress is described by Hans Selye, the pioneer of contemporary stress research, as “the nonspecific response of the body to any demand,” which means that regardless of the source of the danger, the individual will react in the same physiological way.

Many scientists disagree with Selye’s description, believing that the stress reaction is not nearly as broad and generic as he claims. Various stresses may cause somewhat different patterns of stress responses, and different people may respond in different ways.

Individuals transact with their social and cultural environments, making appraisals of those encounters and attempting to cope with the issues that arise. Stress is not a factor that resides in the individual or the environment; rather, it is embedded in an ongoing process that involves individuals transacting with their social and cultural environments, making appraisals of those encounters, and attempting to cope with the issues that arise. Stress is a constantly changing mental and cognitive condition. It is a disturbance in homeostasis or an imbalance that necessitates resolving that imbalance or restoring equilibrium. 

Effects of stress on psychological functioning and Health

What are the negative consequences of stress? Many of the consequences are physiological in origin, but other changes occur inside stressed people. The emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavioural impacts of stress are related to the stressed state.

Emotional Effects: People who have stress are more prone to have mood swings and exhibit unpredictable behaviour, which can cause them to become estranged from family and friends. This can lead to a vicious cycle of low confidence in certain situations, leading to more significant emotional issues. Anxiety and despair, increased physical stress, psychological tension, and mood swings are just a few instances.

Physiological Effects: When the human body is put under physical or psychological stress, it produces more adrenaline and cortisol, among other chemicals. These hormones affect heart rate, blood pressure, metabolism, and physical activity. However, this bodily reaction might help us work more successfully under strain for a short amount of time; the long-term ramifications can be exceedingly harmful to the body. Release of epinephrine and norepinephrine, slowdown of the digestive system, enlargement of air passageways in the lungs, increased heart rate, and constriction of blood vessels are examples of physiological consequences.

Cognitive Effects: If stress-related demands persist, one may experience mental overload. Individuals suffering from excessive stress levels might quickly lose their capacity to make informed judgments. Faulty judgments made at home, in the office, or the workplace may result in disputes, failure, financial loss, or even job loss. Poor focus and short-term memory capacity are two cognitive impacts of stress. 

Behavioural Effects: Stress has a behavioural effect on us, causing us to eat less nutritious food, increase our intake of stimulants such as coffee, and excessive amounts of cigarettes, alcohol, and other medicines such as tranquillisers. Tranquillisers can be addictive, and they might cause dizziness, loss of focus, and poor coordination. Disrupted sleep habits, increased absenteeism, and decreased job performance are common behavioural impacts of stress.

Health and Stress

You’ve probably seen a lot of your friends (maybe including yourself!) get sick during the test period. They have stomach aches, body pains, nausea, diarrhoea, and fever, among other things. You’ve probably noticed that people who are dissatisfied in their personal lives are more likely to get sick than those who are content and enjoy life. Chronic everyday stress can cause a person’s focus to be diverted away from self-care. Stress hurts physical health and degrades psychological performance when it is persistent. When stress levels are excessively high due to environmental and societal pressures and there is inadequate support from family and friends, people feel weariness and attitude difficulties.

Irritability, worry, emotions of powerlessness, and hopelessness are all symptoms of mental weariness. Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and psychological weariness. There is also compelling evidence that stress may alter the immune system, increasing the likelihood of someone being unwell. Stress has been linked to the development of heart disease, high blood pressure, and psychosomatic problems such as ulcers, asthma, allergies, and migraines.

According to researchers, stress is thought to play a role in fifty to seventy per cent of all physical ailments. According to studies, Sixty per cent of medical visits are for stress-related symptoms. 

Conclusion 

Stress is an unavoidable aspect of life, and it is a continuous transactional process between the individual and the environment, not a stimulus or a response. It is essential to have a healthy lifestyle to cope effectively with the effects of stress. Assertiveness, time management, rational thinking, enhancing relationships, self-care, and breaking harmful habits are all life skills that assist us in overcoming obstacles. A balanced diet, exercise, a positive attitude, positive, hopeful thinking, and social support contribute to good health and well-being. There is also a requirement for general societal harmony. We must avoid unhealthy escape strategies such as smoking and other dangerous behaviours.