Stress helps you meet your daily challenges and motivates you to reach your goals, ultimately making you a smarter, happier, and healthier person. However when you are stressed, what body reactions or clinical manifestations do you often experience? After studying the endocrine system and the stress response, can you explain how these clinical manifestations occur?
When an individual is under stress, their bodies may react in a variety of ways, and these reactions might change from person to person. Headaches, irritability, and a faster heart rate are some of the physical manifestations of stress that I experience. In understanding one’s natural stress response, the hypothalamus, a small region at the base of our brain, triggers an alarm system in our body whenever a threat is perceived; a personal example is a backlog of activities that are getting close to their due dates. Through a combination of nerve and hormonal signals, this system prompts our adrenal glands located at the top of our kidneys to release a surge of hormones (adrenaline and cortisol).
For me to experience those manifestations, hormones known as adrenaline and cortisol play a significant part in the process. The hormone adrenaline is responsible for the increase in our heart rate, as well as the elevation in our blood pressure, and the boost of energy. In addition, the principal hormone of stress, known as cortisol, causes an increase in the amount of sugar in the bloodstream, enhances the brain’s utilization of glucose, and raises the availability of chemicals that repair tissues.
Moreover, when perceived threat is always present and one feel constantly under attack, the fight-or-flight stress response would stay activated. This is known as a survival mechanism, which is the ability to respond rapidly to situations in which you must either fight or flee.
References:
Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. (2021, July 8). Chronic stress puts your health at risk. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/stress-management/in-depth/stress/art-20046037
Understanding the stress response. Harvard Health. (2020, July 6). Retrieved October 13, 2022, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response