Colloquially, they say that life is a challenge that we are yet to overcome as we grow and develop into mature individuals; in simple scientific definition, life is just stressful.
Time immemorial has proved that life from the beginning undergoes stress at a level where our existence can handle and tolerate stressors through homeostasis. May it be a "stress" solvable at the surface level or stressors beyond capability, our body automatically finds a way to cope and resist the wavering effects of stress and combats it with a proper response. Fortunately, our bodies are naturally good at responding to life stressors exquisitely manifested in the beauty of our human body. With the help of our nervous and endocrine systems, the human body can achieve the optimal response toward stressors leading to a successful and motivated life, often depicted as eustress.
Our hormones are key players in dealing with stress. For example, the hypothalamus, the brain's coordinating center, sends signals to every part of the body to activate its fight or flight response towards possible threats. It gives our hearts a big pound, our breathing a boost, and our muscles tense, ready for action! (I believe we should know the specifics of this and would not further explain) Normally, once the "danger" stops, the adrenaline boost should too; however, there are instances that it can't due to prolonged stages of resistance, thus, harboring an unhealthy cycle of consequences in several parts of the body systems.
Personally, I often experience the exhaustion after much resistance in stress from my personal and academic life. Body aches, restlessness, and insomnia are a few of the clinical manifestations of stress I often experience. Much after the knowledge I gained in this lesson, I have learned that these clinical manifestations occur through the physiological relations of every body systems to each other, more so in the significance that our hormones play in our body. Some examples is seen in the following statements:
- In the case of muscular body system relation to stress, the prolonged muscular tension from stress hormones produces stiff shoulders, body aches, and back pains.
- The digestive system produces extra blood sugar when the body is stressed. Chronic stress may play a part in the body's incapability to cope with the extra sugar, increasing the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
References:
Pietrangelo, The Effects of Stress on Your Body. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/stress/effects-on-body