Oxytocin: The Impact Of Stress On The Human Body

Often called the fight or flight reflex, stress has been known to save people’s lives, whether it be on a battlefield or some dangerous situation back home. Too much stress ultimately leads to health problems, but too little stress isn’t good for us either. When we go too long without a sharp stimulating response, the body loses its ability to handle stress properly (Tom Scheve, 2009). Somewhere between too much, and too little stress can actually be good for you, helping you perform under pressure. It is when someone cannot turn off that fight or flight feeling that it begins to show its negative effects.

For instance, "We do not process information as a computer does, dispassionately; we react to it physically" (Coates, 2014, para. 8). This analogy distinguishes human thought and computer processing to illustrate the idea that humans respond to information in a more emotional and biological way. He also provides clarity for biological concepts by saying, "As such, most stress is not, well, stressful. For example, when you walk to the coffee room at work, your muscles need fuel, so the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol recruit glucose from your liver and muscles; you need oxygen to burn this fuel, so your breathing increases ever so slightly; and you need to deliver this fuel and oxygen to cells throughout your body, so your heart gently speeds up and blood pressure increases" (Coates, 2014, para. 7).

Worried Sick Reflection As I watched the “Worried Sick” video, I found many pieces of the research to be really interesting. By taking blood samples and testing it for the stress hormones, I think the scientists were able to get a great sense of what the different animals and people were truly feeling; all of the data collected was very reliable. As a whole, three concepts stuck out to me including the study conducted about the primate vs. the antelope, the effects stress has on the body, and the high impact of personalities on dealing with stress.

The adrenal cortex is responsible for secreting corticosteroids and hormones such as: • Cortisol enables the control the body 's use of fats, proteins, and carbohydrates as well as suppresses inflammatory reactions in the body • Aldosterone which regulates the level of sodium and potassium in the body and helps maintain blood volume and blood pressure. Aldosterone is regulated by complex feedback mechanisms involving sodium and potassium levels as well as blood volume. • Androgenic steroids which are hormones that are converted elsewhere in the body to female hormones (estrogens) and male hormones (androgens) The adrenal medulla is responsible for helping the body cope with emotional and physical stress and secretes hormones such as: • Epinephrine which helps the body to respond to a stressful situation by increasing the heart rate and force of heart contractions, facilitating blood flow to the muscles and brain, causing the relaxation of smooth muscles, helping with conversion of glycogen to glucose in the liver, and other activities.

Dopamine plays a huge role in feelings of pleasure and mood regulation. It produces two hormones called epinephrine and norepinephrine. Epinephrine raises the glucose levels in the blood system. Norepinephrine is a stress hormone that increases blood pressure. These two hormones are released when the body is under extreme stress.

Stress is a natural human response that prompts us to address problems and situations. When under stress, your hormones are released and your body goes into a fight or flight response. You begin to sweat more, your heart rate and blood pressure increase, and your muscles tense. This is why stress is so detrimental to our health. Especially for African Americans, who are already at high risk for high blood pressure given that it's part of genetics.

The 2008 National Geographic documentary, Stress, Portrait of a Killer, explains stress in many different perspectives. The film discusses its history, who has the most of it, it's mental and physical damages to the body, and how we can reverse its effects. Few are aware of the lasting damages stress has on one’s body; this includes

She shares how this new discovery isn't just for those already experiencing symptoms of depression or PTSD, but could help people who are at a higher risk of having severe stress in their lives could avoid developing these symptoms with added stress resilience. Rebecca Branchman’s speech was put into simple terms for everyone in the audience to understand no matter what their knowledge was on her topic, with the help of those visual aids anyone could understand how important this discovery

(-- removed HTML --) While some people might thrive in stressful situations, it's not healthy to always operate in stress-mode. This will negatively impact the body in insurmountable ways. When a person goes through a thorough session of relaxation, they're able to feel a lot better than they started. If an individual takes the time to stop and do what they

What is stress? Concise Oxford Dictionary defines Stress as “pressure or tension exerted on a material object, in physics the magnitude of this is measured in units of force per unit area, a state of mental, emotional, or other strain or particular emphasis, the emphasis given to a syllable or word in speech. No one clear definition exist on what exactly is stress however, the factors that are likely to contribute to its development can be psychological, physical and physiological in nature.

Scientists do not know how stress, something that seems so miniscule, can put one in a life or death situation. Stress and tension can ultimately affect one’s physical and mental health over time based on examples from Jekyll and Hyde, multiple experiments, and

Nevertheless, when stress occurs, our fight or flight responses become engaged, and in turn, we become more alert. In doing so, this causes us to search and create a solution. More so, low-level stressors arouse the creation of brain chemicals called neurotrophins, and strengthen the connections between neurons in the brain (for example, why productivity and concentration is more heavily enhanced in those who exercise more often. Thus, experience frequent, low-level

Most people would likely to adopted an emotion focused coping when they think their action will affect the stressor itself. So one tend to alter their response

Dopamine is responsible for motivating us to reach our goals and claim the rewards. The hormone can give you blissful and pleasurable experience when you achieve a task. 2. Oxytocin is a linked to social bonding and romantic attachment. Whenever we share a moment with someone close to use, oxytocin is produced that promotes emotional attachment, and it improves trust and loyalty.

The main mechanism is, as hippocampus is intensity sensitive to stress and the stress hormone glucocorticoids (GCs) (Bruce et al