This post is by guest blogger Matthew Savage
In 21st century Britain, a longer life span means that people have more opportunity to live life to the full and attempt to tick things off their bucket lists. We have become very good at keeping people alive and with work-related stress costing the UK economy £34.6 billion annually (Centre for Mental Health, 2017), many people continue to suffer levels of stress which are unsustainable. Stress is a major contributor to chronic conditions, including diabetes, coronary heart conditions and a number of autoimmune disorders and so it is now more important than ever to understand stress and its effects on the human body. We must define stress as a starting point as if we cannot define stress, then we cannot possibly measure and manage it.
Dr Hans Selye – The “Founder” of stress science
Dr Hans Selye is attributed as being the founded of stress science as an area of study. Originally an endocrinologist, Dr Selye found himself examining ovarian extracts from rats and comparing the effects of an injected hormone in rat populations. He found characteristic pathological changes in the rats, over 6 months, finding damaged immune systems and ulcers in their guts following the experiment. He did not believe it to be the hormones that were injected into these rats that were causing the issues however, and so he exposed rats to a variety of new experiments involving different stressors. He rattled the bars of their cages, changed the heating levels and caused other stressful conditions. He found that variations of stress were leading to these pathological changes within the rats bodies, with the act of injecting the rats being stressful enough to elicit pathological changes in the original experiment. Dr Selye’s experiments were the first to really explore the science of stress and how stress can damage human cells. So why do we get stressed if it is damaging to our bodies?
The generality of the stress response
Humans involuntarily respond to psychological and social stress in the same way that they do to physical stress. So your body responds to work deadlines the same way it would to imminent danger. The stress response cannot distinguish between stressors and is known as a non-specific, generic emergency action. This anticipatory action had a real purpose in the distant past, or when meeting a real danger, but it can become dysfunctional when responding to 21st century stressors. Prolonged periods of stress can contribute to harmful effects, including a number of chronic conditions.
Stress is both a cause and a symptom of disease
As noted, the stress response is an emergency response, vital to fight or flight, but we should not be living in a state of constant stress as this condition moves the human body out of homeostasis, leading to a number of problems. For example, the stress response leads to an increase in Adrenaline levels which leads to a rise in heart rate and blood pressure and also suppresses the bodies release of Human Growth Hormone, reducing cell division and repair. Cortisol levels rise which suppress the immune response of the body and elevate blood sugar and fat levels. The stress response leads to an increase in blood viscosity, as red blood cell levels increase to allow for greater oxygen transportation. All of these changes make blood thicker. The thicker the blood becomes, the harder it is for the heart to move it through the arteries, putting strain on the heart and entire cardiovascular system. This strain cannot be sustained over the long term and can lead to mechanical damage of the endothelium at the points of bifurcation. Blood clots form because the endothelium is damaged by the pressure and composition of the blood, leading to further increases in blood pressure. Higher levels of adrenaline and constriction of the artery walls leads to atherosclerosis, damaging artery walls further. Stress is perfect for creating these conditions as well as accelerating atherosclerosis. Stress stops people from healing from the early stages of the condition and it is this narrowing of the arteries that leads to biggest killer in the UK today; Coronary Heart Disease.
Feedback loops – The psychological and the biological
As noted, Coronary Heart Disease is a real issue in the UK and across the Western world. We must understand that stress is both a cause and a symptom of disease as physical diseases, caused by high levels of stress, can then lead to further stress when dealing with the condition. This is the psychological component of chronic diseases and forms a vicious cycle. Effective treatment needs to look at breaking this cycle and cut the links between these loops. An effective strategy to reduce the risk of coronary heart diseases can be psychological therapies such as anger management. Learning how to control anger and other emotions is vital to controlling stress levels and allow us to be more resilient to a wide variety of stressors, such as in a high-pressured work environment. Meditation and mindfulness, worry management for anxiety and cognitive restructuring are all therapies which can also aid in the reduction and control of stress. So now we understand stress, it is time for organisations and individuals to make an effort to manage their stress levels, to become more resilient and develop a more positive outlook on life. If individuals can do this, they reduce their chances of becoming yet another victim of chronic illness in the UK.
Sparta Health provide their services with this in mind, including mental health triage practitioners, counsellors, psychologists and other healthcare service providers. Please contact us for more information.