Stress is the major source of human health hazard Abstract On 28 / 5 / 2007, former Japanese Agriculture Minister Toshikatsu Matsuoka, who was deemed to be corrupt and pelted with caustic criticisms, committed suicide by hanging himself. Owing to this scandal, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's cabinet is under much more pressure. Surely, the multitude will barely have the experience to be put under stress of this extent. Yet, obliged to assume certain responsibilities, stress is an inevitable part of every single human being on earth, regardless of age, status, gender and race. Concerning this phenomenon, we have written this report, discussing stress's impacts on human mental health and physical health, in addition to judging whether stress is the major source of human health hazard. This report will also include some ways of using stress correctly suggested by us. Introduction During the Medieval period, religious judges used thumbscrews to torture sinners, coercing them to confess to the God. The word ¡§stress¡¨ was equal to the physical suffering involved in the punishment at that time. Although this is a completely different century now, many people still deem stress as a form of torture. [David Lewis, 1995] It is irrefutable that the more productive an adult is, the more stress he is placed under. Having to satisfy more and higher expectations of others, there will be eventually more stress on one's shoulders. Despite the fact that human beings are all under stress, some seem to deal with it in sophisticated ways and continue to live joyfully. In contrast, some are significantly tormented by it and are trapped in a deadlock. This phenomenon implies that stress has different influence on different people. There has been growing concern that stress is related to part of mental illnesses and physical ailments, suggesting that stress may be a major source of human health hazard. Of course, if stress is used correctly, it can be beneficial for people, otherwise it is harmful [David Lewis, 1995]. However, in this project, our group will only focus on the impacts of harmful and incorrectly-used stress on human health. The influence of positive stress is beyond the scope of this project. As we discuss the topic, we concur that stress can contribute to both physical illnesses and mental disorders. Thus, our group thinks that stress is the major source of both mental and physical health problems. This project has three main objectives. First, to prove stress can lead to physical health problems of human. Second, to prove stress can cause mental health problems. Using the results of the first two parts, we can hence prove that stress is a major source of human health hazard. Finally, acknowledging the adverse effects of stress, our group will recommend some ways of relieving stress. This report is divided into mainly three sections. The first section explains the relationships between stress and physical ailments. This part will demonstrate how stress provoke certain bodily problems. The second section explains the correlation between stress and mental diseases. Several stress-caused psychological disorders will be reviewed
in this part. The last main part will include some recommendations of dealing with stress properly. In the conclusion part, we shall give a brief summary of the whole report and evaluate to what extent stress is the major source of human health hazard. Definition of Stress [http://www.teachhealth.com/#recogstress] To make ourselves clear and limit our scope of research, we need to define stress. Actually, stress is equal to ¡§worry¡¨ to most people. Anything which can stimulate worry is deemed as ¡§stress¡¨. It can range from some minor matters like paying bills, to very important matters such as suspecting oneself to have cancer. Nevertheless, to people's bodies, the definition of stress is much broader. To the body, stress is a synonym of ¡§change¡¨, no matter if it is a "positive" change or a "negative" change. Moving to a new flat would generate stress, as well as being paralyzed because of an accident. Another aspect of stress is imagined change. Once again, imagining changes alone is already stressful, regardless of whether the imagined event is good or bad. Indeed, imagining changes is "worrying" and that will generate stress. Mental Health Vulnerability-stress Model in Psychology In Psychology, there is a theory called ¡§vulnerability-stress model¡¨ which explains why mental disorders are generated. This theory suggests that there are two major origins of psychological disorders --vulnerability and stress, and the two MUST interact with each other to create disorders. The ¡§vulnerability¡¨ part includes one's biological abnormalities. ¡§Stress¡¨ here means severely stressful events, such as sexual abuse, bereavement or perennial poverty. [Carole Wade, Carol Tavris, 2006, p. 382] In the following we will list two mental illnesses which can demonstrate the interaction of vulnerability and stress. Post-traumatic Stress disorder It should be no denial that enormous crisis or trauma leads to stress symptoms, such as insomnia, agitation and jumpiness. These phenomena are normal if they do not persist for one month or longer and do not affect a person's body functioning. However, if they do, one would be diagnosed to have post-traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD). [Carole Wade, Carol Tavris, 2006, p. 376 ¡V 377] This disease stems from an extremely stressful event and genetic predisposition. Without either one of them, one would continue to live with pleasure. Genetic problems will first be discussed. Researchers found that PTSD suffers' hippocampus, an organ which processes autobiographical memory, is prone to be smaller than average. An smaller hippocampus may result in failure in recovering from traumatic events. [Carole Wade, Carol Tavris, 2006, p. 377] Scientists originally believed
that serious traumas ¡§caused neuron damage or loss of cells in the hippocampus¡¨, leading to PTSD symptoms. Yet, the hypothesis was doubted. Some researchers supposed that the veterans with military service in the Vietnam War would be traumatized and hence develop PTSD. But this was not the case. They found that the experience in the chaotic country alone would not induce PTSD. Serving in the military and having a smaller-thannormal hippocampus would indeed generate PTSD. Twins who had smaller hippocampus but no experience in war did not develop the disease, and vice-versa. Only the interaction of extreme stress and inherent genetic problems could be attributed to inducing PTSD. As we can see, stress plays an important role in causing this mental disorder. Major Depression Major depression is a serious mood disorder which adversely influences a person's emotion, behaviour, cognition and physical condition. The changes in these aspects would disrupt one's ordinary functioning. Main symptoms include loss of interests, suicidal thoughts and exaggeration of minor failures. [Carole Wade, Carol Tavris, 2006, p. 380 - 381] . Psychologists have identified a short form of one gene called ¡§5-HTT¡¨ makes people more susceptible to depression. But they have found that the possession of 5-HTT alone would not induce the mental illness [Carole Wade, Carol Tavris, 2006, p. 380 - 381]. In a study, 847 New Zealanders were followed from birth to age twenty six. 43% of the sample population possessed the short from of the potentially-harmful gene. These people were found to become seriously depressed after major stress caused by loss of jobs, bereavement, suffering of abuse and so on. Yet, only 17% of those without the short form of 5-HTT suffered from depression, ¡§even when they suffered the same stress¡¨ [Carole Wade, Carol Tavris, 2006, p. 382]. The difference implies that without stress, major depression would not take place on a person's life.