Complications
In prehistoric times, the physical changes in response to stress were an essential adaptation for meeting natural threats. Even in the modern world, the stress response can be an asset for raising levels of performance during critical events such as a sports activity, an important meeting, or in situations of actual danger or crisis.
If stress becomes persistent and low-level, however, all parts of the body's stress apparatus (the brain, heart, lungs, vessels, and muscles) become chronically over- or under-activated. Such chronic stress may produce physical or psychologic damage over time. Acute stress can also be harmful in certain situations, particularly in individuals with preexisting cardiac conditions.
Psychologic Effects of Stress
Studies suggest that the inability to adapt to stress is associated with the onset of depression or anxiety. In one study, two-thirds of subjects who experienced a stressful situation had nearly six times the risk of developing depression within that month.
Some evidence suggests that repeated release of stress hormone produces hyperactivity in the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and disrupts normal levels of serotonin, the nerve chemical that is critical for feelings of well-being. Certainly, on a more obvious level, stress diminishes the quality of life by reducing feelings of pleasure and accomplishment, and relationships are often threatened.
Nevertheless, some stress may be beneficial. For example, although some research has suggested that stress may be a risk factor for suicide, a 2003 study found a higher risk for suicide in women reporting both low and very high stress. Those with moderate stress levels, however, had the lowest risk.
Heart Disease
The effects of mental stress on heart disease are controversial. Stress can certainly influence the activity of the heart when it activates the sympathetic nervous system (the automatic part of the nervous system that affects many organs, including the heart). Such actions and others could theoretically negatively affect the heart in several ways:
- Sudden stress increases the pumping action and rate of the heart while at the same time causing the arteries to constrict, thereby restricting blood flow to the heart. A 2002 study suggested that such actions may be responsible for some incidences of acute stress that have been associated with a higher risk for serious cardiac events, such as heart rhythm abnormalities and heart attacks, and even death in people with heart disease.
- Emotional effects of stress alter the heart rhythms, which could pose a risk for serious arrhythmias in people with existing heart rhythm disturbances.
- Stress causes blood to become stickier (possibly in preparation of potential injury), increasing the likelihood of an artery-clogging blood clot.
- Stress appears to impair the clearance of fat molecules in the body, raising blood-cholesterol levels, at least temporarily.
- Chronic stress may lead to the production of certain immune factors called cytokines that produce a damaging inflammatory response, which is now believed to be responsible for injuries in the arteries that contribute to heart disease.
- Studies have reported an association between stress and hypertension (high blood pressure), which may be more pronounced in men than in women. According to some evidence, people who regularly experience sudden spikes in blood pressure caused by mental stress may, over time, developed injuries in the inner lining of their blood vessels. In one 20-year study, for example, men who periodically measured highest on the stress scale were twice as likely to have high blood pressure as those with normal stress.
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