Don't let your stress hinder success
Kate Jacobs
Issue date: 3/6/09 Section: News
Stress has the potential to be a person's ally and silent motivator, but if left unchecked, can turn into an everyday adversary.
Many students deal with stress on a day-to-day basis. It is welcomed and embraced when it aids us in turning in a paper on time or giving a flawless presentation.
Stress also helps in fight or flight situations. When a threat presents itself, the body releases adrenaline and cortisol hormones, causing an internal split-second decision whether to stay put and address the threat head-on or flee the scene.
Health Education Coordinator JoAnn Hairston-Jones explained that the body's automatic reaction to stress prompts an increase in heart rate and elevation in blood pressure.
Situations where this takes place are referred to as acute stress which is a reaction to an immediate threat at a specific time or isolated event and has a sudden onset.
While this reaction to stress may save your life, if it is left unexamined and unrelieved, it can cause the opposite reaction.
When the body is in a constant state of stress, it is sending out signals for the continual release of the cortisol hormone.
"It is the drip, drip, drip that sometimes we aren't even aware of until we become overwhelmed," Hairston-Jones said. "It is important to be in touch with our bodies so we can manage the stress we have better."
According to the Mayo Clinic, cortisol also alters the immune system responses and signals the digestive system to slow down.
This type of stress affects almost all of the body's processes, leaving it with great potential for the onset of many detrimental health conditions.
Hairston-Jones said there is a link between chronic stress and obesity, insomnia and digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. She also cited a strong correlation between chronic stress and high blood pressure and cholesterol, which often result in heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
Many students deal with stress on a day-to-day basis. It is welcomed and embraced when it aids us in turning in a paper on time or giving a flawless presentation.
Stress also helps in fight or flight situations. When a threat presents itself, the body releases adrenaline and cortisol hormones, causing an internal split-second decision whether to stay put and address the threat head-on or flee the scene.
Health Education Coordinator JoAnn Hairston-Jones explained that the body's automatic reaction to stress prompts an increase in heart rate and elevation in blood pressure.
Situations where this takes place are referred to as acute stress which is a reaction to an immediate threat at a specific time or isolated event and has a sudden onset.
While this reaction to stress may save your life, if it is left unexamined and unrelieved, it can cause the opposite reaction.
When the body is in a constant state of stress, it is sending out signals for the continual release of the cortisol hormone.
"It is the drip, drip, drip that sometimes we aren't even aware of until we become overwhelmed," Hairston-Jones said. "It is important to be in touch with our bodies so we can manage the stress we have better."
According to the Mayo Clinic, cortisol also alters the immune system responses and signals the digestive system to slow down.
This type of stress affects almost all of the body's processes, leaving it with great potential for the onset of many detrimental health conditions.
Hairston-Jones said there is a link between chronic stress and obesity, insomnia and digestive problems such as diarrhea, constipation and irritable bowel syndrome. She also cited a strong correlation between chronic stress and high blood pressure and cholesterol, which often result in heart disease, diabetes and stroke.
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