Stress and Disease

STRESS AND DISEASE

There are several kinds of psychophysiological diseases, which are diseases that are highly related to stress. These do not necessarily have to be caused by stress but they are definitely exacerbated by stress. Common disorders related to stress are hypertension, heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, asthma, back pain, tension headaches, and a variety of skin diseases.

There are certain psychological states and personalities that are more likely to be associated with these types of disorders. In fact, psychoanalysts have related specific diseases to certain unconscious conflicts but, other than hypertension related to anger, none of these has been borne out by research. State of minds that are related to major illnesses are anger, depression, and anxiety. Depression is a major risk factor for most of the significant physical illnesses. Neuroticism is a risk factor for several physical diseases.

The immune system depends on a healthy psychological state. We need the immune system to fight off the different toxins and pathogens that cause disease. A person can be affected by an autoimmune disease, in which the person has an error in their immune system so that it attacks the body s own tissues. There are more than a hundred autoimmune diseases, including lupus, thyroid disease, and rheumatoid arthritis.

The immune system can also be suppressed. This is called immunosuppression and can lead to a number of infectious diseases, including HIV disease and other infectious diseases. The study of the immune system and psychology is called psychoneuroimmunology. The immune system can be conditioned experimentally to react to stress. There are many other links to the immune system and psychological diseases. Stress alone increases the risk for developing even minor infectious diseases.

Heart disease is one of several cardiovascular diseases that can be affected by stress because of the natural responsiveness of the cardiovascular system to stressful situations. Heart attacks are one major problem associated with chronic stress. People who do not have a heart attack can have angina, which is a squeezing type of chest pain and other symptoms associated with stress or exercise. Hypertension is a major risk

factor for the development of heart disease. Other risk factors include poor diet, tobacco use, alcohol use, and a sedentary lifestyle.

Research has been done on people with type A or type B personality styles. Type A people are more rushed and tend to be workaholics, while type B people are more laidback and relaxed. Heart disease, it turns out is, seven times greater in incidence among people who have a type A personality style. More recent research has indicated that there are certain components of the type A personality that trigger heart disease. The most specific component is anger and hostility, namely suppressed hostility.

Besides anger and hostility, other things that can trigger heart disease include depression and negative affectivity. People with negative affectivity have a variety of distressful emotional states, such as guilt, fear, and disgust. People with depression of long-lasting duration have an increased risk of death due to heart disease. In addition, having heart disease is linked to the development of depression.

Asthma is linked to stress. Asthma involves constriction of the bronchial tree with shortness of breath and wheezing, cough, and chest tightness. Asthma is often due to allergies, smoking, airway infections, exercise, and exposure to cold air. It appears that there are psychological factors playing a role in the exacerbation or worsening of asthma. Anxiety and high emotional states seem to most trigger asthma. Exposure to stress alone will trigger asthma. Stressful experiences and times of interpersonal conflict will also lead to the development of an asthma attack.

Tension headaches happen in the head and neck region. These are different from migraines, which are usually on one side of the head and are associated with nausea and difficulty with noise and light. Things that most contribute to tension headaches are eye strain, poor posture, stress, meal deprivation, and sleep deprivation. Stress alone contributes to a lower tolerance for pain, which can manifest itself as a tension headache.

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