Recession Raising Stress Levels in US Workers
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This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Barbara Klein.
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| Dwayne Speller, 22, waits to talk to a job adviser in Las Vegas, Nevada, earlier this month. The nation's unemployment rate rose to 8.1 percent in February, the highest since late 1983. |
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Almost 1 of American workers say they are struggling or suffering because of stress from the current economic recession. That information comes from a recent opinion study by the Gallup Organization.
Another study found that almost half of American workers expressed concern about their ability to provide for immediate family needs. Not surprisingly, many workers say they are eating or drinking too much, and smoking more as they attempt to deal with money issues.
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Stress affects everybody, every day. Stress is how your body reacts to physical, chemical, emotional or environmental influences. Some stress is unavoidable and may even 2 us. Stress can keep our bodies and minds strong. It gives us the push we need to deal with an urgent situation.
But too much stress can be harmful. It may make an existing health problem worse. Or it can lead to sickness if a person is at risk for the condition.
For example, your body reacts to stressful situations by raising your blood pressure and making your heart work harder. This is dangerous if you already have heart disease or high blood pressure. Stress is more likely to be harmful if you feel helpless to deal with the problem or situation that causes the stress.
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Anything you see as a problem can cause stress. It can result from everyday situations or major problems. Stress results when something causes your body to act as if it were being attacked.
Causes of stress can be physical, such as injury or disease. Or they can be mental, such as problems involving your family, job, health or finances. Many visits to doctors are for conditions linked to stress.
The tension of stress can 3 sleep or cause anger or sadness. A person may become more forgetful or find it harder to think clearly. Losing one's sense of humor is another sign of an unhealthy amount of stress.
Stress can lead to other problems if people attempt to ease it by taking drugs, smoking, drinking alcohol or by eating more or less than normal.
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Chronic stress lasts a long time or happens often. Chronic stress causes the body to produce too much of two hormones, cortisol and adrenalin. Cortisol is called the "worry" hormone. It is produced when we are afraid. Adrenalin prepares the body to react physically to a threat.
Persons suffering from chronic stress produce too much of these hormones for too long. Too much cortisol and adrenalin can result in physical problems and changes that lead to stress-related sickness.
Cortisol provides high levels of energy during important periods. However, scientists have become concerned about the hormone's long-term effects on our health. Evidence shows that extended periods of cortisol in the body weakens bones, damages nerve cells in the brain and weakens the body's defense system against disease. This makes it easier to get viral and bacterial infections.
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Chronic stress has been linked to high blood pressure and heart disease. Studies suggest that people who are easily stressed develop blockages in blood passageways faster than other people.
High stress levels have been found to cause asthma attacks that 4 . Stress is also linked to mental conditions like depression and anxiety disorders. Extended periods of stress have been linked to headaches, difficulty sleeping, stomach problems and skin disorders.
Studies also show that chronic stress reduces the levels of the hormone estrogen in women. This might put some women at greater risk for heart disease or the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis.
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A recent study found that emotional stress may put some older adults at risk of falls and broken bones. Swedish researchers studied one hundred thirty-seven older adults who suffered bone fractures after falling. The patients were questioned at two hospitals.
The study found that the patients' risk of suffering a fall was higher for up to one hour after emotional stress. Sadness increased the risk nearly six percent 5 periods with no such feelings. For anger, there was an increased risk of more than twelve percent. And, stress increased the risk of falling by about twenty percent.
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Mental and health experts believe personality is an important part in how we experience stress. Personality is the way a person acts, feels and thinks. Many things influence a person's personality, including genetics and experience.
