Abstract
The effects of stress are discussed in the paper along with my personal experience. The reasons are also given with the identification of symptoms that resulted in the stressful situation. Stress always put direct effects on the brain of the victim. Stress also disturbs mental and emotional intelligence of a person. The symptoms are found in the same age people due to their past and present critical situations. Stressful situation not only damage brain. It also put effects on the body parts of the victim. The self-practice could reduce the stress of the victim. Drug is not the solution of the problem as it is mainly mental illness. The illness is a severe but controllable situation that could only be solved by self-motivation and self-practices. One has to take care of his diet and do exercise daily as it is also suggested by the doctors that daily exercise is good for mental and physical health.
Introduction
The paper discusses the effects of stress that I am currently facing. My husband Stanley Howard was arrested for the crime that he never committed, and he is still incarcerated. He was forced to make the confession by the office, Jon Burg. My husband is in Dixon correctional center, and we are worried that my husband might be getting tortured in there. I am living in Chicago, Illinois in the neighborhood of Englewood. My husband has spent his whole life as a loving husband and excellent father who has always been there for the family. He was framed for a crime that he never committed and was tortured by the officer who I believe has a personal reason to act in this way against my husband. My husband went through mental and physical torture that has affected him severely, and he is not able to control his emotions every time the family visits him in the prison. I strongly believe that he is still going through the same torture in the prison, and I fear for his well-being. It has put me under immense stress, and I am not able to cope with the stress. I feel that I am losing the battle, and the burden of responsibility is mounting. I am not mentally strong to reduce my stress, and I desperately seek help to overcome this situation.
The situation is serious for me because I am not able to find the way to solve the problems of my husband. We both have supported each other and family members throughout our lives, but now my husband is not with me to support his family either financially or morally. Stanley Howard was working in the factory and spent his leisure hours with children and grandchildren by taking care of them. He never got a chance to enjoy his own time, and I have seen him planning for years to be able to do the things that he wanted to do. However, now he is facing a critical condition that is becoming difficult to come out as the officer is shrewdly building a case against him. Overall, this situation is causing tremendous stress for me, and I am not able to concentrate on fighting the case of my husband.
Physiological Changes in the Brain
Stress always put direct effects on the brain of the victim. The brain of the victim suggests him to fight or run away from the situation. The situation is critical, and the victim is unable to find ways to stay out of the situation by any means. It could cause a severe injury to the mind of the person. The stress in the brain put effects on the whole body by increasing blood pressure, anxiety and other problems (Fink, 2010).
Stress also affect one's digestive system and slows down its operation. It decreases the flow of blood to the main parts of the body. The blood flow could result in the weakness of the body. The victim who could not find the way to reduce the threat and continue suffers due the hazardous situation also faces issues related to the production of adrenaline. Adrenaline is the hormone that is produced by the adrenal glands during stress situations. Stress also increases cortisol that could severe pain in the body of the victim. The brain is the major part of the body, and all parts of the body are connected with it. The brain of the victim constantly receives negative signals from different parts of the body that affects its functioning and thinking process weakens (Fink, 2010).
Stress responses are critical for the victim’s brain as they result in different diseases that cause pain in the body. The victim cannot realize that his pain is due to the stress on his mind, and the action causes depression and tension for him. Most of the mental conditions caused due to the stress faced by the victim could not be eliminated or reduced if he or she acts alone (Fink, 2010).
Emotional and Cognitive Effects
Stress also disturbs mental and emotional intelligence of a person. A change could be noticed in the behavior of the victim. He starts shouting, screaming, and hurt others without having knowledge that the action could hurt others. Stress creates mental illness that could result in the behavior and attitude of the victim. He becomes unable to understand that his actions and words could result in harm to other people. He does not have an idea at that time regarding his unusual behavior (Shapero, et al., 2014).
Stressful events occur due to the depressive symptoms that could result in a severe depression. It is observed by the researchers that stress comes from to the depressive conditions of the person or it is caused by something that he had suffered in the past and he is now unable to ignore or forget it. It is found in the study that effects of early life stress emotionally affects the current stress conditions. The childhood abuse could result in high-level depression in the adulthood. These depression symptoms support the evidence that childhood abuse emotionally affects the victim’s mind (Shapero, et al., 2014).
Emotional abuse could result in high depression, and similarly stress also affects the emotional and cognitive behavior of the victim. He feels afraid of something and cannot face the problems of life as he is unable to understand the situation. He cannot accept the challenges and feel the laziness in completing his routine work. His behavioral changes do not allow him to concentrate on the present situation. The victim of the stress could not take the viable decision because his lack of cognitive and emotional approach becomes an obstacle in his decision-making process (Shapero, et al., 2014).
Same Depressive Symptoms in the Opposite Gender
The depressive symptoms in the opposite gender (male) are not different from that of mine. There are other families that are suffering from the similar situation. My friend Mr. Peter has the same problem. The problem is related to the unusual situation that occurs in the ordinary life that could harm the victim. The senior family member of the convicted person has to take care of the family. He could not run away from their responsibilities. The emotional, cognitive and physiological effects mentioned above were also found in the Peter. Most of the people have the same problem of stress situation in the same situation (Sandi & Haller, 2015).
The depressive symptoms are found in the people facing the same situation, and they could not control their emotions. They begin to shout and blame others for unpredictable situations. The victims of the stressful situation mostly have different types of illness like high blood pressure, heart problem, diabetes, etc. They have these types of problems like mental, psychological and emotional behavior. They have faced a severe accident in their life, and now their physical and mental health does not allow him to face other challenges (Manning, 2010).
It could be seen that the problem is not solely related to the gender or age of people. The depressive symptoms are also found in other genders or different age people. The problem is that accidental situation faced by them in past. The victims of the stressful situation have to control their illness and try to overcome the issue.
Effects of Stress on the Body Parts
Stressful situation not only damage the brain. It also put effects on the body parts of the victim. It damages the parts of the body slightly but could result in major injury or disease. Following are some of the effects of stress on the human body.
• Weight Problems
• Heart Attack Outcome
• Aches and Pains
Above mentioned effects are found in the stressful situation. The victim could feel that his weight increases and he feel laziness even while doing his routine works. He might suffer from the heart disease. The pain would not allow him to relax, and he feels physical weaknesses in his body parts (Steptoe, 2006).
Self-help Strategies for Stress
The victim of stress or depression has to control it rather than taking drugs for the illness. The self-practice could reduce the stress of the victim. It is related to the mental disturbance and could only be solved by applying following strategies.
• Track Your Thoughts
• Eat well and keep active
• Talk to someone you trust
Track Your Thoughts
The victim has to write his thoughts, suggestions, and requirements on paper so he can express his feeling. The implementation of this strategy would reduce my hesitation and in this way my feelings could come out (Alters & Schiff, 2005).
Eat well and keep active
I have to implement the strategy of eating food well and remain active by doing exercise daily. My body needs good quality and quantity food, and daily exercise will not allow increasing the weight.
Talk to someone you trust
Another strategy is crucial as it removes the loneliness of the person. Talking to someone always remove depression and tensions prevailing in the mind. One could feel relax by expressing his feeling, ideas thoughts, and suggestions. I could feel relax by sharing different matters with my family members or friends.
Above strategies are the tools to reduce or control the stressful situation. All the strategies would result in great control over depression, and I would be able to remove my isolation.
Recommendations to Others
All the strategies discussed above could help other in reducing and controlling the stressful situation. The drug is not the solution to the problem as it is mainly mental illness. The illness is a severe but controllable situation that could only be solved by self-motivation and self-practices. One has to take care of his diet and do exercise daily as it is also suggested by the doctors that daily exercise is good for mental and physical health relief. The victim of the stressful situation must not take it as a tension. The problem could be solved by the extra care of the victim by him and keep calm in the situation. Relaxation and making efforts in the same direction is the best practice to overcome the situation. The important thing is to keep calm and found other ways to get rid of the situation.
Conclusion
The victim should not feel guilty for the problem as there are other people suffering from the similar problem. The problem is related to a mental disorder of the person. One should develop strong and calm behavior and follow the strategies accordingly. The victim of the stress could develop his strategies that give mental satisfaction to him. Mental satisfaction and relaxation are the tools to overcome the stressful situations.
Reference List
Alters, S., & Schiff, W. (2005). Essential Concepts for Healthy Living, Volume 1. Massachusetts: Jones& Barlett Learning.
Fink, G. (2010). Stress Consequences: Mental, Neuropsychological and Socioeconomic. Massachusetts: Academic Press.
Manning, N. (2010). Beating Stressful Situations: Tips and Secrets on How to Beat the Odds. Boolington: Trafford Publishing.
Sandi, C., & Haller, J. (2015). Stress and the social brain: behavioural effects and neurobiological mechanisms. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 16 (5), 290-304.
Shapero, B. G., Black, S. K., Liu, R. T., Klugman, J., Bender, R. E., Abramson, L. Y., et al. (2014). Stressful Life Events and Depression Symptoms: The Effect of Childhood Emotional Abuse on Stress Reactivity. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 70 (3), 209-223.
Steptoe, A. (2006). Depression and Physical Illness. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
