How can stress actually be a good thing? – Term Paper

Child Developments

Researchers from John Hopkins hospital found out that stress can be a positive additive to child development. According to research conducted on pregnant women who complained of having stress during their pregnancy, on a follow-up after two years the results were shocking. Most of the children whose mothers had complained of stress during pregnancies indicated a high level of more and development skills. These results were compared to those of women who had no stress during their pregnancies, and the results indicated that the later had children who had less motor and cognitive skills (F Ammar, 2013).

It is difficult to get a clear relationship between stress and child development but according to the research, the results seem credible enough to prove that stress in some ways can be a positive thing other than a degenerative trend. There is a need for more research in order to prove this issue as the possibilities of it being factual are highly low, and it can be highly contested by other groups.

Develops Resilience in People

Another aspect of tress is that it builds an individual’s resilience to stressful situations in the coming future. It is practical to know that once you have undergone a stressful situation once in your life or even multiple times, dealing with the next will be much easier. According to large volumes of research on resilience and the attitude to move on despite the challenges (Knowlton, 2014). Repeated exposure to stressful events gives individuals a chance to grow physically, psychologically and gain a sense of control over their situations. The same ideology is used in military training, the rigorous training activities and even the chance of getting into open combat gives a soldier the ability to cope and survive in stressful situations (Schneiderman, Ironson, & Siegel, 2005).

The arguments raised above are very practical to all individuals going through any form of stress. A triumphant exit from a stressful situation makes one much stronger, and they can handle the incoming situation with a sober head that they had handled it initially.

Increase in Immunity

In a stressful situation, the body is always prepared for any form of injury, either metal or physical.  This is done in preparation for infection of any form of an infection. The body produces interleukins; these hormones help to regulate the immune system. Interleukins can provide a temporary boost in the defense system. The subjection of lab rats in research under stress leads to massive mobilization of hormones that stimulate the secretion of immune cells in large amounts (“Stress”, 2016). The body reacts to stress the same way it would react to a dangerous situations, as adrenaline pump is increased so does the increase of immune cells. The defense mechanism of the body is at work; this helps to prepare for any impending danger leading to a boost in immunity and disaster-preparedness.

Effects of stress on the body

The body has its internal adaptation mechanism that can be called upon encountering a stressful situation. It is, therefore, imperative to acknowledge that a small portion of stress helps the body to unlock these hidden features. All events in life even the smallest ones gives one a small degree of stress.  The body is usually under stress upon any form or change; getting a new job, a higher salary, new people, and stranger land (“Positive Effects of Stress”, 2016). Anxiety is also a form of stress but on a low level, it is, therefore, important to understand that stress is a common part of the life-cycle.  The body gets bored when there is too little stress; this leads to a lack of a drive to accomplish something, low self-esteem and a feeling of dejection (Evans, 2013).

Conclusion

In conclusion, stress is a situation where the body has mixed reactions upon presentation of a stimulus that is unusual to the normal state situation. Stress can have negative effects to the health of individuals. It is imperative also to acknowledge that stress does not predispose negative effects only but also positive effects that can highly benefit an individual. Physical, mental and cognitive developments are some of the benefits that can be accrued from stressful situations. The cognitive development comes in the aspect of memory boost; recall ability is enhanced in stressful situations. The physical development comes with increased adrenaline secretion which makes an individual to have split second reflexes. The health of an individual is boosted under stressful situations due to an increase secretion of immune cells (Gibbons, Dempster, & Moutray, 2008). Child development in pregnant women is also boosted with increased stress, psychomotor and child development skills are well developed by age two. Few people would agree to the above-mentioned realities or positive effects of stress as a common perception of stress is that it is negative, and it can lead to negative health effects. It is important to observe the flip side of the coin, the positive effects of stress can be much more than expected.

References

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