[...]... (including heart and lung diseases, ulcers, psychiatric disorders, 13 14 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders arthritis, and certain types of cancer) that afflict those of lower socioeconomic status.1,2 STRESS AND HEART DISEASE In Chapter 1 it was mentioned that one of the body’s immediate physiological responses to stress is increased heart rate and blood pressure However, when stress levels (and increased... is a normal response, stress should be healthy, right? The answer is: sometimes, and sometimes not There is some evidence that mild amounts of stress can have an overall positive effect Stress can build character and promote personal growth, psychologically speaking Medical studies, however, provide more and more evidence that when stress becomes 11 12 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders prolonged or... nature, stress produces very distinct and reliable physiological changes in the body The majority of these physiological changes involve increased activity of certain divisions of the nervous system, and the production and secretion of hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline 3 4 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders Cortisol Whether the source of stress is emotional or physical in nature, the human body (and. .. size Many subsequent studies in both animals 16 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders and humans have shown that chronic stress does consistently suppress the immune system The primary reason stress reduces the activity of the immune system has to do with the stress hormone cortisol Cortisol inhibits the ability of the thymus gland to produce new immune cells, and can kill off immune cells that are already... romantic relationships 9 10 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders nature and intensity of the stressor, however, this return to normal could take hours, days, or even weeks to occur People often do not recover from stressful events, either psychologically or physiologically, as quickly as they would like Health Effects of Chronic Stress 2 There weren’t too many things Kevin didn’t stress about He worried about... the July 2005 London bombings, and Hurricane Katrina) or stressful personal events (such as being robbed at gunpoint or sexually assaulted) On the other hand, stress can also weaken our memories The mind may go blank when a person is put on the spot to answer a question in front of the whole class, or during an important exam 20 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders Extreme stress can cause a person to be... backgrounds and less social support, and they cannot afford things Health Effects of Chronic Stress Figure 2.1 A woman with her two-month-old son and her family in Garupa, a province of Misiones some 685 miles northeast of Buenos Aires, Argentina, where 65 percent of the people live in poverty and 70 percent of the children are undernourished © AP Images such as automobiles, babysitters, housing in crime-free... glands, the rats that Hans Selye subjected to weeks of stress also developed ulcers The walls of the stomach and intestines are lined with a protective layer of mucous that usually guards these organs against the damaging effects of stomach acid and digestive enzymes However, small holes in the protective lining can occasionally form, exposing the walls of the stomach or 18 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders. .. effects of chronic stress In addition, other cognitive styles, or sets of beliefs, make people more prone to chronic stress These beliefs include a person’s perception that he or she cannot control life and the stresses that come along with it, and that stressors occur unpredictably STRESS AND SOCIOECONOMIC STATUS In general, people of lower socioeconomic status are more prone to stress than are those... triggered by psychological problems and stress, may also be caused by a disturbance of the chemistry of brain That chemical imbalance can 21 22 Child Abuse and Stress Disorders often be effectively treated with medications Since depressed people are more prone to interpret ordinary daily events as stressful, psychotherapy that helps them correct their erroneous thoughts and beliefs is also an important . Disorders Child Abuse and Stress Disorders Depression and Bipolar Disorder Eating Disorders Personality Disorders Psychological Disorders Child Abuse and Stress Disorders M. Foster Olive, Ph.D. Consulting. Chronic Stress 11 3 Acute Stress Disorder 23 4 Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder 35 5 Physical Child Abuse 51 6 Mental Child Abuse and Neglect 65 7 Sexual Child Abuse 76 8 Summary 90 Notes 93 Glossary. source of stress is emotional or physical in nature, the human body (and that of other mammals as well) has well- programmed, strategic biological mechanisms for responding to and coping with stress