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- All Subjects: Stress
- Creators: College of Health Solutions
- Creators: School of Criminology and Criminal Justice
- Resource Type: Text
- Status: Published
The following paper explores the various effects of stress on the endocrine system. Many understand that being stressed can jeopardize maintaining adequate health, but what specifically happens when humans are stressed? Why does stress affect human health? This paper delves into background information, previous research, and the depths to which stress negatively affects the body. The effects stress has on the endocrine system, specifically on the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), is discussed, and additionally, at home de-stressing methods are researched. The study included a set of participants at Arizona State University. The method took place over the course of 2 weeks: one normal week, and the other with the implementation of a de-stressing method. The normal week involved the participants living their daily lives with the addition of a stress-measuring survey, while the second week involved implementing a de-stressing method and stress-measuring survey. The purpose of this study was to discover if there was a correlation between performing these relaxation activities and decreasing stress levels in ASU students. The results found that students reported they felt more relaxed and calm after the activities. Overall, this thesis provides information and first hand research on the effects of stress and stress-reducing activities and discusses the importance of maintaining lower stress levels throughout everyday life.
The following paper explores the various effects of stress on the endocrine system. Many understand that being stressed can jeopardize maintaining adequate health, but what specifically happens when humans are stressed? Why does stress affect human health? This paper delves into background information, previous research, and the depths to which stress negatively affects the body. The effects stress has on the endocrine system, specifically on the hypothalamic-pituitary-thyroid axis (HPT) and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA), is discussed, and additionally, at home de-stressing methods are researched. The study included a set of participants at Arizona State University. The method took place over the course of 2 weeks: one normal week, and the other with the implementation of a de-stressing method. The normal week involved the participants living their daily lives with the addition of a stress-measuring survey, while the second week involved implementing a de-stressing method and stress-measuring survey. The purpose of this study was to discover if there was a correlation between performing these relaxation activities and decreasing stress levels in ASU students. The results found that students reported they felt more relaxed and calm after the activities. Overall, this thesis provides information and first hand research on the effects of stress and stress-reducing activities and discusses the importance of maintaining lower stress levels throughout everyday life.
Stress is a necessary and functional part of human physiology. From responding to life-threatening situations to getting people out of bed in the morning, stress serves a major purpose in human survival. However, when consistent and high levels of stress are experienced, it can pose a threat to human health. One of the major mediators of physiological stress is a hormone called cortisol. Cortisol is a well-defined substance and its function in normal physiology is well understood. Scientific research indicates that consistent and high levels of this hormone may be an aid in cancer’s ability to evade the human immune response. Despite this, there is not much known about its relationship with cancer. I used immunofluorescence to determine cell-to-cell variability of vimentin expression and DNA content for cells that were exposed to cortisol at consistent and frequent doses overtime and those not exposed to cortisol to determine if cortisol altered the variability of vimentin expression and DNA content. I observed no change in the variability in vimentin expression across both cell conditions. I did observe variability in DNA content across both cell conditions, with more variability in the population affected by cortisol. These results suggest that there might be a relationship between the stress induced by cortisol, taking place at the genomic level but may have no impact on specific protein expression. Potential implications of the research conducted are looks to preventative medicine in the context of stress experienced by members of marginalized groups as a way of preventing cancer development.
to the Hayden Library 2020 renovations team.
Forensic pathology is a critical science that bridges medicine and law. A forensic pathologist conducts autopsies to determine the cause and manner of an individual’s death, which is helpful in solving forensic cases and criminal cases and discovering hereditary diseases. They are also responsible for contacting family members or next of kin of the deceased and for presenting their findings or conclusions in court. Although forensic pathology is a vital field in science and law, there is a national deficiency of active forensic pathologists. This may be due to the lack of awareness given to the health and wellness of the workforce, which is at risk in a high stress-inducing work environment. Forensic pathologists are consistently subjected to stress due to overwhelming caseloads and a lack of adequate staffing. While there have been studies conducted in the United States to examine occupational stress and potential coping mechanisms, these reports focus on forensic scientists and not forensic pathologists specifically who may be more likely to develop stress due to their direct work with death. In order to identify what work-related factors cause forensic pathologists the most stress and how have they chosen to cope with their stress, I conducted a survey collecting both qualitative and quantitative data. After completing the study, I identified workload, inadequate staff, dissatisfaction with administration, court processes, and lack of time to complete duties as the most recurring themes of stress, which are supported by the quantitative analysis as well. The coping mechanisms most often mentioned by the participants include exercise, time with family and friends, communicating their stress, complete separation from work, and media use. After identifying these stressor and coping strategies, the participants of the study listed potential practices or programs that could be instated in order to mitigate workplace stress. From this study, suggestions can be made to medical examiner offices that are seeking to improve employee wellness and potentially adopt stress reduction programs in the workplace.
For my senior undergraduate thesis, I created a self-exploration project to understand stress management. The Alexander Technique, created by F.M. Alexander, is an educational “hands-on” awareness practice that has spurred variations since its inception (Gelb, 2003). Primal AlexanderTM (PATM), a variation of the Alexander technique developed by Mio Morales, is taught on online platforms, chiefly Zoom and other equivalent video communication. PATM shares with the traditional teachings of the Alexander Technique that learning the practice has many benefits – one of these benefits being effective internal stress management. After being introduced to Primal AlexanderTM by Faculty Honors Advisor Robert Kaplan of Arizona State University, I began researching stress management while also practicing Primal AlexanderTM. Considering that nearly half of U.S adults report that stress has a negative effect on their health, it is fair to assume that properly managing stress in individuals continues to be a major obstacle in healthcare (SingleCare, 2022). My personal afflictions that were a result of stress were beginning to affect my mental, emotional, and physical states of health. Learning PATM inspired my support for clinical application of the practice as a stress management technique as I recognized changes within my body that suggested effective, internal stress management.
The following study was designed to better understand the perceived stress levels and common coping strategies of nursing students attending Arizona State University during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional theory of stress and coping suggests that stress is a product of the transaction between an individual and their complex environment. During the COVID-19 pandemic nursing students were forced to close and utilize online learning methods to ensure the safety of students, faculty, and staff. The current study identifies the perceived stress levels and common coping strategies of undergraduate nursing students at Arizona State University. A survey was sent to the identified population which asked participants to rate their stress level of attending nursing school during COVID-19 on a scale from one to ten. In addition, the Carver’s COPE inventory was utilized to determine common coping strategies among the nursing student population. The results of this study indicate that the closure of universities, and utilization of online learning methods increased stress levels of nursing students attending Arizona State University during COVID-19. In addition, nursing students most common coping strategies were identified as the use of planning, a problem-focused coping strategy, reinterpretation and growth, and active coping.