In the context of psychoneuroimmunology (PNI), briefly discuss the three major types of consequences of stress. How does stress affect the immune system?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Contemporary health psychologists specializing in psychoneuroimmunology (PNI) have taken a broader approach to stress. Focusing on the outcomes of stress, they have identified three main consequences of it.

First, stress has direct physiological results, including an increase in blood pressure, an increase in hormonal activity, and an overall decline in the functioning of the immune system.

Second, stress leads people to engage in behaviors that are harmful to their health, including increased nicotine, drug, and alcohol use; poor eating habits; and decreased sleep.

Third, stress produces some indirect consequences that ultimately result in declines in health. For example, high levels of stress reduce the likelihood a person will seek health care. In addition, stress may result in less compliance with medical advice when it is sought. Both the reductions in seeking medical care and decreased compliance can indirectly lead to declines in health.

Stress likely decreases the ability of the immune system to respond to disease, permitting germs that produce colds to reproduce more easily or allowing cancer cells to spread more rapidly. In normal circumstances, our bodies produce disease-fighting white blood cells called lymphocytes. Our bodies normally produce them at an extraordinary rate-some 10 million every few seconds. Stress may decrease this level of production. Another way that stress affects the immune system is by overstimulating it. Rather than fighting invading bacteria, viruses, and other foreign invaders, the immune system may begin to attack the body itself and damage healthy tissue. When that happens, it can lead to disorders such as arthritis and allergic reactions.