STRESS FOR SUCESS

Date of publication:  20 March, 2015

Source of information: Science news for students

https://student.societyforscience.org/article/stress-success

Scientific field:  Brain and behavior

Extract:   This article talks about a psychologist who helped anxious teens to put their worries to the good use. The consequences of stress are a pounding heart, tense muscles and  sweat-beaded forehead. It’s normal if you feel butterflies in your belly in front of the class, but some people, however, anxiety can become so overwhelming. They start to skin classes and to stop going out with friends. They are becoming physically ill.

Critical appraisal:

As we can see in this article, the anxiety is related to fear.  Fear is the emotion we feel when we are faced with something dangerous. That solution is  because the brain detects danger and start a cascade of chemical reactions. Nerve neurons, start signaling to each other. That’s the evolutionary purpose of the purpose of the stress response.

People who suffer from overwhelming feelings of anxiety have what is called anxiety disorder. The three disorders that most often affected kids are separations anxiety, social anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.  One psychologist said that changing how we look at stress might actually help our bodies, minds and behavior. Another psychologist said  that stress isn’t necessarily bad, because when you are stress the response comes with some benefits.

Glossary:

-         Anxiety: Uneasiness, worry and apprehension. Anxiety can be normal reaction to  upcoming events or uncertain outcomes.

-          Behaviour: The way a person or other organism acts toward others, or conducts.

-         Separation anxiety: Feelings of unease and fear that develop when someone becomes separated from his or her family.

-        Social anxiety: Feelings of apprehension caused by social situations. People with this disorder may be so worried about interacting with others that they withdraw from social events altogether.

-       Stress: A factorsuch as unusual temperatures, that affects the health of a species or ecosystem.

Written by Lidia Figueras