Reader: Chapter 15 Addiction

After reading Chapter 15 I realized that the brain can be a very powerful organ, it can reward you in many ways and it can be very dangerous in many ways. If you combine drugs and alcohol to the mix it can cause an individual to become a shell (what you use to be). According the reading a drug addict will spend 24 hours a day trying to find that drug of choice, in which they will forego eating, drinking, and bathing. In addition, according to (Everitt & Robbins, 2005), individuals will neglect family, friends, and work without any cognitive effort as to shelter, social groups, or how will they get their bills paid. Opiates (cocaine, heroin, and potent pain kills) can produce sensations of pleasure in the brain. One of the side effects of Cocaine is that it generates a strong sensation of pleasure during sex (from what I here), and that Heroin and Cocaine are very hard drug habits to break, most relapse in less than a year (this information is from the court channel). There are 2 core behavioral patterns that define addiction; intensification and reinstatement, in which are defined as chronic, relapsing disorder (Leshner, 1997; McLellan, 2000).

Many women who have a substance abuse will even neglect their children (seen with my own eyes), and some have even sold their daughters to the dope man as collateral or payment for drugs. I have many family members who have let drugs take control of their lives, such as, individuals who have gone in and out of prisons for years, because their drug use costs hundreds of dollars a day, and with no job they had to support their habit by committing crimes. Also, many family members of mine are alcoholics, they will drink until they no longer have the muscle control to hold a glass of alcohol. Consequently, many of my family members will neglect eating and drinking (water), as a result, they are hospitalized numerous times for dehydration and symptoms from cirrhosis of the liver.

I enjoyed chapter 15 because it hit home for me.

Evolution and Modern Behavioral Problems

             Evolution and Modern Behavioral Problems

                                                  

Chapter 15 was not as interesting and engaging as the previous chapters that were previously read. This chapter would be more engaging if the results of the findings with drug addiction were highlighted, and more detailed. Even though I did not favor chapter 15, I will illuminate Step Four: Malfunction and Discordance, in this Chapter, because it “ stood out” to me further than the other steps of evolutionary analysis of modern behavioral problems (table 15-2), in relation to my life.  

I learned a host of new information in this section. I didn’t know that dopamine mediates the amount of effort put into reaching a goal (287). But this sentence does make sense, because if something pleases you, then an individual will want to continue that pleasure and do whatever it takes to get that feel of pleasure or adrenaline rush, to get a desired effect/feel, thus reaching that goal…right? I can relate to this (not in relation to drugs, nor addiction), but when I want to reach a goal, I feel really great internally (mentally), and as I’m going for a goal there is a moment of happiness/pleasure. In retrospect of this chapter, the lack of dopamine can lead to deficits in goal directed behavior. So if someone was/is unmotivated, can we give individuals a shot of dopamine to get them back on track, and competitive? Or does dopamine have to be naturally created/stimulated in the human body to receive the same goal driven effect? I found it very interesting when this chapter equated pleasure of a drug to reaching a goal (of taking a desired drug).

What I found to be ultimately interesting was when the chapter stated that stressful environments promote risk-taking behavior and a focus on short-term benefited by the participants (287-288). I’m guilty to this behavior. Before my dieting and weight loss, I ate sugar all day! Even though I understood the saying, “A moment on the lips is a lifetime on the hips”, I continued to satisfy my appetite despite my awareness of the future outcome. How can things like this be prevented?

Random: What do you guys think rats would prefer…Sugar or Cocaine and why?

Is Depression a Defense Mechanism?

Having learned about depression briefly during health and psychology classes, I was always taught that it was a result of multiple factors including brain chemistry imbalance, social factors, and mental factors. I was never taught about, nor did I ever consider, that depression could be thought of as a sort of defense mechanism from an evolutionary standpoint.

Of course, any illness is usually a result of multiple factors rather than just one. Stress-related illnesses, which can be due to eating habits, sleep, peace of mind, and exercise, are a perfect example of this. I've always been taught that depression is not ever the result of one factor. The social, mental, and biological factors make perfect sense to me, but when I first began reading that depression could be due to evolution, I must admit I was skeptical. How could people possibly have ever benefited in any way from the effects of depression? I suppose it makes sense though. The reading discusses the possibility that in situations where "winning" was not an option, it would be futile, and possibly dangerous, for humans to even attempt a task. This might lead to the feeling of hopelessness and unwillingness to put forth effort that is associated with depression. Perhaps it was a defense mechanism, a way of exchanging one very unpleasant outcome for a slightly less unpleasant one.

Why, then, is depression so prevalent and detrimental to us now? Like the fight-or-flight response, it could have served a very useful purpose in history, protecting us from negative situations. In our modern-day world, we do experience many more stressors though. Instead of helping us to "yield in a hierarchy conflict," these feelings of pessimism could arise simply from a situation in which we feel bullied or are in some way made to feel inadequate. I imagine these types of situations arise more often for humans now than they did back then, so this response of a low mood and possibly depression is perhaps overused. The best thing we can do right now is to do our best to handle the depression-causing factors that are within our control. In this way, we can exercise more control over other factors and be rewarded with better, happier moods. This is exactly the same way we discussed dealing with stress, and I suggest it because the evolution of stress and depression seem extremely similar to me.

Depression: A beneficial defense mechanism?

In this week’s reading, a discussion on depression as being an adaptation that could benefit as a defense mechanism was highlighted. Most people tend to associate severe states of sadness as depression and casually use the term “Depressed” to cover the large range of these states even though it may not be the same. As a college student that is always stressed out and worrying over grades/classes/family situations, all those feelings tend to get overwhelming and either myself or those around me will automatically believe that I’m depressed when I have no motivation to do anything. Having also grown up in an environment where depression was common, I saw only the negative aspects to it which is why I was surprised to read that it could serve as a beneficial mechanism to a certain extent.

According to Nesse, having a low mood will “increase an organisms ability to cope with the adaptive challenges characteristic of unpropitious situations in which effort to pursue a major goal will likely result in danger, loss, bodily damage, or wasted effort”(1).

This reminds me of an article that I read in Scientific American by Paul W. Andrews. He discusses

the evolutionary roots to depression and the belief that perhaps depression's consequential analytic style of thought could lead to productivity. By placing barriers to what your brain perceives as interruptions to your analysis, you are placing more emphasis on what’s important and potentially solving the problem better. This can also be a negative thing, because most depressed people over think their problems and fall into an even deeper depression by over analyzing everything so it’s hard to try and decide whether or not depression may be as beneficial.

I appreciated that towards the end of the article in SA, the author suggests a possible solution to the growing problem by explaining that therapies that are trying to fix depression in hopes of ending it should instead try to help the depressed person figure out their problems and solving it rather than prescribe medication to temporarily relieve the person of depression which would agree with Nesse’s perspective on the issue. Nesse states that, “the benefits of cognitive therapy should be mediated not just by correcting negative distortions, but more specifically by increasing the person’s expectations of the effectiveness of future actions” which would contribute to the person not having so many bouts of depression. (5)

The best way I felt to conclude this post was with a quote of Andrews, “Depression is nature’s way of telling you that you've got complex social problems that the mind is intent on solving” even if it means sacrificing a few vital functions to survival.

Research Proposal for Breast Cancer

Research Paper Proposal

Date: February 8, 2013

To: Prof: Clancy

From: Stacie Roberts

Subject of my Paper: Breast Cancer

Why I am writing this paper and how will it benefit me? I am writing this paper because I am a 2 year breast cancer survivor, and I would like to a more research on diet, exercise, leading innovations of research. In addition I would like to increase my knowledge about environmental causes of research, looking at different ingredients in food that may be hazardous to your health, and chemical toxins in household products that may attribute to the onset of breast cancer in women.

My Thesis Statement:

Breast cancer is preventable, and it is not a death sentence.

Approach to the subject of my paper:

·       I will show different viewpoints from many scientists who have been researching and trying to find a cure.

·       I will also plan to schedule an interview with my own Oncologist on the latest methodologies in breast cancer.

·       Researching articles, medical journals, and websites

 (Scientific Science & Google Scholar)

·       Schedule meetings, study time with partners, deadlines, rehearsals, and timelines

·       5-8 slides for each subject

·       Check status daily with partner

·       Pictures of preventative medicine

·       Images of stage 3 breast cancer

·       American Association of Cancer in Champaign

·       Organizations in Champaign that offer free assistance, support groups, free hair apparel (hats, wigs, scarfs)

·       Chemotherapy

·       Radiation & radiation cream

·       Diet & Exercise

·       Side Effects from Chemotherapy & Radiation

·       The combat after Chemotherapy & Radiation

·       Living as a cancer survivor

Timelines:

·       Make a list of questions and start to research answers (2-4 days)

·       7 subjects (5-10 slides); Preventative Medicine, Chemotherapy, Radiation, Diet, Exercise, Future Innovations & Research, Cells Structures, Assessing Lab Information

·       2 hours a day dedicated to researching data

·       Oral Interviews (depending on doctors schedules)

·       Meeting once a week for 2 hours to discuss research information

·       Add 5 slides a week

Kinds of resource I will use:

·       Google Scholar

·       Scientific Science

·       UIUC Library Resources (articles)

Intended Audience: Everyone – because breast cancer affects everybody

Finding answers to Questions:

·       Who, What, When, Where, and how do breast cancer occur?

·       What are the signs and symptoms of possible breast cancer?

·       How does diet and exercise affect breast cancer?

·       Is breast cancer preventable?

·       What’s the short and long term effect of Chemotherapy & Radiation?

·       What’s the survivor rate for women who are diagnosed with breast cancer?

·       Is breast cancer hereditary, genetic, or environmental?

·       How can estrogen be a good thing and a bad thing for women?

·       What are the stages of breast cancer?

·       What are the types of positive receptors?

Evolution and Modern Behavioral Problems: Addiction

The information presented in “The Case of Addiction” is not particularly new or surprising. Daniel H. Lende notes several evolutionary factors which are possible causes of modern drug addiction: ritual-like behaviors, lack of need for self-regulated systems, ancient dopamine receptors, and (socially) adaptive benefits. But he cites addiction as a behavioral disorder influenced by modern sociocultural and environmental happenings rather than an evolutionary problem in itself. With modern media culture and high stress lifestyles across all social classes, drug addiction is, understandably, a major subject in our modern lives.

Have you heard that thing about how attention spans are approximately 15 seconds in this day and age? My immediate thought was the factor of youth. Over the years, I myself have lost a handful of friends to drug use -- daily focus on drugs, difficulty stopping, and using despite consequences sound accurate but I question whether it is technically addiction or not. Ancient humans had more leisure time, but with less complex brain structures, they also probably didn’t require as much stimulation as we do today. With more leisure time, they didn’t require a break from overstimulation either.

Addiction signifies a chronic struggle characterized by, as Lende puts it, intensification and reinstatement. But even assuming sociocultural and environmental circumstances change, does this mean that addiction could eventually become an evolutionary problem for future humans?

My Experiences with Stress Control

After watching the documentary about stress and discussing stress factors both in and out of our control, Professor Clancy suggested we rate ourselves in various areas of stress control in our own lives, then choose a few lower-ranked areas and work to improve those. Here are the rankings I gave myself:

Time manamgement: 6

Self-care: 8

Exercise: 5

Who you hang out with: 9

Eating habits: 9.5

Mood/attitude: 6

Sleep: 8

Effort: 7

Commitment: 8

Notice my extremely high score for eating habits--I went from being vegetarian to vegan about a month ago and I'm very happy with my food right now (I would have said 10 if I was eating mostly raw, unprocessed food). I think it has actually contributed a lot to my overall happiness and stress level. Other very highly ranked areas for me at the moment are the people I hang out with (I love all my friends to death and spending time with them always improves my mood), my sleep schedule (recently I've early to bed and early to rise), and my commitment, which I think stems from my passion for everything I'm doing right now, from classes to clubs and volunteering.

Some lower-ranked areas include exercise, time management, and mood/attitude. I have made efforts to improve these things in the past couple days. I despise running, but in an attempt to get a little more activity in my life, I made effort to walk to and from classes again, especially because the weather has been so lovely and warm for February. I think that this not only helped me as any light exercise would, but also allowed me time to be with my thoughts and enjoy the scenery. This naturally improved my mood very much as well, but I ended up having other issues with my mood and attitude recently, and I'll talk about those in a minute. In terms of time management, I organized a list of everything I needed to get done and actually worked during the afternoons so that I could feel less stressed at night and while participating in extracurriculars.

I would say the most difficult thing for me to consciously improve was my mood. On Wednesday night, I got an e-mail from Phi Delta Epsilon, a Pre-Med fraternity I had interviewed for, letting me know that I hadn't made it to the second round of interviews. Even though I knew it was a rather competitive frat to get into, I couldn't help but wonder why I hadn't even made it past the first interview when so many people I knew did. I wondered if there was something wrong with me as a person--maybe this was a sign that I'm not truly confident about myself or ready to be involved in more competitive extracurriculars. Maybe this was a sign that I'd have the same kind of trouble when applying to medical school. Maybe I wouldn't be accepted into anything requiring an application in all my four years of college. All these insecurities are obviously completely ridiculous--I know I'm a smart, engaging, thoughtful person who is absolutely qualified to do everything I dream of doing. However, rejection can really affect a person's mood in a very negative way if that person has difficulty controlling their mood.

I made it past this dent in my mood and attitude by simply focusing on other aspects of stress-control. Since my eating habits are highest-ranked for me, I think they are what saved my mood. I don't think of comfort food as unhealthy or rebelliously satisfying. I think of comfort food as extremely satisfying because of its healthy and delicious qualities. Today I had a delicious lunch of Chili and a tofu, broccoli, black bean, and brown rice dish at a cute vegetarian restaurant in the company of great friends. For dinner, I had an amazing home-cooked meal of spicy stir-fried rice and vegetables. Before even eating any of the aromatic food on my plate, I realized that I was already feeling happier and all the out-of-control stressers suddenly didn't matter at all.

For me, food seems to be the best comfort. It is the thing I can best control that I know will always produce results and make me happier. Plus, nutrition is one of the things I am most passionate about, so not only does food improve my mood, it also reminds me of the purpose and importance I see in my life. I've learned that by improving and focusing on just one or two aspects of stress-control helps everything else fall into place. Having good eating habits improves my mood, eliminates stress-related sleeping problems, gives me something to be committed to, and even makes me feel more encouraged to make healthy choices about exercise.

Huffington Post Article on Stress

Article - Stress Health Effects: 10 Scary Things It's Doing To Your Body

This week, we discussed stress and its physiological effects on the body. I found this really cool article from Huffington Post that talks about 10 effects that stress has on your body. In the movie we watched, Robert Sapolsky showed us how stress from social factors takes a huge toll on your physical being. Stress can do everything from causing us to develop colds or fevers to exposing our bodies to more chronic illnesses such as heart disease or even cancer. The article, written by Amanda Chan, gives some of the scariest ways that stress affects our bodies.

There were a couple of effects that Chan names that interested me. One of the effects is that stress can literally shrink your brain. How this happens is that stress will reduce the gray matter in our brains, particularly in regions that are tied to emotion and physiological functions. This can cause psychiatric problems for people later in life. 

Another effect that surprised me was that stress can age kids prematurely. This is incredibly sad. Kids that are bullied or exposed to acts of violence were found to have shorter telomeres. Sapolsky even discussed telomeres in the movie we watched. Telomeres are regions of DNA at the end of a chromosome that protects the end of a chromosome from deteriorating. Telomeres allow cells to divide, but when they get shorter, the cell can’t divide and it basically dies off. The process of telomeres getting shorter is associated with aging, cancer, and a higher risk of death. 

Good Stress?

Good Stress

 

I have never heard of this term until Wednesday’s class. I thought all stress was bad stress and this article cleared my ignorance. Good stress is described as something that we need in order to live a healthy life. Without good stress life would not be as exciting and would leave a lot of people unhappy. The key to finding good stress is doing things that make you fell alive and happy. Some good stress activities are: Roller coasters, and first dates, etc… Too much good stress can be bad and cause chronic stress problems. The advice from this article is to be in tune with yourself and know when enough is enough. Good stress is a problem with thrill seekers. These people can never stop looking for something that excites and causes them to be full of adrenaline.

 

I was wondering if professional athletes or even other professionals who perform in front of a crowd suffer from chronic stress. They are playing a sport that they love and I am sure some still get nervous before games. With that being said, they must have their adrenaline running almost every night. On top of that the professionals also have to deal with the bad stress of things like paparazzi and usual stressors like family. I wonder what percentage of professionals that perform in front of a crowd suffer from chronic stress

 

Too Stressed to Sleep

While reading all of these posts about stress and it's negative impacts on our health, I started thinking about another growing issue in our lives, namely sleep, or the lack thereof. When I'm stressed out, I usually have trouble sleeping. I've heard countless times how horrible sleep deprivation can be for your health, and while I usually respond with jokes along the lines of 'I'll sleep when I'm dead' or 'sleep is for the tired!', these studies about stress are making me reconsider.

I decided to do a bit of research on my own to with regards to the health effects of sleep deprivation, and I have to say I'm rather shocked by some of the articles I found. According to one source, the effects of sleep deprivation on the immune system are very similar to physical stress, making people more vulnerable to infection.

Being a college student, more often than not I don't get more than five or six hours of sleep a night. Combining the detrimental effects from lack of sleep with increased stress do to college courses, I am curious how much of an impact college life has on the health of a student. While it might be an overstatement,  might one say that, as far as health choices go, going to college isn't the best decision? Let me know what you think!

Different tumor phenotypes due to impact of stress

      Cara mentions in her post called Stress and My Experience how ironic it would be for the outcome of her stress to be cancer. This makes me want to tie in some of the things I've been learning in this class as well as another class I'm taking this semester. Last week, Forbes published an article titled New Study Shows How Stress Feeds Cancer Cells. Now, although this topic is not really new to us, we get the opportunity to delve even further into some of the epigenetic factors that might play a role in cancer. The study produced two different but closely related experiments and they showed that when mice were exposed to stress, prostate cancer treatment was not effective. Stress was getting in the way of inhibiting growth of the tumor or the tumors simply just did not react to the drug. This can make one wonder how strong the correlation is between the impact of stress and the androgens that prostate cancer depend on. Prostate growth correlates well with dihydrotesterone so drug therapies try to block the action of the Androgen Receptor either by reducing the biosynthesis of androgens or by blocking androgens from binding to the Androgen Receptor in the first place. It turns out, however, that epinephrine, the hormone that is secreted during stress, does contribute to cancer treatment effectiveness. So now, anti-cancer therapies not only have to block androgens in some way or another, but maybe adrenaline as well because a cycle is produced where many times cancer and stress come hand in hand. Some cancer patients develop stress after they've been diagnosed and that allows their tumors to grow since their body won't respond to the administered drugs. This is a great step in creating a more accurate, effective cancer therapeutic treatment especially considering how big of a role stress plays in our society in this day and age! 

The Chronic Effects of Stress

This blog post is in response to Cara’s post regarding her experience with stress.

An article from Science Daily describes the relationship between stress and some chronic diseases. What we are likely most familiar with is the link between stress and depression. Chronic stress can wear down on an individual’s body. Not only does that individual feeling stressed out, but their body feels the effects as well. People recovering from depression are more likely to relapse to their disheartened state if they are afflicted with stress. The things that often stress us out the most are social stressors. These can include, but are not limited to, work and family issues. Not only does stress lead to depression, but it can also lead to cardiovascular diseases, such as heart attacks and strokes. This link has been demonstrated in medical studies.

One connection I found much less intuitive was that between stress and HIV/AIDS. This relationship is not completely clear, but some key findings have been made. When the body is under stress, the nerve system is affected in a way that allows more copies of the HIV virus to be made. It is possible that this may lead to the onset of AIDS more quickly compared to a person who is not under stress. While this connection may not be completely clear, a couple of things are with regards to the link between stress and chronic disease. For one, stressed individuals act differently than those who are not stressed. They may lose sleep over stress or eat unhealthier foods. In addition to these behavioral implications are changes in biological processes in the body. The immune system is one such affected system. Stress affects individuals more than temporarily. The chronic effects may not be apparent to us now, but they could be before we know it.

Project Assignment

I have decided, for my project assignment to do some research on breast cancer, and I was wondering if anyone would like to partner up with me on this assignment?

Not Milk

This assignment was for week 3. I was a searcher.

I have been reading all the blogs and the ones about milk piqued my interest. Therefore, I decided to do some research on the different stuff that's in milk. You may be surprised, upset, or interested in knowing that milk is not really milk.

I was reading this web page titled: The Truth about Milk by: Dave Rietz at notmilk.com

Rietz stated that milk is for baby cows not human babies, and that it is an unhealthy fluid from diseased animals that contain a wide range of dangerous substances. The content of cow's milk consists: 59 active hormones, allergens, fat, and cholesterol. In addition, herbicides, pesticides, dioxins, 52 antibiotics, blood, pus, feces, bacteria, and viruses. These items are linked to many causes of deaths in our country (any country that consume milk).

o   724,859 Heart Diseases are attributed to fat and cholesterol from meat and dairy.

o   541,532 Malignant Neoplasms are linked to cancer from milk and dairy.

o   112,584 Bronchitis, Emphysema, Asthma are linked to toxins in dairy milk.

o   91,871 Pneumonia & Influenza are linked to a weak immune system and mucus from dairy milk.

o   64,751 Diabetes linked to dairy milk

o   30, 575 Suicide linked to behavioral problems from dairy milk

o   26, 182 Nephritis (Bright's disease - inflammation of the kidneys) linked to dairy milk

This list goes on but as you can see milk really is not just milk it has a whole host of deadly agents, including a powerful growth hormone called IGF-1 (Insulin Growth Factor). This hormone is a fuel cell for many cancers including; breast, prostate, and colon cancers.

I am glad that I do not drink milk. I have been cancer free for 2 years, I was diagnosed with stage 3C breast cancer, and I have been researching how I ended up with this life threatening disease. I will add this to my list of stuff to stay clear of and continue my research, because I do not have any family members who have had breast cancer. I have concluded contacted breast cancer may have been linked to the food that I have been consuming. 

So, a lot of people, children, and babies drink milk - does this information mean that at some point we will all develop cancer?

Associated Course: ANTH 249 SP13

Winter Break Blues

As I have been diving deeper into my major, many topics have come up in my classes that have sparked my interest.  Most of these topics are closely related to psychological and sociological with some having to revolve around physiological response.  The main concept in this week’s reading assignment that I would like to discuss would be the stress induced sickness phenomenon. 

As a child I used to get sick once a year and during winter break.  I used to always be frustrated about this because I would rather miss a day of class than a day of watching television and playing in the snow. I still get my once a year sickness during winter break but now I am relieved that I’m not missing class.  When I was in high school and the stressors really became inflamed, I began to understand the reasoning behind this coincidental timing of my illness. 

Another topic that interested me was that an increased exposure to stress over time will allow for the illness to become less traumatic.  The example in the book was of the child Danny who got sick a few weeks after he was scolded after his father.  Danny really has no stress in his life so whenever he gets a good dosage of cortisol his body has no way of coping with the stimulation and he easily falls ill.

This winter break is the first time where I have not gotten sick.  I will say that last semester was the most stressed out I have ever been with finals.  I was anticipating a throbbing head and a sky high fever by Christmas.  To my surprise I didn’t even receive a headache or sinus congestion. 

Has anyone else noticed a trend of an increased resistance to physiological effects from stressors?

Is stress related to location?

I found this week’s readings to be quite interesting. I had known that stress could affect physical health, as in the noted case of higher levels of illness around final exams (242). However, I did not know that psychological stress leads to high levels of cortisol release and that these were associated with numerous negative health effects not limited to immune deficiency, but as well including, “cognitive impairment, inhibited growth, delayed sexual maturity, damage to the hippocampus, enhanced sensitivity of amygdala fear circuits, and psychological maladjustment” (247-8). The study presented in the text tracked the cortisol levels and stressors of children in a small Dominican village. While I read, I wondered as to how stress/cortisol levels would be affected by shifting the parameters of the study to different spatial and cultural contexts. While I think that in contemporary American society, there is, to some degree, an idyllic image of non-urbanized child rearing, I wonder if these different locations (urban vs. rural/suburban) would have any effect on cortisol levels/stress in children. While rural life seems as though it would be more peaceful, it also seems that many of the effects noted in the study happened socially, within the family and friend group, and seemed to reflect quite little on the spatial context. However, I think the issue is confounded by potential stressors that are not present in the village detailed, such as stress from more competitive and demanding educational opportunities in urbanized areas. Further, as child rearing differs culturally, I think it would be interesting to see how stressors affect children’s cortisol levels cross culturally.

Stress ad my experience

I found this week’s reading regarding stress and health particularly interesting largely because I’ve notices a trend in myself that whenever I am particularly stressed I inevitably get sick. I had never heard of the hormone cortisol before but its broad functions described by the book as well as the relationship described by the study of the Dominican community demonstrate just how important it is. As a child, both of my parents were ill and my health suffered. This correlates with the books description of the rise in cortisol during events that are associated with uncertainty and these are also considered “High-stress events”. The book goes on to mention this stress response system is associated with short term events and may be potentially harmful in the long run. While this is a good explanation for why I was frequently sick it would vary for other kids because this cortisol response is not a constant for everyone. This is interesting because it means that making broad hypotheses about cortisol responses are not necessarily applicable and predicting the evolution of these responses is even more difficult. The book ends the chapter by saying that afflictions like cancer, atherosclerosis, infectious disease and others are associated with social stress. Considering that my family stress was caused by cancer it would be far too ironic for the outcome of my stress to also be cancer. The book also describes how we have evolved to associate feelings and thoughts with social relationships. Knowing the results of the stress associated with this is this a helpful adaptation? What created this kind of social stress relationship?

Is it all in my head?

I think we've all been there before. Three exams and a paper due next week; oh and hello dreaded first sniffle. Society, especially within a college campus, seems to provide the perfect example for a direct correlation between stress levels and susceptibility to illness. As Chapter 13 put it, “children lacking social support, including parental warmth and other factors that influence emotional states, seem to be at risk” (245). It makes me wonder the role that emotions have over physical defense in fighting illnesses. Having studied pathogen and immune system interactions in biological courses, the fight against sickness seemed like a purely physical concern. Though I've always taken note of the relationship between one’s stress level and their bodily performance, it has just struck me that emotional states play a much larger role in health than I thought. If you feel better, will you simply be better at defending yourself? When purchasing Airborne last weekend, I got asked if the immune enhancer really worked or if it was all a gimmick. I didn't really know what to say, since I had just always thought it to be effective. Most times that I have taken it at the onset of a cold, I was able to divert the illness; however, now I am beginning to wonder if my actions actually triggered a physical response or if my mental state of “you did the right thing and all you could” led me to recovery.

What I found interesting in the Bwa Mawego study was that an early stressor in a child’s life actually carries through to older age when analyzing average cortisol levels. It supports the view that trauma actually has a heavy impact on a child’s mental and physical well-being (and that children don’t forget the traumatic events early in their life despite being young at the time). However, with there being no elevated cortisol levels in nonsocial situations when compared to children without early trauma, it seems as if the body remembers the situation as being a purely social disturbance and is able to separate it out from other aspects in life (255). 

The Aid or Ailment of Stress

This is my first semester here as a transfer student. On top of preparing for classes, adjusting to a new living situation, orientating myself to our large campus and settling into a teeming schedule of school and a new job - I have a naturally stressing personality. Needless to say, my first-day-of-school jitters were overwhelming. My high-strung feelings during that first week of school, coupled with an increased exposure to pathogens (and maybe not the most nutritious diet), nearly fatefully set me up to catch something. And veritably so, I caught the flu the second week in.

            I almost laughed out loud reading this chapter (13) to the relatable synchronistic topic it addresses – stress and the effects it can have on our health. I have noticed, throughout my life, my lower tolerance to stress, or rather my excitable hormonal response to stressful situations. Flinn explains that we have no clear explanation linking parts of the brain that assess our social environment and our hormonal system that controls stress hormones (243).  However, the chapter makes clear that our hormonal response to stress is heavily determined by our psychosocial experiences, particularly at younger ages. Though, our hormonal response may be beneficial in short-term situations, chronic stress with high cortisol levels may deplete cellular energy and immune reserves, leading to higher frequency of illness.

            From an evolutionary perspective, it seems contradictory that an organism would suppress immune response in a chronically stressful situation when exposure to pathogens may be high. There are certainly many complex factors that must be taken into consideration to understand the evolutionary benefit of our hormonal response to stress, especially since each individuals experience is unique. This subject is quite interesting – something I would like to spend more effort understanding (a good 20% project).