cause essay stress

Home — Essay Samples — Nursing & Health — Stress Management — Stress Cause And Effect

Stress Cause and Effect

Categories: Mental Health Stress Management

About this sample

Words: 576 |

Published: Mar 13, 2024

Words: 576 | Page: 1 | 3 min read

Causes of stress, effects of stress.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr. Heisenberg

Verified writer

Expert in: Nursing & Health

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

2 pages / 931 words

3 pages / 1354 words

4 pages / 1622 words

2 pages / 834 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Stress Management

Hardie, Elizabeth, and Robert M. Roemer. 'Social Anxiety and Daily Cortisol in Hair: Within-Person Associations and the Role of Physical Activity.' Stress and Health, vol. 25, no. 5, 2009, pp. 431-437.Scrivner, Colton. 'Emotion [...]

Music has long been recognized as a universal language that transcends boundaries and connects people across cultures. Beyond its entertainment value, music holds the remarkable ability to influence our emotions and well-being. [...]

Stress is a pervasive aspect of human existence, impacting individuals on physical, emotional, and behavioral levels. To effectively address stress, it is crucial to comprehend its origins and consequences while also considering [...]

Stress is an inevitable part of life, and how we navigate through challenging situations often defines our character and resilience. I vividly recall a particularly stressful situation that I encountered during my college years, [...]

American Psychological Association. (2019). Stress effects on the body. Retrieved from https://www.stress.org/top-ten-causes-of-stress

I have always believed that there is a lot to be learnt about ourselves by interacting with others, facing difficult situations and analyzing our reaction to those situations. The past semester has been a difficult time for me [...]

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

Instructions Followed To The Letter
Deadlines Met At Every Stage
Unique And Plagiarism Free

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay: Full Guide

Ever wondered how things are connected in our world? Think of the butterfly effect—where a butterfly's wings in Brazil can set off a tornado in Texas. It's a quirky idea, but it shows how events are intertwined. Writing a cause and effect essay is like unraveling these connections, connecting the dots to reveal how things influence each other and shape our experiences.

In this guide, experts from our paper writing service will explore the concept of causality and share practical tips for creating great cause and effect essays. These essays won't just provide information—they'll leave a lasting impression on your readers.

What Is a Cause and Effect Essay

A cause and effect essay is a form of writing that aims to explore and explain the relationships between different events, actions, or circumstances. The central idea is to investigate why certain things happen (causes) and what results from those occurrences (effects). It's like peeling back the layers to reveal the interconnectedness of events, understanding the domino effect in the narrative of life.

Here's a breakdown of the key components:

Causes: These are the factors or events that initiate a particular situation. They are the reasons behind why something occurs. For instance, if you're exploring the cause of obesity, factors like unhealthy eating habits and lack of physical activity could be identified as causes.
Effects: The effects are the outcomes or consequences that result from the identified causes. Following the obesity example, effects could include health issues, reduced quality of life, or increased healthcare costs.
Connection: The heart of a cause and effect essay lies in demonstrating the link between causes and effects. It's not just about listing events but explaining how one event leads to another in a logical and coherent manner.

When crafting such an essay, you're essentially acting as a storyteller and investigator rolled into one. Your goal is to guide the reader through the web of interconnected events, providing insights into the 'why' and 'what happens next.'

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay with Easy Steps

Understanding how to write a cause and effect essay is like putting together a puzzle. Here are ten simple steps to help you write an engaging essay that looks into how things are connected.

1. Select a Specific Topic

Choose a cause and effect relationship that sparks your interest.
Ensure your topic is focused and manageable for a thorough exploration.

2. Explore Causal Links

Conduct thorough research to uncover hidden connections and supporting evidence.
Look beyond the obvious to identify intricate relationships between causes and effects.

3. Craft a Clear Thesis Statement

Develop a precise thesis that clearly articulates the main cause and the resulting effects.
Your thesis serves as the roadmap for your essay, guiding readers through your analysis.

4. Organize Chronologically or by Significance

Structure your essay in a logical order, either chronologically or by the significance of events.
This organization enhances clarity and helps readers follow the cause-and-effect progression.

5. Utilize Transitional Phrases

Employ transition words and phrases to ensure seamless flow between causes and effects.
Clear transitions enhance readability and strengthen the coherence of your essay.

6. Support Arguments with Credible Evidence

Back up your claims with relevant data, examples, and statistics.
Strong evidence adds credibility to your analysis and reinforces the cause-and-effect relationships you present.

7. Illustrate Chain Reactions

Show how a single cause can trigger a chain of effects, and vice versa.
Illustrate the ripple effects to emphasize the complexity of the relationships.

8. Analyze Root Causes

Move beyond surface-level explanations and explore the underlying factors contributing to the cause-and-effect scenario.
Deep analysis adds depth and nuance to your essay.

9. Consider Alternative Causes

Address potential counterarguments to showcase a comprehensive understanding.
Acknowledging alternative causes strengthens your essay's overall credibility.

10. Conclude with Impact

Summarize key points and emphasize the broader significance of your analysis.
Leave your readers with a thought-provoking conclusion that ties together the cause-and-effect relationships explored in your essay.

Cause and Effect Essay Structure Types

When setting up your essay, you can choose from different structures to make it organized. Let's look at two common types of cause and effect essay structures:

Block Structure:

The block structure is a clear and organized way to present causes and effects in your essay. Here, you dedicate one section to discussing all the causes, covering multiple causes within each category. After that, you have another section to explore all the effects. This separation makes your ideas easy to understand.

Using the block structure allows you to dive deep into each category, thoroughly looking at causes and effects separately. It's handy when you want to give a detailed analysis and show the importance of each part of the causal relationship. This way, readers can fully grasp each element before moving on.

Chain Structure:

On the other hand, the chain structure focuses on how events are connected and create ripple effects. It highlights how one cause leads to a specific effect, and that effect becomes the cause of more effects in an ongoing chain. This method is potent for illustrating the complexity of causal relationships.

The chain structure works well when you want to emphasize the sequence of events or deal with intricate cause-and-effect scenarios. It allows you to show how actions trigger a series of reactions, displaying the domino effect that leads to a specific outcome.

Regardless of the structural style you choose, if you require assistance with your academic paper, reach out to us with your ' write my paper for me ' request. Our experienced team is ready to tailor your paper to your specific requirements and ensure its excellence.

Cause and Effect Essay Outline

Creating an effective cause and effect essay begins with a well-structured outline. This roadmap helps you organize your thoughts, maintain a logical flow, and ensure that your essay effectively conveys the causal relationships between events. Below, we'll outline the key components of the essay along with examples:

I. Introduction

Hook: Start with an engaging statement or fact. Example: 'Did you know that stress can significantly impact your overall health?'
Background Information: Provide context for your topic. Example: 'In today's fast-paced world, stress has become an increasingly prevalent issue.'
Thesis Statement: Clearly state the main cause and its corresponding effects. Example: 'This essay will explore the causes of stress and their profound negative effects on physical and mental health.'

II. Body Paragraphs

Topic Sentence: Introduce the first cause you'll discuss. Example: 'One major cause of stress is heavy workload.'
Supporting Details: Provide evidence and examples to support the cause. Example: 'For instance, individuals juggling multiple job responsibilities and tight deadlines often experience heightened stress levels.'
Transition: Link to the next cause or move on to the effects.
Topic Sentence: Introduce the first effect. Example: 'The effects of chronic stress on physical health can be devastating.'
Supporting Details: Present data or examples illustrating the impact. Example: 'Studies have shown that prolonged stress can lead to cardiovascular problems, including hypertension and heart disease.'
Transition: Connect to the next effect or cause.

C. Causes (Continued)

Topic Sentence: Introduce the next cause in a new cause and effect paragraph. Example: 'Another significant cause of stress is financial strain.'
Supporting Details: Explain how this cause manifests and its implications. Example: 'Financial instability often results in anxiety, as individuals worry about bills, debts, and their financial future.'
Transition: Prepare to discuss the corresponding effects.

D. Effects (Continued)

Topic Sentence: Discuss the effects related to financial strain. Example: 'The psychological effects of financial stress can be profound.'
Supporting Details: Offer real-life examples or psychological insights. Example: 'Depression and anxiety are common consequences of constant financial worries, affecting both mental well-being and daily life.'

III. Conclusion

Restate Thesis: Summarize the main cause and effects. Example: 'In summary, the heavy workload and financial strain can lead to stress, impacting both physical and mental health.'
Closing Thoughts: Reflect on the broader significance of your analysis. Example: 'Understanding these causal relationships emphasizes the importance of stress management and financial planning in maintaining a balanced and healthy life.'

Cause and Effect Essay Examples

To help you grasp cause and effect essay writing with clarity, we have prepared two distinct essay examples that will guide you through the intricacies of both block and chain structures. Additionally, should you ever find yourself requiring assistance with academic writing or descriptive essays examples , simply send us your ' write my research paper ' request. Our expert writers are here to provide the support you need!

Why Wait? Get Your Stellar Cause and Effect Essay Now!

Don't procrastinate – order yours today and let our wordsmiths create an essay that's more captivating than a Netflix series cliffhanger!

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Choosing a good topic starts with recognizing cause and effect key words. Here are 10 interesting topics that let you dig into fascinating connections and their important consequences:

The Relationship Between Lack of Exercise and Mental Health in Older Adults
Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Workplace Productivity
The Impact of Cyberbullying on Adolescents' Emotional Well-being
Influence of Social Media Advertising on Consumer Purchasing Decisions
Consequences of Oil Spills on Coastal Ecosystems
How Noise Pollution Affects Concentration and Academic Performance in Schools
The Connection Between Fast-Food Marketing and Childhood Obesity
Effects of Urbanization on Water Quality in Local Rivers
The Relationship Between Indoor Plants and Air Quality in Homes
Impact of Plastic Pollution on Wildlife in Urban Environments
The Effect of Meditation on Stress Reduction in College Students
How Increased Screen Time Affects Teenagers' Attention Span
The Impact of Single-Use Plastics on Marine Microorganisms
The Relationship Between Smartphone Use and Sleep Quality in Adults
Effects of High-Fructose Corn Syrup on Metabolic Health
The Consequences of Deforestation on Local Biodiversity
Influence of Social Media Comparison on Body Dissatisfaction in Adolescents
The Connection Between Air Pollution and Respiratory Health in Urban Areas
Effects of Excessive Gaming on Academic Performance in High School Students
The Impact of Fast Food Consumption on Childhood Obesity Rates

Final Words

Knowing what a cause and effect essay is and how to write it helps you uncover connections in different topics. With this guide, you can share your ideas in a clear and impactful way.

Meanwhile, if you're in need of a reaction paper example , rest assured we have you covered as well. So, seize this opportunity, put your thoughts on paper logically, and witness your essays leaving a lasting and influential mark.

Let's Turn Those 'What Ifs' into 'A+ Ifs'!

Don't procrastinate when you can cause an effect on your grades right now!

How to Write a Policy Analysis Paper Step-by-Step

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Publications
Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

Advanced Search
Journal List
HHS Author Manuscripts

STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants

Stressors have a major influence upon mood, our sense of well-being, behavior, and health. Acute stress responses in young, healthy individuals may be adaptive and typically do not impose a health burden. However, if the threat is unremitting, particularly in older or unhealthy individuals, the long-term effects of stressors can damage health. The relationship between psychosocial stressors and disease is affected by the nature, number, and persistence of the stressors as well as by the individual’s biological vulnerability (i.e., genetics, constitutional factors), psychosocial resources, and learned patterns of coping. Psychosocial interventions have proven useful for treating stress-related disorders and may influence the course of chronic diseases.

INTRODUCTION

Claude Bernard (1865/1961) noted that the maintenance of life is critically dependent on keeping our internal milieu constant in the face of a changing environment. Cannon (1929) called this “homeostasis.” Selye (1956) used the term “stress” to represent the effects of anything that seriously threatens homeostasis. The actual or perceived threat to an organism is referred to as the “stressor” and the response to the stressor is called the “stress response.” Although stress responses evolved as adaptive processes, Selye observed that severe, prolonged stress responses might lead to tissue damage and disease.

Based on the appraisal of perceived threat, humans and other animals invoke coping responses ( Lazarus & Folkman 1984 ). Our central nervous system (CNS) tends to produce integrated coping responses rather than single, isolated response changes ( Hilton 1975 ). Thus, when immediate fight-or-flight appears feasible, mammals tend to show increased autonomic and hormonal activities that maximize the possibilities for muscular exertion ( Cannon 1929 , Hess 1957 ). In contrast, during aversive situations in which an active coping response is not available, mammals may engage in a vigilance response that involves sympathetic nervous system (SNS) arousal accompanied by an active inhibition of movement and shunting of blood away from the periphery ( Adams et al. 1968 ). The extent to which various situations elicit different patterns of biologic response is called “situational stereotypy” ( Lacey 1967 ).

Although various situations tend to elicit different patterns of stress responses, there are also individual differences in stress responses to the same situation. This tendency to exhibit a particular pattern of stress responses across a variety of stressors is referred to as “response stereotypy” ( Lacey & Lacey 1958 ). Across a variety of situations, some individuals tend to show stress responses associated with active coping, whereas others tend to show stress responses more associated with aversive vigilance ( Kasprowicz et al. 1990 , Llabre et al. 1998 ).

Although genetic inheritance undoubtedly plays a role in determining individual differences in response stereotypy, neonatal experiences in rats have been shown to produce long-term effects in cognitive-emotional responses ( Levine 1957 ). For example, Meaney et al. (1993) showed that rats raised by nurturing mothers have increased levels of central serotonin activity compared with rats raised by less nurturing mothers. The increased serotonin activity leads to increased expression of a central glucocorticoid receptor gene. This, in turn, leads to higher numbers of glucocorticoid receptors in the limbic system and improved glucocorticoid feedback into the CNS throughout the rat’s life. Interestingly, female rats who receive a high level of nurturing in turn become highly nurturing mothers whose offspring also have high levels of glucocorticoid receptors. This example of behaviorally induced gene expression shows how highly nurtured rats develop into low-anxiety adults, who in turn become nurturing mothers with reduced stress responses.

In contrast to highly nurtured rats, pups separated from their mothers for several hours per day during early life have a highly active hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical axis and elevated SNS arousal ( Ladd et al. 2000 ). These deprived rats tend to show larger and more frequent stress responses to the environment than do less deprived animals.

Because evolution has provided mammals with reasonably effective homeostatic mechanisms (e.g., baroreceptor reflex) for dealing with short-term stressors, acute stress responses in young, healthy individuals typically do not impose a health burden. However, if the threat is persistent, particularly in older or unhealthy individuals, the long-term effects of the response to stress may damage health ( Schneiderman 1983 ). Adverse effects of chronic stressors are particularly common in humans, possibly because their high capacity for symbolic thought may elicit persistent stress responses to a broad range of adverse living and working conditions. The relationship between psychosocial stressors and chronic disease is complex. It is affected, for example, by the nature, number, and persistence of the stressors as well as by the individual’s biological vulnerability (i.e., genetics, constitutional factors) and learned patterns of coping. In this review, we focus on some of the psychological, behavioral, and biological effects of specific stressors, the mediating psychophysiological pathways, and the variables known to mediate these relationships. We conclude with a consideration of treatment implications.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF STRESS

Stressors during childhood and adolescence and their psychological sequelae.

The most widely studied stressors in children and adolescents are exposure to violence, abuse (sexual, physical, emotional, or neglect), and divorce/marital conflict (see Cicchetti 2005 ). McMahon et al. (2003) also provide an excellent review of the psychological consequences of such stressors. Psychological effects of maltreatment/abuse include the dysregulation of affect, provocative behaviors, the avoidance of intimacy, and disturbances in attachment ( Haviland et al. 1995 , Lowenthal 1998 ). Survivors of childhood sexual abuse have higher levels of both general distress and major psychological disturbances including personality disorders ( Polusny & Follett 1995 ). Childhood abuse is also associated with negative views toward learning and poor school performance ( Lowenthal 1998 ). Children of divorced parents have more reported antisocial behavior, anxiety, and depression than their peers ( Short 2002 ). Adult offspring of divorced parents report more current life stress, family conflict, and lack of friend support compared with those whose parents did not divorce ( Short 2002 ). Exposure to nonresponsive environments has also been described as a stressor leading to learned helplessness ( Peterson & Seligman 1984 ).

Studies have also addressed the psychological consequences of exposure to war and terrorism during childhood ( Shaw 2003 ). A majority of children exposed to war experience significant psychological morbidity, including both post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depressive symptoms. For example, Nader et al. (1993) found that 70% of Kuwaiti children reported mild to severe PTSD symptoms after the Gulf War. Some effects are long lasting: Macksound & Aber (1996) found that 43% of Lebanese children continued to manifest post-traumatic stress symptoms 10 years after exposure to war-related trauma.

Exposure to intense and chronic stressors during the developmental years has long-lasting neurobiological effects and puts one at increased risk for anxiety and mood disorders, aggressive dyscontrol problems, hypo-immune dysfunction, medical morbidity, structural changes in the CNS, and early death ( Shaw 2003 ).

Stressors During Adulthood and Their Psychological Sequelae

Life stress, anxiety, and depression.

It is well known that first depressive episodes often develop following the occurrence of a major negative life event ( Paykel 2001 ). Furthermore, there is evidence that stressful life events are causal for the onset of depression (see Hammen 2005 , Kendler et al. 1999 ). A study of 13,006 patients in Denmark, with first psychiatric admissions diagnosed with depression, found more recent divorces, unemployment, and suicides by relatives compared with age- and gender-matched controls ( Kessing et al. 2003 ). The diagnosis of a major medical illness often has been considered a severe life stressor and often is accompanied by high rates of depression ( Cassem 1995 ). For example, a meta-analysis found that 24% of cancer patients are diagnosed with major depression ( McDaniel et al. 1995 ).

Stressful life events often precede anxiety disorders as well ( Faravelli & Pallanti 1989 , Finlay-Jones & Brown 1981 ). Interestingly, long-term follow-up studies have shown that anxiety occurs more commonly before depression ( Angst &Vollrath 1991 , Breslau et al. 1995 ). In fact, in prospective studies, patients with anxiety are most likely to develop major depression after stressful life events occur ( Brown et al. 1986 ).

DISORDERS RELATED TO TRAUMA

Lifetime exposure to traumatic events in the general population is high, with estimates ranging from 40% to 70% ( Norris 1992 ). Of note, an estimated 13% of adult women in the United States have been exposed to sexual assault ( Kilpatrick et al. 1992 ). The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association 2000 ) includes two primary diagnoses related to trauma: Acute Stress Disorder (ASD) and PTSD. Both these disorders have as prominent features a traumatic event involving actual or threatened death or serious injury and symptom clusters including re-experiencing of the traumatic event (e.g., intrusive thoughts), avoidance of reminders/numbing, and hyperarousal (e.g., difficulty falling or staying asleep). The time frame for ASD is shorter (lasting two days to four weeks), with diagnosis limited to within one month of the incident. ASD was introduced in 1994 to describe initial trauma reactions, but it has come under criticism ( Harvey & Bryant 2002 ) for weak empirical and theoretical support. Most people who have symptoms of PTSD shortly after a traumatic event recover and do not develop PTSD. In a comprehensive review, Green (1994) estimates that approximately 25% of those exposed to traumatic events develop PTSD. Surveys of the general population indicate that PTSD affects 1 in 12 adults at some time in their life ( Kessler et al. 1995 ). Trauma and disasters are related not only to PTSD, but also to concurrent depression, other anxiety disorders, cognitive impairment, and substance abuse ( David et al. 1996 , Schnurr et al. 2002 , Shalev 2001 ).

Other consequences of stress that could provide linkages to health have been identified, such as increases in smoking, substance use, accidents, sleep problems, and eating disorders. Populations that live in more stressful environments (communities with higher divorce rates, business failures, natural disasters, etc.) smoke more heavily and experience higher mortality from lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder ( Colby et al. 1994 ). A longitudinal study following seamen in a naval training center found that more cigarette smoking occurred on high-stress days ( Conway et al. 1981 ). Life events stress and chronically stressful conditions have also been linked to higher consumption of alcohol ( Linsky et al. 1985 ). In addition, the possibility that alcohol may be used as self-medication for stress-related disorders such as anxiety has been proposed. For example, a prospective community study of 3021 adolescents and young adults ( Zimmerman et al. 2003 ) found that those with certain anxiety disorders (social phobia and panic attacks) were more likely to develop substance abuse or dependence prospectively over four years of follow-up. Life in stressful environments has also been linked to fatal accidents ( Linsky & Strauss 1986 ) and to the onset of bulimia ( Welch et al. 1997 ). Another variable related to stress that could provide a link to health is the increased sleep problems that have been reported after sychological trauma ( Harvey et al. 2003 ). New onset of sleep problems mediated the relationship between post-traumatic stress symptoms and decreased natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity in Hurricane Andrew victims ( Ironson et al. 1997 ).

Variations in Stress Responses

Certain characteristics of a situation are associated with greater stress responses. These include the intensity or severity of the stressor and controllability of the stressor, as well as features that determine the nature of the cognitive responses or appraisals. Life event dimensions of loss, humiliation, and danger are related to the development of major depression and generalized anxiety ( Kendler et al. 2003 ). Factors associated with the development of symptoms of PTSD and mental health disorders include injury, damage to property, loss of resources, bereavement, and perceived life threat ( Freedy et al. 1992 , Ironson et al. 1997 , McNally 2003 ). Recovery from a stressor can also be affected by secondary traumatization ( Pfefferbaum et al. 2003 ). Other studies have found that multiple facets of stress that may work synergistically are more potent than a single facet; for example, in the area of work stress, time pressure in combination with threat ( Stanton et al. 2001 ), or high demand in combination with low control ( Karasek & Theorell 1990 ).

Stress-related outcomes also vary according to personal and environmental factors. Personal risk factors for the development of depression, anxiety, or PTSD after a serious life event, disaster, or trauma include prior psychiatric history, neuroticism, female gender, and other sociodemographic variables ( Green 1996 , McNally 2003 , Patton et al. 2003 ). There is also some evidence that the relationship between personality and environmental adversity may be bidirectional ( Kendler et al. 2003 ). Levels of neuroticism, emotionality, and reactivity correlate with poor interpersonal relationships as well as “event proneness.” Protective factors that have been identified include, but are not limited to, coping, resources (e.g., social support, self-esteem, optimism), and finding meaning. For example, those with social support fare better after a natural disaster ( Madakaisira & O’Brien 1987 ) or after myocardial infarction ( Frasure-Smith et al. 2000 ). Pruessner et al. (1999) found that people with higher self-esteem performed better and had lower cortisol responses to acute stressors (difficult math problems). Attaching meaning to the event is another protective factor against the development of PTSD, even when horrific torture has occurred. Left-wing political activists who were tortured by Turkey’s military regime had lower rates of PTSD than did nonactivists who were arrested and tortured by the police ( Basoğlu et al. 1994 ).

Finally, human beings are resilient and in general are able to cope with adverse situations. A recent illustration is provided by a study of a nationally representative sample of Israelis after 19 months of ongoing exposure to the Palestinian intifada. Despite considerable distress, most Israelis reported adapting to the situation without substantial mental health symptoms or impairment ( Bleich et al. 2003 ).

BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO STRESSORS

Acute stress responses.

Following the perception of an acute stressful event, there is a cascade of changes in the nervous, cardiovascular, endocrine, and immune systems. These changes constitute the stress response and are generally adaptive, at least in the short term ( Selye 1956 ). Two features in particular make the stress response adaptive. First, stress hormones are released to make energy stores available for the body’s immediate use. Second, a new pattern of energy distribution emerges. Energy is diverted to the tissues that become more active during stress, primarily the skeletal muscles and the brain. Cells of the immune system are also activated and migrate to “battle stations” ( Dhabar & McEwen 1997 ). Less critical activities are suspended, such as digestion and the production of growth and gonadal hormones. Simply put, during times of acute crisis, eating, growth, and sexual activity may be a detriment to physical integrity and even survival.

Stress hormones are produced by the SNS and hypothalamic-pituitary adrenocortical axis. The SNS stimulates the adrenal medulla to produce catecholamines (e.g., epinephrine). In parallel, the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus produces corticotropin releasing factor, which in turn stimulates the pituitary to produce adrenocorticotropin. Adrenocorticotropin then stimulates the adrenal cortex to secrete cortisol. Together, catecholamines and cortisol increase available sources of energy by promoting lipolysis and the conversion of glycogen into glucose (i.e., blood sugar). Lipolysis is the process of breaking down fats into usable sources of energy (i.e., fatty acids and glycerol; Brindley & Rollan 1989 ).

Energy is then distributed to the organs that need it most by increasing blood pressure levels and contracting certain blood vessels while dilating others. Blood pressure is increased with one of two hemodynamic mechanisms ( Llabre et al.1998 , Schneiderman & McCabe 1989 ). The myocardial mechanism increases blood pressure through enhanced cardiac output; that is, increases in heart rate and stroke volume (i.e., the amount of blood pumped with each heart beat). The vascular mechanism constricts the vasculature, thereby increasing blood pressure much like constricting a hose increases water pressure. Specific stressors tend to elicit either myocardial or vascular responses, providing evidence of situational stereotypy ( Saab et al. 1992 , 1993 ). Laboratory stressors that call for active coping strategies, such as giving a speech or performing mental arithmetic, require the participant to do something and are associated with myocardial responses. In contrast, laboratory stressors that call for more vigilant coping strategies in the absence of movement, such as viewing a distressing video or keeping one’s foot in a bucket of ice water, are associated with vascular responses. From an evolutionary perspective, cardiac responses are believed to facilitate active coping by shunting blood to skeletal muscles, consistent with the fight-or-flight response. In situations where decisive action would not be appropriate, but instead skeletal muscle inhibition and vigilance are called for, a vascular hemodynamic response is adaptive. The vascular response shunts blood away from the periphery to the internal organs, thereby minimizing potential bleeding in the case of physical assault.

Finally, in addition to the increased availability and redistribution of energy, the acute stress response includes activation of the immune system. Cells of the innate immune system (e.g., macrophages and natural killer cells), the first line of defense, depart from lymphatic tissue and spleen and enter the bloodstream, temporarily raising the number of immune cells in circulation (i.e., leukocytosis). From there, the immune cells migrate into tissues that are most likely to suffer damage during physical confrontation (e.g., the skin). Once at “battle stations,” these cells are in position to contain microbes that may enter the body through wounds and thereby facilitate healing ( Dhabar & McEwen 1997 ).

Chronic Stress Responses

The acute stress response can become maladaptive if it is repeatedly or continuously activated ( Selye 1956 ). For example, chronic SNS stimulation of the cardiovascular system due to stress leads to sustained increases in blood pressure and vascular hypertrophy ( Henry et al. 1975 ). That is, the muscles that constrict the vasculature thicken, producing elevated resting blood pressure and response stereotypy, or a tendency to respond to all types of stressors with a vascular response. Chronically elevated blood pressure forces the heart to work harder, which leads to hypertrophy of the left ventricle ( Brownley et al. 2000 ). Over time, the chronically elevated and rapidly shifting levels of blood pressure can lead to damaged arteries and plaque formation.

The elevated basal levels of stress hormones associated with chronic stress also suppress immunity by directly affecting cytokine profiles. Cytokines are communicatory molecules produced primarily by immune cells (see Roitt et al. 1998 ). There are three classes of cytokines. Proinflammatory cytokines mediate acute inflammatory reactions. Th1 cytokines mediate cellular immunity by stimulating natural killer cells and cytotoxic T cells, immune cells that target intracellular pathogens (e.g., viruses). Finally, Th2 cytokines mediate humoral immunity by stimulating B cells to produce antibody, which “tags” extracellular pathogens (e.g., bacteria) for removal. In a meta-analysis of over 30 years of research, Segerstrom & Miller (2004) found that intermediate stressors, such as academic examinations, could promote a Th2 shift (i.e., an increase in Th2 cytokines relative to Th1 cytokines). A Th2 shift has the effect of suppressing cellular immunity in favor of humoral immunity. In response to more chronic stressors (e.g., long-term caregiving for a dementia patient), Segerstrom & Miller found that proinflammatory, Th1, and Th2 cytokines become dysregulated and lead both to suppressed humoral and cellular immunity. Intermediate and chronic stressors are associated with slower wound healing and recovery from surgery, poorer antibody responses to vaccination, and antiviral deficits that are believed to contribute to increased vulnerability to viral infections (e.g., reductions in natural killer cell cytotoxicity; see Kiecolt-Glaser et al. 2002 ).

Chronic stress is particularly problematic for elderly people in light of immunosenescence, the gradual loss of immune function associated with aging. Older adults are less able to produce antibody responses to vaccinations or combat viral infections ( Ferguson et al. 1995 ), and there is also evidence of a Th2 shift ( Glaser et al. 2001 ). Although research has yet to link poor vaccination responses to early mortality, influenza and other infectious illnesses are a major cause of mortality in the elderly, even among those who have received vaccinations (e.g., Voordouw et al. 2003 ).

PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESSORS AND HEALTH

Cardiovascular disease.

Both epidemiological and controlled studies have demonstrated relationships between psychosocial stressors and disease. The underlying mediators, however, are unclear in most cases, although possible mechanisms have been explored in some experimental studies. An occupational gradient in coronary heart disease (CHD) risk has been documented in which men with relatively low socioeconomic status have the poorest health outcomes ( Marmot 2003 ). Much of the risk gradient in CHD can be eliminated, however, by taking into account lack of perceived job control, which is a potent stressor ( Marmot et al. 1997 ). Other factors include risky behaviors such as smoking, alcohol use, and sedentary lifestyle ( Lantz et al. 1998 ), which may be facilitated by stress. Among men ( Schnall et al. 1994 ) and women ( Eaker 1998 ), work stress has been reported to be a predictor of incident CHD and hypertension ( Ironson 1992 ). However, in women with existing CHD, marital stress is a better predictor of poor prognosis than is work stress ( Orth-Gomer et al. 2000 ).

Although the observational studies cited thus far reveal provocative associations between psychosocial stressors and disease, they are limited in what they can tell us about the exact contribution of these stressors or about how stress mediates disease processes. Animal models provide an important tool for helping to understand the specific influences of stressors on disease processes. This is especially true of atherosclerotic CHD, which takes multiple decades to develop in humans and is influenced by a great many constitutional, demographic, and environmental factors. It would also be unethical to induce disease in humans by experimental means.

Perhaps the best-known animal model relating stress to atherosclerosis was developed by Kaplan et al. (1982) . Their study was carried out on male cynomolgus monkeys, who normally live in social groups. The investigators stressed half the animals by reorganizing five-member social groups at one- to three-month intervals on a schedule that ensured that each monkey would be housed with several new animals during each reorganization. The other half of the animals lived in stable social groups. All animals were maintained on a moderately atherogenic diet for 22 months. Animals were also assessed for their social status (i.e., relative dominance) within each group. The major findings were that ( a ) socially dominant animals living in unstable groups had significantly more atherosclerosis than did less dominant animals living in unstable groups; and ( b ) socially dominant male animals living in unstable groups had significantly more atherosclerosis than did socially dominant animals living in stable groups. Other important findings based upon this model have been that heart-rate reactivity to the threat of capture predicts severity of atherosclerosis ( Manuck et al. 1983 ) and that administration of the SNS-blocking agent propranolol decreases the progression of atherosclerosis ( Kaplan et al. 1987 ). In contrast to the findings in males, subordinate premenstrual females develop greater atherosclerosis than do dominant females ( Kaplan et al. 1984 ) because they are relatively estrogen deficient, tending to miss ovulatory cycles ( Adams et al. 1985 ).

Whereas the studies in cynomolgus monkeys indicate that emotionally stressful behavior can accelerate the progression of atherosclerosis, McCabe et al. (2002) have provided evidence that affiliative social behavior can slow the progression of atherosclerosis in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit. This rabbit model has a genetic defect in lipoprotein clearance such that it exhibits hypercholesterolemia and severe atherosclerosis. The rabbits were assigned to one of three social or behavioral groups: ( a ) an unstable group in which unfamiliar rabbits were paired daily, with the pairing switched each week; ( b ) a stable group, in which littermates were paired daily for the entire study; and ( c ) an individually caged group. The stable group exhibited more affiliative behavior and less agonistic behavior than the unstable group and significantly less atherosclerosis than each of the other two groups. The study emphasizes the importance of behavioral factors in atherogenesis, even in a model of disease with extremely strong genetic determinants.

Upper Respiratory Diseases

The hypothesis that stress predicts susceptibility to the common cold received support from observational studies ( Graham et al. 1986 , Meyer & Haggerty 1962 ). One problem with such studies is that they do not control for exposure. Stressed people, for instance, might seek more outside contact and thus be exposed to more viruses. Therefore, in a more controlled study, people were exposed to a rhinovirus and then quarantined to control for exposure to other viruses ( Cohen et al. 1991 ). Those individuals with the most stressful life events and highest levels of perceived stress and negative affect had the greatest probability of developing cold symptoms. In a subsequent study of volunteers inoculated with a cold virus, it was found that people enduring chronic, stressful life events (i.e., events lasting a month or longer including unemployment, chronic underemployment, or continued interpersonal difficulties) had a high likelihood of catching cold, whereas people subjected to stressful events lasting less than a month did not ( Cohen et al. 1998 ).

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

The impact of life stressors has also been studied within the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) spectrum disease. Leserman et al. (2000) followed men with HIV for up to 7.5 years and found that faster progression to AIDS was associated with higher cumulative stressful life events, use of denial as a coping mechanism, lower satisfaction with social support, and elevated serum cortisol.

Inflammation, the Immune System, and Physical Health

Despite the stress-mediated immunosuppressive effects reviewed above, stress has also been associated with exacerbations of autoimmune disease ( Harbuz et al. 2003 ) and other conditions in which excessive inflammation is a central feature, such as CHD ( Appels et al. 2000 ). Evidence suggests that a chronically activated, dysregulated acute stress response is responsible for these associations. Recall that the acute stress response includes the activation and migration of cells of the innate immune system. This effect is mediated by proinflammatory cytokines. During periods of chronic stress, in the otherwise healthy individual, cortisol eventually suppresses proinflammatory cytokine production. But in individuals with autoimmune disease or CHD, prolonged stress can cause proinflammatory cytokine production to remain chronically activated, leading to an exacerbation of pathophysiology and symptomatology.

Miller et al. (2002) proposed the glucocorticoid-resistance model to account for this deficit in proinflammatory cytokine regulation. They argue that immune cells become “resistant” to the effects of cortisol (i.e., a type of glucocorticoid), primarily through a reduction, or downregulation, in the number of expressed cortisol receptors. With cortisol unable to suppress inflammation, stress continues to promote proinflammatory cytokine production indefinitely. Although there is only preliminary empirical support for this model, it could have implications for diseases of inflammation. For example, in rheumatoid arthritis, excessive inflammation is responsible for joint damage, swelling, pain, and reduced mobility. Stress is associated with more swelling and reduced mobility in rheumatoid arthritis patients ( Affleck et al. 1997 ). Similarly, in multiple sclerosis (MS), an overactive immune system targets and destroys the myelin surrounding nerves, contributing to a host of symptoms that include paralysis and blindness. Again, stress is associated with an exacerbation of disease ( Mohr et al. 2004 ). Even in CHD, inflammation plays a role. The immune system responds to vascular injury just as it would any other wound: Immune cells migrate to and infiltrate the arterial wall, setting off a cascade of biochemical processes that can ultimately lead to a thrombosis (i.e., clot; Ross 1999 ). Elevated levels of inflammatory markers, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), are predictive of heart attacks, even when controlling for other traditional risk factors (e.g., cholesterol, blood pressure, and smoking; Morrow & Ridker 2000 ). Interestingly, a history of major depressive episodes has been associated with elevated levels of CRP in men ( Danner et al. 2003 ).

Inflammation, Cytokine Production, and Mental Health

In addition to its effects on physical health, prolonged proinflammatory cytokine production may also adversely affect mental health in vulnerable individuals. During times of illness (e.g., the flu), proinflammatory cytokines feed back to the CNS and produce symptoms of fatigue, malaise, diminished appetite, and listlessness, which are symptoms usually associated with depression. It was once thought that these symptoms were directly caused by infectious pathogens, but more recently, it has become clear that proinflammatory cytokines are both sufficient and necessary (i.e., even absent infection or fever) to generate sickness behavior ( Dantzer 2001 , Larson & Dunn 2001 ).

Sickness behavior has been suggested to be a highly organized strategy that mammals use to combat infection ( Dantzer 2001 ). Symptoms of illness, as previously thought, are not inconsequential or even maladaptive. On the contrary, sickness behavior is thought to promote resistance and facilitate recovery. For example, an overall decrease in activity allows the sick individual to preserve energy resources that can be redirected toward enhancing immune activity. Similarly, limiting exploration, mating, and foraging further preserves energy resources and reduces the likelihood of risky encounters (e.g., fighting over a mate). Furthermore, decreasing food intake also decreases the level of iron in the blood, thereby decreasing bacterial replication. Thus, for a limited period, sickness behavior may be looked upon as an adaptive response to the stress of illness.

Much like other aspects of the acute stress response, however, sickness behavior can become maladaptive when repeatedly or continuously activated. Many features of the sickness behavior response overlap with major depression. Indeed, compared with healthy controls, elevated rates of depression are reported in patients with inflammatory diseases such as MS ( Mohr et al. 2004 ) or CHD ( Carney et al. 1987 ). Granted, MS patients face a number of stressors and reports of depression are not surprising. However, when compared with individuals facing similar disability who do not have MS (e.g., car accident victims), MS patients still report higher levels of depression ( Ron & Logsdail 1989 ). In both MS ( Fassbender et al. 1998 ) and CHD ( Danner et al. 2003 ), indicators of inflammation have been found to be correlated with depressive symptomatology. Thus, there is evidence to suggest that stress contributes to both physical and mental disease through the mediating effects of proinflammatory cytokines.

HOST VULNERABILITY-STRESSOR INTERACTIONS AND DISEASE

The changes in biological set points that occur across the life span as a function of chronic stressors are referred to as allostasis, and the biological cost of these adjustments is known as allostatic load ( McEwen 1998 ). McEwen has also suggested that cumulative increases in allostatic load are related to chronic illness. These are intriguing hypotheses that emphasize the role that stressors may play in disease. The challenge, however, is to show the exact interactions that occur among stressors, pathogens, host vulnerability (both constitutional and genetic), and such poor health behaviors as smoking, alcohol abuse, and excessive caloric consumption. Evidence of a lifetime trajectory of comorbidities does not necessarily imply that allostatic load is involved since immunosenescence, genetic predisposition, pathogen exposure, and poor health behaviors may act as culprits.

It is not clear, for example, that changes in set point for variables such as blood pressure are related to cumulative stressors per se, at least in healthy young individuals. Thus, for example, British soldiers subjected to battlefield conditions for more than a year in World War II showed chronic elevations in blood pressure, which returned to normal after a couple of months away from the front ( Graham 1945 ). In contrast, individuals with chronic illnesses such as chronic fatigue syndrome may show a high rate of relapse after a relatively acute stressor such as a hurricane ( Lutgendorf et al. 1995 ). Nevertheless, by emphasizing the role that chronic stressors may play in multiple disease outcomes, McEwen has helped to emphasize an important area of study.

TREATMENT FOR STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS

For PTSD, useful treatments include cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT), along with exposure and the more controversial Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing ( Foa & Meadows 1997 , Ironson et al. 2002 , Shapiro 1995 ). Psychopharmacological approaches have also been suggested ( Berlant 2001 ). In addition, writing about trauma has been helpful both for affective recovery and for potential health benefit ( Pennebaker 1997 ). For outpatients with major depression, Beck’s CBT ( Beck 1976 ) and interpersonal therapy ( Klerman et al. 1984 ) are as effective as psychopharmacotherapy ( Clinical Practice Guidelines 1993 ). However, the presence of sleep problems or hypercortisolemia is associated with poorer response to psychotherapy ( Thase 2000 ). The combination of psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy seems to offer a substantial advantage over psychotherapy alone for the subset of patients who are more severely depressed or have recurrent depression ( Thase et al. 1997 ). For the treatment of anxiety, it depends partly on the specific disorder [e.g., generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), panic disorder, social phobia], although CBT including relaxation training has demonstrated efficacy in several subtypes of anxiety ( Borkovec & Ruscio 2001 ). Antidepressants such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors also show efficacy in anxiety ( Ballenger et al. 2001 ), especially when GAD is comorbid with major depression, which is the case in 39% of subjects with current GAD ( Judd et al. 1998 ).

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS IN CHRONIC DISEASE

Patients dealing with chronic, life-threatening diseases must often confront daily stressors that can threaten to undermine even the most resilient coping strategies and overwhelm the most abundant interpersonal resources. Psychosocial interventions, such as cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM), have a positive effect on the quality of life of patients with chronic disease ( Schneiderman et al. 2001 ). Such interventions decrease perceived stress and negative mood (e.g., depression), improve perceived social support, facilitate problem-focused coping, and change cognitive appraisals, as well as decrease SNS arousal and the release of cortisol from the adrenal cortex. Psychosocial interventions also appear to help chronic pain patients reduce their distress and perceived pain as well as increase their physical activity and ability to return to work ( Morley et al. 1999 ). These psychosocial interventions can also decrease patients’ overuse of medications and utilization of the health care system. There is also some evidence that psychosocial interventions may have a favorable influence on disease progression ( Schneiderman et al. 2001 ).

Morbidity, Mortality, and Markers of Disease Progression

Psychosocial intervention trials conducted upon patients following acute myocardial infarction (MI) have reported both positive and null results. Two meta-analyses have reported a reduction in both mortality and morbidity of approximately 20% to 40% ( Dusseldorp et al. 1999 , Linden et al. 1996 ). Most of these studies were carried out in men. The major study reporting positive results was the Recurrent Coronary Prevention Project (RCPP), which employed group-based CBT, and decreased hostility and depressed affect ( Mendes de Leon et al. 1991 ), as well as the composite medical end point of cardiac death and nonfatal MI ( Friedman et al. 1986 ).

In contrast, the major study reporting null results for medical end points was the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease (ENRICHD) clinical trial ( Writing Committee for ENRICHD Investigators 2003 ), which found that the intervention modestly decreased depression and increased perceived social support, but did not affect the composite medical end point of death and nonfatal MI. However, a secondary analysis, which examined the effects of the psychosocial intervention within gender by ethnicity subgroups, found significant decreases approaching 40% in both cardiac death and nonfatal MI for white men but not for other subgroups such as minority women ( Schneiderman et al. 2004 ). Although there were important differences between the RCPP and ENRICHD in terms of the objectives of psychosocial intervention and the duration and timing of treatment, it should also be noted that more than 90% of the patients in the RCPP were white men. Thus, because primarily white men, but not other subgroups, may have benefited from the ENRICHD intervention, future studies need to attend to variables that may have prevented morbidity and mortality benefits among gender and ethnic subgroups other than white men.

Psychosocial intervention trials conducted upon patients with cancer have reported both positive and null results with regard to survival ( Classen 1998 ). A number of factors that generally characterized intervention trials that observed significant positive effects on survival were relatively absent in trials that failed to show improved survival. These included: ( a ) having only patients with the same type and severity of cancer within each group, ( b ) creation of a supportive environment, ( c ) having an educational component, and ( d ) provision of stress-management and coping-skills training. In one study that reported positive results, Fawzy et al. (1993) found that patients with early stage melanoma assigned to a six-week cognitive-behavioral stress management (CBSM) group showed significantly longer survival and longer time to recurrence over a six-year follow-up period compared with those receiving surgery and standard care alone. The intervention also significantly reduced distress, enhanced active coping, and increased NK cell cytotoxicity compared with controls.

Although published studies have not yet shown that psychosocial interventions can decrease disease progression in HIV/AIDS, several studies have significantly influenced factors that have been associated with HIV/AIDS disease progression ( Schneiderman & Antoni 2003 ). These variables associated with disease progression include distress, depressed affect, denial coping, low perceived social support, and elevated serum cortisol ( Ickovics et al. 2001 , Leserman et al. 2000 ). Antoni et al. have used group-based CBSM (i.e., CBT plus relaxation training) to decrease the stress-related effects of HIV+ serostatus notification. Those in the intervention condition showed lower distress, anxiety, and depressed mood than did those in the control condition as well as lower antibody titers of herpesviruses and higher levels of T-helper (CD4) cells, NK cells, and lymphocyte proliferation ( Antoni et al. 1991 , Esterling et al. 1992 ). In subsequent studies conducted upon symptomatic HIV+ men who were not attempting to determine their HIV serostatus, CBSM decreased distress, dysphoria, anxiety, herpesvirus antibody titers, cortisol, and epinephrine ( Antoni et al. 2000a , b ; Lutgendorf et al. 1997 ). Improvement in perceived social support and adaptive coping skills mediated the decreases in distress ( Lutgendorf et al. 1998 ). In summary, it appears that CBSM can positively influence stress-related variables that have been associated with HIV/AIDS progression. Only a randomized clinical trial, however, could document that CBSM can specifically decrease HIV/AIDS disease progression.

Stress is a central concept for understanding both life and evolution. All creatures face threats to homeostasis, which must be met with adaptive responses. Our future as individuals and as a species depends on our ability to adapt to potent stressors. At a societal level, we face a lack of institutional resources (e.g., inadequate health insurance), pestilence (e.g., HIV/AIDS), war, and international terrorism that has reached our shores. At an individual level, we live with the insecurities of our daily existence including job stress, marital stress, and unsafe schools and neighborhoods. These are not an entirely new condition as, in the last century alone, the world suffered from instances of mass starvation, genocide, revolutions, civil wars, major infectious disease epidemics, two world wars, and a pernicious cold war that threatened the world order. Although we have chosen not to focus on these global threats in this paper, they do provide the backdrop for our consideration of the relationship between stress and health.

A widely used definition of stressful situations is one in which the demands of the situation threaten to exceed the resources of the individual ( Lazarus & Folkman 1984 ). It is clear that all of us are exposed to stressful situations at the societal, community, and interpersonal level. How we meet these challenges will tell us about the health of our society and ourselves. Acute stress responses in young, healthy individuals may be adaptive and typically do not impose a health burden. Indeed, individuals who are optimistic and have good coping responses may benefit from such experiences and do well dealing with chronic stressors ( Garmezy 1991 , Glanz & Johnson 1999 ). In contrast, if stressors are too strong and too persistent in individuals who are biologically vulnerable because of age, genetic, or constitutional factors, stressors may lead to disease. This is particularly the case if the person has few psychosocial resources and poor coping skills. In this chapter, we have documented associations between stressors and disease and have described how endocrine-immune interactions appear to mediate the relationship. We have also described how psychosocial stressors influence mental health and how psychosocial treatments may ameliorate both mental and physical disorders. There is much we do not yet know about the relationship between stress and health, but scientific findings being made in the areas of cognitive-emotional psychology, molecular biology, neuroscience, clinical psychology, and medicine will undoubtedly lead to improved health outcomes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Preparation of this manuscript was supported by NIH grants P01-MH49548, P01- HL04726, T32-HL36588, R01-MH66697, and R01-AT02035. We thank Elizabeth Balbin, Adam Carrico, and Orit Weitzman for library research.

LITERATURE CITED

Adams DB, Bacelli G, Mancia G, Zanchetti A. Cardiovascular changes during naturally elicited fighting behavior in the cat. Am. J. Physiol. 1968; 216 :1226–1235. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Adams MR, Kaplan JR, Koritnik DR. Psychosocial influences on ovarian, endocrine and ovulatory function in Macaca fascicularis . Physiol. Behav. 1985; 35 :935–940. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Affleck G, Urrows S, Tennen H, Higgins P, Pav D, Aloisi R. A dual pathway model of daily stressor effects on rheumatoid arthritis. Ann. Behav. Med. 1997; 19 :161–170. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders IV-TR. 4th ed. Washington, DC: Am. Psychiatr. Assoc.; 2000. [ Google Scholar ]
Angst J, Vollrath M. The natural history of anxiety disorders. Acta Psychiatr. Scand. 1991; 84 :446–452. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Antoni MH, Baggett L, Ironson G, LaPerriere A, Klimas N, et al. Cognitive behavioral stress management intervention buffers distress responses and elevates immunologic markers following notification of HIV-1 seropositivity. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 1991; 59 :906–915. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Antoni MH, Cruess DG, Cruess S, Lutgendorf S, Kumar M, et al. Cognitive behavioral stress management intervention effects on anxiety, 24-hour urinary catecholamine output, and T-cytotoxic/suppressor cells over time among symptomatic HIV-infected gay men. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 2000a; 68 :31–45. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Antoni MH, Cruess S, Cruess DG, Kumar M, Lutgendorf S, et al. Cognitive-behavioral stress management reduces distress and 24-hour urinary free cortisol output among symptomatic HIV-infected gay men. Ann. Behav. Med. 2000b; 22 :29–37. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Appels A, Bar FW, Bar J, Bruggeman C, de Bates M. Inflammation, depressive symptomatology, and coronary artery disease. Psychosom. Med. 2000; 62 :601–605. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ballenger JC, Davidson JRT, Lecrubier Y, Nutt DJ, Borkovec TD, et al. Consensus statement on generalized anxiety disorder from the international consensus group on depression and anxiety. J. Clin. Psychiatry. 2001; 62 :53–58. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Başoğlu M, Parker M, Parker Ö, Özmen E, Marks I, et al. Psychological effects of torture: a comparison of tortured with non-tortured political activists in Turkey. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1994; 151 :76–81. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Baum A. Stress, intrusive imagery, and chronic distress. Health Psychol. 1990; 9 :653–675. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Beck AT. Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. New York: Int. Univ. Press; 1976. [ Google Scholar ]
Berlant JL. Topiramate in posttraumatic stress disorder: preliminary clinical observations. J. Clin. Psychiatry. 2001; 62 :60–63. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Bernard C. An Introduction to the Study of Experimental Medicine. Transl. HC Greene. New York: Collier; 18651961. [ Google Scholar ]
Bleich A, Gelkopf M, Solomon Z. Exposure to terrorism, stress-related mental health symptoms, and coping behaviors among a nationally representative sample in Israel. JAMA. 2003; 290 :612–620. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Borkovec TD, Ruscio AM. Psychotherapy for generalized anxiety disorder. J. Clin. Psychiatry. 2001; 61 :37–42. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Breslau N, Davis GC, Andreski P, Peterson E. Sex differences in depression: a role for preexisting anxiety. Psychiatr. Res. 1995; 58 :1–12. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Brindley D, Rollan Y. Possible connections between stress, diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and altered lipoprotein metabolism that may result in atherosclerosis. Clin. Sci. 1989; 77 :453–461. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Brown GW, Bifulco A, Harris T, Bridge L. Life stress, chronic subclinical symptoms and vulnerability to clinical depression. J. Affect. Disord. 1986; 11 :1–19. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Brownley KA, Hurwitz BE, Schneiderman N. Cardiovascular psychophysiology. In: Cacioppo JT, Tassinary LG, Berntson GG, editors. Handbook of Psychophysiology. 2nd ed. New York: Cambridge Univ.; 2000. pp. 224–264. [ Google Scholar ]
Cannon WB. Bodily Changes in Pain, Hunger, Fear and Rage. 2nd ed. New York: Appleton; 1929. [ Google Scholar ]
Carney RM, Rich MW, Tevelde A, Saini J, Clark K, Jaffe AS. Major depressive disorder in coronary artery disease. Am. J. Cardiol. 1987; 60 :1273–1275. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Cassem EH. Depressive disorders in the medically ill: an overview. Psychosomatics. 1995; 36 :S2–S10. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Cicchetti D. Child maltreatment. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 2005; 1 :409–438. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Classen C, Sephton SE, Diamond S, Spiegel D. Studies of life-extending psychosocial interventions. In: Holland J, editor. Textbook of Psycho-Oncology. New York: Oxford Univ. Press; 1998. pp. 730–742. [ Google Scholar ]
Clinical Practice Guidelines. No. 5. Depression in Primary Care. Vol. 2: Treatment of Major Depression. Rockville, MD: US Dept. Health Hum. Serv., Agency Health Care Policy Res.; 1993. AHCPR Publ. 93-0551.
Cohen S, Frank E, Doyle WJ, Skoner DP, Rabin BS, Gwaltney JM., Jr Types of stressors that increase susceptibility to the common cold in healthy adults. Health Psychol. 1998; 17 :214–223. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Cohen S, Tyrrell DA, Smith AP. Psychological stress and susceptibility to the common cold. N. Engl. J. Med. 1991; 325 :606–612. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Colby JP, Linsky AS, Straus MA. Social stress and state-to-state differences in smoking-related mortality in the United States. Soc. Sci. Med. 1994; 38 :373–381. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Conway TL, Vickers RR, Ward HW, Rahe RH. Occupational stress and variation in cigarette, coffee and alcohol consumption. J. Health Soc. Behav. 1981; 22 :156–165. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Danner M, Kasl SV, Abramson JL, Vaccarion V. Association between depression and elevated C-reactive protein. Psychosom. Med. 2003; 65 :347–356. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Dantzer R. Cytokine-induced sickness behavior: Where do we stand? Brain Behav. Immun. 2001; 15 :7–24. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
David D, Mellman TA, Mendoza LM, Kulick-Bell R, Ironson G, Schneiderman N. Psychiatric morbidity following Hurricane Andrew. Int. Soc. Trauma. Stress Stud. 1996; 9 :607–612. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Dhabar FS, McEwen BS. Acute stress enhances while chronic stress suppresses cell-mediated immunity in vivo: a potential role for leukocyte trafficking. Brain Behav. Immun. 1997; 11 :286–306. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Dusseldorp E, van Elderen T, Maes S, Meulman J, Kraaij V. A meta-analysis of psychoeducational programs for coronary heart disease patients. Health Psychol. 1999; 18 :506–519. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Eaker ED. Psychosocial risk factors for coronary heart disease in women. Cardiovasc. Clin. 1998; 16 :103–111. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Esterling BA, Antoni MH, Schneiderman N, Carver CS, LaPerriere A, et al. Psychosocial modulation of antibody to Epstein-Barr viral capsid antigen and herpes virus type-6 HIV-1 infected and at-risk gay men. Psychosom. Med. 1992; 54 :354–371. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Faravelli C, Pallanti S. Recent life events and panic disorder. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1989; 146 :622–626. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Fassbender K, Schmidt R, Mossner R, Kischka U, Kuhnen J, et al. Mood disorders and dysfunction of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis in multiple sclerosis: associations with cerebral inflammation. Arch. Neurol. 1998; 55 :66–72. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Fawzy FI, Fawzy NW, Hyun CS, Elashoff R, Guthrie D, et al. Malignant melanoma. Effects of an early structured psychiatric intervention, coping and affective state on recurrence and survival 6 years later. Arch. Gen. Psychol. 1993; 50 :681–689. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ferguson RG, Wikby A, Maxson P, Olsson J, Johansson B. Immune parameters in a longitudinal study of a very old population of Swedish people: a comparison between survivors and nonsurvivors. J. Gerontol. 1995; 50 :B378–B382. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Finlay-Jones R, Brown GW. Types of stressful life events and the onset of anxiety and depressive disorders. Psychol. Med. 1981; 11 :803–815. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Foa EB, Meadows EA. Psychosocial treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder: critical review. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 1997; 48 :449–480. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Frasure-Smith N, Lespérance F, Gravel G, Masson A, Juneau M, et al. Social support, depression, and mortality during the first year after myocardial infarction. Circulation. 2000; 101 :1919–1924. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Freedy JR, Shaw DL, Jarrell MP, Masters CR. Towards an understanding of the psychological impact of natural disasters: an application of the conservation of resources stress model. J. Trauma. Stress. 1992; 5 :441–454. [ Google Scholar ]
Friedman M, Thoresen CE, Gill JJ, Ulmer D, Powell LH, et al. Alteration of type A behavior and its effects on cardiac recurrences in post myocardial patients: summary results of the Recurrent Coronary Prevention Project. Am. Heart J. 1986; 112 :653–665. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Garmezy N. Resiliency and vulnerability to adverse developmental outcomes associated with poverty. Am. Behav. Sci. 1991; 34 :416–430. [ Google Scholar ]
Glanz MD, Johnson JL. Resilience and Development: Positive Life Adaptations. New York: Kluwer Acad./Plenum; 1999. [ Google Scholar ]
Glaser R, MacCallum RC, Laskowski BF, Malarkey WB, Sheridan JF, Kiecolt-Glaser JK. Evidence for a shift in the Th-1 to Th-2 cytokine response associated with chronic stress and aging. J. Gerontol. 2001; 56 :M477–M482. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Graham JDP. High blood pressure after battle. Lancet. 1945; 248 :239–240. [ Google Scholar ]
Graham NMH, Douglas RB, Ryan P. Stress and acute respiratory infection. Am. J. Epidemiol. 1986; 124 :389–401. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Green BL. Psychosocial research in traumatic stress: an update. J. Trauma. Stress. 1994; 7 :341–362. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Green BL. Traumatic stress and disaster: mental health effects and factors influencing adaptation. In: Mak FL, Nadelson C, editors. International Review of Psychiatry. Washington, DC: Am. Psychiatr. Press; 1996. pp. 177–211. [ Google Scholar ]
Hammen C. Stress and depression. Annu. Rev. Clin. Psychol. 2005; 1 :293–319. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Harbuz MS, Chover-Gonzalez AJ, Jessop DS. Hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis and chronic immune activation. Ann. NY Acad. Sci. 2003; 992 :99–106. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Harvey AG, Bryant RA. Acute stress disorder: a synthesis and critique. Psychol. Bull. 2002; 128 :886–902. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Harvey AG, Jones C, Schmidt DA. Sleep and posttraumatic stress disorder: a review. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2003; 23 :377–407. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Haviland MG, Sonne JL, Woods LR. Beyond posttraumatic stress disorder: object relations and reality testing disturbances in physically and sexually abused adolescents. J. Am. Acad. Child Adolesc. Psychiatry. 1995; 34 :1054–1059. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Henry JP, Stephens PM, Santisteban GA. A model of psychosocial hypertension showing reversibility and progression of cardiovascular complications. Circ. Res. 1975; 36 :156–164. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Hess WR. Functional Organization of the Diencephalons. New York: Grune & Stratton; 1957. [ Google Scholar ]
Hilton SM. Ways of viewing the central nervous control of the circulation—old and new. Brain Res. 1975; 87 :213–228. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ickovics JR, Hamburger ME, Vlahov D, Schoenbaum EE, Schumm P, Boland RJ. Mortality, CD4 cell count decline, and depressive symptoms among HIV-seropositive women. JAMA. 2001; 285 :1466–1474. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ironson GH. Job stress and health. In: Cranny CJ, Smith PC, Stone EF, editors. Job Satisfaction: How People Feel About Their Jobs and How It Affects Their Performance. New York: Lexington; 1992. pp. 219–239. [ Google Scholar ]
Ironson GH, Freund B, Strauss JL, Williams J. Comparison of two treatments for traumatic stress: a community-based study of EMDR and prolonged exposure. J. Clin. Psychol. 2002; 58 :113–128. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ironson GH, Wynings C, Schneiderman N, Baum A, Rodriguez M, et al. Posttraumatic stress symptoms, intrusive thoughts, loss, and immune function after Hurricane Andrew. Psychosom. Med. 1997; 59 :128–141. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Judd LL, Kessler RC, Paulus MP, Zeller PV, Whittchen HU, Kunovac JL. Comorbidity as a fundamental feature of generalized anxiety disorders: results from the National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) Acta Psychiatr. Scand. Suppl. 1998; 393 :6–11. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kaplan JR, Adams MR, Clarkson TB, Koritnik DR. Psychosocial influences on female “protection” among cynomolgues macaques. Atherosclerosis. 1984; 53 :283–295. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kaplan JR, Manuck SB, Adams MR, Weingard KW, Clarkson TB. Inhibition of coronary atherosclerosis by propranolol in behaviorally predisposed monkeys fed an atherogenic diet. Circulation. 1987; 76 :1364–1372. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kaplan JR, Manuck SB, Clarkson TB, Lusso FM, Taub DM. Social status, environment and atherosclerosis in cynomolgus monkeys. Arteriosclerosis. 1982; 2 :359–368. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Karasek RA, Theorell TG. Healthy Work. New York: Basic Books; 1990. [ Google Scholar ]
Kasprowicz AL, Manuck SB, Malkoff SB, Krantz DS. Individual differences in behaviorally evoked cardiovascular response: temporal stability and hemodynamic patterning. Psychophysiology. 1990; 27 :605–619. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kendler KS, Gardner CO, Prescott CA. Personality and the experience of environmental adversity. Psychol. Med. 2003; 33 :1193–1202. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kendler KS, Hettema JM, Butera F, Gardner CO, Prescott CA. Life event dimensions of loss, humiliation, entrapment and danger in the prediction of onsets of major depression and generalized anxiety. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 2003; 60 :789–796. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kendler KS, Karkowski LM, Prescott CA. Causal relationship between stressful life events and the onset of major depression. Am. J. Psychiatry. 1999; 156 :837–841. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kessing LV, Agerbro E, Mortensen PB. Does the impact of major stressful life events on the risk of developing depression change throughout life? Psychol. Med. 2003; 33 :1177–1184. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kessler RC, Sonnega A, Bromet E, Hughes M, Nelson CB. Posttraumatic stress disorder in the National Comorbidity Survey. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 1995; 52 :1048–1060. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kiecolt-Glaser JK, McGuire L, Robles TF, Glaser R. Psychoneuroimmunology: psychological influences on immune function and health. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 2002; 70 :537–547. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Kilpatrick DG, Edmunds CN, Seymour AK. Rape in America: A Report to the Nation. Arlington, VA: Natl. Victims Cent.; 1992. [ Google Scholar ]
Klerman GL, Weissman MM, Rounsaville BJ, Chevron ES. Interpersonal Psycho-Therapy of Depression. New York: Basic Books; 1984. [ Google Scholar ]
Lacey JI. Somatic response patterning and stress: some revisions of activation theory. In: Appleyo MH, Trumble R, editors. Psychological Stress. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts; 1967. p. 14. [ Google Scholar ]
Lacey JL, Lacey BC. Verification and extension of the principle of autonomic response stereotyping. Am. J. Psychol. 1958; 71 :50–73. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ladd CO, Huot RL, Thrivikraman P, Nemeroff CB, Meaney MJ, Plotsky PM. Long-term behavioral and neuroendocrine adaptations to adverse early experience. Prog. Brain Res. 2000; 122 :79–101. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Lantz PM, House JS, Lepkowski JM, Williams DR, Mero RP, Chen J. Socioeconomic factors, health behaviors, and mortality: results from nationally representative prospective study of US adults. JAMA. 1998; 279 :1703–1708. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Larson SJ, Dunn AJ. Behavioral effects of cytokines. Brain Behav. Immun. 2001; 15 :371–387. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Lazarus RS, Folkman S. Stress, Appraisal and Coping. New York: Springer; 1984. [ Google Scholar ]
Leserman J, Pettito JM, Golden RN, Gaynes BN, Gu H, Perkins DO. The impact of stressful life events, depression, social support, coping and cortisol on progression to AIDS. Am. J. Psychiatry. 2000; 57 :1221–1228. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Levine S. Infantile experience and resistance to physiological stress. Science. 1957; 126 :405–406. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Linden W, Stossel C, Maurice J. Psychosocial interventions for patients with coronary artery disease. Arch. Intern. Med. 1996; 156 :745–752. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Linsky AS, Strauss M. Social Stress in the United States: Links to Regional Patterns in Crime and Illness. Dover, MA: Auburn House; 1986. [ Google Scholar ]
Linsky AS, Strauss MA, Colby JP. Stressful events, stressful conditions, and alcohol problems in the United States: a partial test of the Bales theory of alcoholism. J. Stud. Alcohol. 1985; 46 :72–80. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Llabre MM, Klein BR, Saab PG, McCalla JB, Schneiderman N. Classification of individual differences in cardiovascular responsivity. The contribution of reactor type controlling for race and gender. Int. J. Behav. Med. 1998; 5 :213–229. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Lowenthal B. The effects of early childhood abuse and the development of resiliency. Early Child Dev. Care. 1998; 142 :43–52. [ Google Scholar ]
Lutgendorf S, Antoni MH, Ironson G, Fletcher MA, Penedo F, Van Riel F. Physical symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are exacerbated by the stress of Hurricane Andrew. Psychiatr. Med. 1995; 57 :310–325. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Lutgendorf S, Antoni MH, Ironson G, Klimas N, Fletcher MA, Schneiderman N. Cognitive processing style, mood, and immune function following HIV seropositivity notification. Cogn. Ther. Res. 1997; 21 :157–184. [ Google Scholar ]
Lutgendorf S, Antoni MH, Ironson G, Starr K, Costello N, et al. Changes in cognitive coping skills and social support mediate distress outcomes in symptomatic HIV-seropositive gay men during a cognitive behavioral stress management intervention. Psychosom. Med. 1998; 60 :204–214. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Macksound M, Aber J. The war experience and psychosocial development of children in Lebanon. Child Dev. 1996; 67 :70–88. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Madakasira S, O’Brien KF. Acute post-traumatic stress disorder in victims of a natural disaster. J. Nerv. Ment. Dis. 1987; 175 :286–290. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Manuck SB, Kamarack TW, Kasprowica AS, Waldstein SR. Stability and patterning of behaviorally evoked cardiovascular reactivity. In: Blascovich J, Katkin ES, editors. Cardiovascular Reactivity to Psychological Stress and Disease. Washington, DC: Am. Psychol. Assoc.; 1993. pp. 111–134. [ Google Scholar ]
Manuck SB, Kaplan JR, Clarkson TB. Behaviorally induced heart rate reactivity and atherosclerosis in cynomolgus monkeys. Psychosom. Med. 1983; 45 :95–108. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Marmot M. Social resources and health. In: Kessel F, Rosenfield PL, Anderson NB, editors. Expanding the Boundaries of Health and Social Science. New York: Oxford Univ. Press; 2003. pp. 259–285. [ Google Scholar ]
Marmot MG, Bosma H, Hemingway H, Brunner EJ, Stansfeld S. Contribution of job control and other risk factors to social variations in coronary heart disease incidence. Lancet. 1997; 350 :235–239. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
McCabe PM, Gonzalez JA, Zaias J, Szeto A, Kumar M, et al. Social environment influences the progression of atherosclerosis in the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic rabbit. Circulation. 2002; 105 :354–359. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
McDaniel JS, Musselman DL, Porter MR, Reed DA, Nemeroff CB. Depression in patients with cancer. diagnosis biology and treatment. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 1995; 2 :89–99. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
McEwen BS. Protective and damaging effects of stress mediators. N. Engl. J. Med. 1998; 338 :171–179. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
McEwen BS, Steller E. Stress and the individual: mechanisms leading to disease. Arch. Intern. Med. 1993; 153 :2093–2101. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
McMahon SD, Grant KE, Compas BE, Thurm AE, Ey S. Stress and psychopathology in children and adolescents: Is there evidence of specificity? J. Child Psychol. Psychiatry. 2003; 44 :107–133. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
McNally RJ. Psychological mechanisms in acute response to trauma. Biol. Psychiatry. 2003; 53 :779–788. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Meaney MJ, Bhatnagan S, Dioria J, Larogue S, Francis D, et al. Molecular basis for the development of individual differences in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal stress response. Cell. Mol. Neurobiol. 1993; 13 :321–347. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Mendes de Leon CF, Powell LH, Kaplan BH. Change in coronary-prone behaviors in the recurrent coronary prevention project. Psychosom. Med. 1991; 53 :407–419. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Meyer RJ, Haggerty RJ. Streptococcal infection in families. Pediatrics. 1962; 29 :539–549. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Miller GE, Cohen S, Ritchey AK. Chronic psychological stress and regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines: a glucocorticoid-resistance model. Health Psychol. 2002; 21 :531–541. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Mohr DC, Classen C, Barrera M. The relationship between social support, depression and treatment for depression in people with multiple sclerosis. Psychol. Med. 2004; 34 :533–541. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Mohr DC, Hart SL, Julian L, Cox D, Pelletier D. Association between stressful life events and exacerbation in multiple sclerosis: a meta-analysis. Br. Med. J. 2004; 328 :731. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Morley S, Eccleston C, Williams A. Systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials of cognitive behavior therapy and behavior therapy for chronic pain in adults, excluding headache. Pain. 1999; 80 :1–13. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Morrow DA, Ridker PM. C-reactive protein, inflammation, and coronary disease. Med. Clin. North Am. 2000; 81 :149–161. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Nader KO, Pynoos RS, Fairbanks LA, al Ajeel M, al-Asfour A. A preliminary study of PTSD and grief among the children of Kuwait following the Gulf crisis. Br. J. Clin. Psychol. 1993; 32 :407–416. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Norris FH. Epidemiology of trauma: frequency and impact of different potentially traumatic events on different demographic groups. J. Consult. Clin. Psychol. 1992; 60 :409–418. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
O’Donnell ML, Creamer M, Bryant RA, Schnyder U, Shalev A. Posttraumatic disorders following injury: an empirical and methodological review. Clin. Psychol. Rev. 2003; 23 :587–603. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Orth-Gomér K, Wamala SP, Horsten M, Schenk-Gustafsson K, Schneiderman N, Mittleman MA. Marital stress worsens prognosis in women with coronary heart disease. JAMA. 2000; 284 :3008–3014. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Patton GC, Coffey C, Posterino M, Carlin JB, Bowes G. Life events and early onset depression: cause or consequence? Psychol. Med. 2003; 33 :1203–1210. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Paykel ES. Stress and affective disorders in humans. Semin. Clin. Neuropsychiatry. 2001; 6 :4–11. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Pennebaker JW. Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychol. Sci. 1997; 8 :162–164. [ Google Scholar ]
Peterson C, Seligman MEP. Causal explanations as a risk factor for depression: theory and evidence. Psychol. Rev. 1984; 91 :347–374. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Pfefferbaum B, Sconzo GM, Flynn BW, Kearns LJ, Doughty DE, et al. Case finding and mental health services for children in the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing. J. Behav. Health Serv. Res. 2003; 30 :215–227. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Polusny MA, Follette VM. Long-term correlates of childhood sexual abuse: theory and review of the empirical literature. Appl. Prev. Psychol. 1995; 4 :143–166. [ Google Scholar ]
Pruessner JC, Hellhammer DH, Kirschbaum C. Low self-esteem, induced failure and the adrenocortical stress response. Personal. Individ. Differ. 1999; 27 :477–489. [ Google Scholar ]
Roitt I, Brostoff J, Male D. Immunology. 5th ed. London: Mosby Int.; 1998. p. 125. [ Google Scholar ]
Ron M, Logsdail S. Psychiatric morbidity in multiple sclerosis: a clinical and MRI study. Psychol. Med. 1989; 19 :887–895. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Ross R. Atherosclerosis—an inflammatory disease. N. Engl. J. Med. 1999; 340 :115–126. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Saab PG, Llabre MM, Hurwitz BE, Frame CA, Reineke LJ, et al. Myocardial and peripheral vascular responses to behavioral changes and their stability in black and white Americans. Psychophysiology. 1992; 29 :384–397. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Saab PG, Llabre MM, Hurwitz BE, Schneiderman N, Wohlgemuth W, et al. The cold pressor test: vascular and myocardial response patterns and their stability. Psychophysiology. 1993; 30 :366–373. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Schnall PL, Landsbergis PA, Baker D. Job strain and cardiovascular disease. Annu. Rev. Public Health. 1994; 15 :381–411. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Schneiderman N. Pathophysiology in animals. In: Dembroski TM, Schmidt TH, Blümhen G, editors. Biobehavioral Bases of Coronary Heart Disease. Basel: Karger; 1983. pp. 304–364. [ Google Scholar ]
Schneiderman N, Antoni MH. Learning to cope with HIV/AIDS. In: Kessel F, Rosenfield PL, Anderson NB, editors. Expanding the Boundaries of Health and Social Science. New York: Oxford Univ. Press; 2003. pp. 316–347. [ Google Scholar ]
Schneiderman N, Antoni MH, Saab PG, Ironson G. Health psychology: psychosocial and biobehavioral aspects of chronic disease management. Annu. Rev. Psychol. 2001; 52 :555–580. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Schneiderman N, McCabe P. Psychophysiologic strategies in laboratory research. In: Schneiderman N, Weiss SM, Kaufmann PG, editors. Handbook of Research Methods in Cardiovascular Behavioral Medicine. New York: Plenum; 1989. pp. 349–364. [ Google Scholar ]
Schneiderman N, Saab PG, Catellier DJ, Powell LH, DeBusk RF, et al. Psychosocial treatment within gender by ethnicity subgroups in the enhancing recovery in coronary heart disease (ENRICHD) clinic trial. Psychosom. Med. 2004; 66 :475–483. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Schnurr PP, Friedman J, Bernardy NC. Research on posttraumatic stress disorder: epidemiology, pathophysiology and assessment. Psychother. Pract. 2002; 58 :877–889. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Segerstrom SC, Miller GE. Psychological stress and the human immune system: a meta-analysis of 30 years of inquiry. Psychol. Bull. 2004; 130 :601–630. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Selye H. The Stress of Life. New York: McGraw-Hill; 1956. [ Google Scholar ]
Shalev AY. What is posttraumatic stress disorder? J. Clin. Psychiatry. 2001; 62 :4–10. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Shapiro F. Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing: Basic Principles, Protocols, and Procedures. New York: Guilford; 1995. [ Google Scholar ]
Shaw JA. Children exposed to war/terrorism. Clin. Child Fam. Psychol. Rev. 2003; 6 :237–246. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Short JL. The effects of parental divorce during childhood on college students. J. Divorce Remarriage. 2002; 38 :143–156. [ Google Scholar ]
Stanton JM, Balzer WK, Smith PC, Parra LF, Ironson G. A general measure of work stress: the stress in general scale. Educ. Psychol. Meas. 2001; 61 :866–888. [ Google Scholar ]
Thase ME. Treatment of severe depression. J. Clin. Psychiatry. 2000; 61 :17–25. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Thase ME, Greenhouse JB, Frank E. Treatment of major depression with psychotherapy or psychotherapy-pharmacotherapy combinations. Arch. Gen. Psychiatry. 1997; 54 :1009–1015. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Voordouw BC, van der Linden PD, Simonia S, van der Lei J, Sturkenboom MC, Stricker BH. Influenza vaccination in community-dwelling elderly: impact on mortality and influenza-associated morbidity. Arch. Intern. Med. 2003; 163 :1089–1094. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Welch SL, Doll HA, Fairburn CG. Life events and the onset of bulimia nervosa: a controlled study. Psychol. Med. 1997; 27 :515–522. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Writing Committee for ENRICHD Investigators. Effects of treating depression and low perceived social support on clinical events after myocardial infarction: the Enhancing Recovery in Coronary Heart Disease patients (ENRICHD) randomized trial. JAMA. 2003; 289 :3106–3116. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
Zimmerman P, Wittchen HU, Hofler M, Pfister H, Kessler RC, Lieb R. Primary anxiety disorders and the development of subsequent alcohol use disorders: a 4-year community study of adolescents and young adults. Psychol. Med. 2003; 33 :1211–1222. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]

Bipolar Disorder
Therapy Center
When To See a Therapist
Types of Therapy
Best Online Therapy
Best Couples Therapy
Best Family Therapy
Managing Stress
Sleep and Dreaming
Understanding Emotions
Self-Improvement
Healthy Relationships
Student Resources
Personality Types
Guided Meditations
Verywell Mind Insights
2023 Verywell Mind 25
Mental Health in the Classroom
Editorial Process
Meet Our Review Board
Crisis Support

The Main Causes of Stress

What impacts you most may not be the same as for someone else

Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

Amy Morin, LCSW, is a psychotherapist and international bestselling author. Her books, including "13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do," have been translated into more than 40 languages. Her TEDx talk, "The Secret of Becoming Mentally Strong," is one of the most viewed talks of all time.

Tetra Images / Getty Images

Financial Problems

Personal relationships, daily life and busyness, personality and resources.

Stress is normal and, to some extent, a necessary part of life. Despite it being something everyone experiences, what causes stress can differ from person to person.

For instance, one person may become angry and overwhelmed by a serious traffic jam, while another might turn up their music and consider it a mild inconvenience. A fight with a friend might follow one person around for the rest of the day, while another might easily shrug it off. Additionally, everyone's circumstances are different; there may be a variety of reasons that one person's life is inherently more stressful than another's.

At a Glance

What's causing you stress may already be something you're abundantly aware of. But given the importance of keeping stress in check when it comes to mitigating the effects it can have on your physical and mental health, it's worth opening yourself up to the possibility that other factors may be at play, too. Craft your stress-reduction plan with all of them in mind.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), money is the top cause of stress in the United States. In a 2015 survey, the APA reported that 72% of Americans stressed about money at least some of the time during the previous month. The majority of the study participants reported money being a significant source of stress, with 77% feeling considerable anxiety about finances.

Signs of financial stress may include:

Arguing with loved ones about money
Being afraid to open mail or answer the phone
Feeling guilty about spending money on non-essentials
Worrying and feeling anxious about money

In the long-term, stress related to finances results in distress, which may bring up blood pressure and cause headaches, upset stomach, chest pain, insomnia, and a general feeling of sickness. Financial stress has also been linked to a number of health problems, including depression, anxiety, skin problems , diabetes, and arthritis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans now spend 8% more time at work compared to 20 years ago, and about 13% of people work a second job. At least 40% report their jobs are stressful, and 26% report they often feel burned out by their work.

Any number of things can contribute to job stress, including too much work, job insecurity, dissatisfaction with a job or career, and conflicts with a boss and/or co-workers.

Whether you are worried about a specific project or feeling unfairly treated, putting your job ahead of everything else can affect many aspects of your life, including personal relationships and mental and physical health.

Factors outside of the job itself also have a role in work stress, including a person’s psychological make-up, general health, personal life. and the amount of emotional support they have outside of work.

The signs of work-related stress can be physical and psychological, including:

Difficulty concentrating or making decisions
Heart palpitations
Mood swings
Muscle tension and pain
Stomach problems

Some people may feel overwhelmed and struggle to cope, which can impact their behavior as well. Job stress may prompt people to have:

Diminished creativity and initiative
Disinterest
Drops in work performance
Increased sick days
Lower levels of patience and increased levels of frustration
Problems with personal relationships

There are people in all of our lives that cause us stress. It could be a family member, an intimate partner, friend, or co-worker. Toxic people lurk in all parts of our lives and the stress we experience from these relationships can affect physical and mental health.

There are numerous causes of stress in romantic relationships and when couples are constantly under pressure, the relationship could be on the risk of failure.

Common relationship stressors include:

Being too busy to spend time with each other and share responsibilities
Intimacy and sex are become rare due to busyness , health problems, and any number of other reasons
There is abuse or control in the relationship
You and your partner are not communicating
You and/or partner are consuming too much alcohol and/or using drugs
You or your partner are thinking about divorce

The signs of stress related to personal relationships are similar to normal symptoms of general stress and may include physical health and sleep problems, depression, and anxiety.

You may also find yourself avoiding or having conflict with the individual, or becoming easily irritated by their presence.

Sometimes, personal relationship stress can also be related to our relationships with people on social media platforms, such as Facebook. For example, social media tends to naturally encourage comparing yourself to others, which can lead to the stress of feeling inadequate. It also makes bullying easier.

Parents are often faced with managing busy schedules that include a job, household duties, and raising children. These demands result in parenting stress.

High levels of parenting stress can cause a parent to be harsh, negative, and authoritarian in their interactions with their children. Parenting stress can also decrease the quality of parent-child relationships. For example, you may not have open communication so your child doesn’t come to you for advice or you and your child may argue often.

Sources of parenting stress may include being lower-income, working long hours, single parenting, marital or relationship tensions, or raising a child who has been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder or developmental disability.

Parents of children with behavior disorders and developmental delays have the highest risk for parenting stress. In fact, numerous studies show parents of children with autism are reporting higher levels of parenting stress than people whose children do not have the condition.

Day-to-day stressors are our daily inconveniences. They include things like misplacing keys, running late, and forgetting to bring an important item with you when leaving the house. Usually, these are just minor setbacks, but if they become frequent, they become a source of anxiety affecting physical and/or psychological health.

The stress of being too busy is getting more and more common. These days, people are busier than ever and that adds a lot of stress to their lives.

In some cases, busyness is due to necessity, such as having to work a second job. Other times, it is due to guilt and not wanting to disappoint others. People may not say "no" and end up having little time for themselves, or they overlook their own basic needs, such as eating right and exercising due to lack of time.

Your personality traits and the resources you have available to you tie into all of the above and can be independent sources of stress as well.

Extroverts , for example, tend to experience less stress in daily life and have greater social resources, which buffer against stress. Perfectionists , on the other hand, may bring stress onto themselves unnecessarily because of their exacting standards, experiencing more negative mental and physical health consequences than those who merely focus on high achievement.

Those who are " type A" can stress everyone around them, including themselves. Those with enough money to hire help can delegate stressful tasks, so this resource can provide an edge over those who struggle to make ends meet and must work harder to save cash.

American Psychological Association. Stress in America: Paying with our health .

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Stress...at work .

Cleveland Clinic. Stress .

Tsai YC, Liu CH. Factors and symptoms associated with work stress and health-promoting lifestyles among hospital staff: A pilot study in Taiwan . BMC Health Serv Res . 2012;12:199. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-199

Falconier MK, Nussbeck F, Bodenmann G, Schneider H, Bradbury T. Stress from daily hassles in couples: Its effects on intradyadic stress, relationship satisfaction, and physical and psychological well-being . J Marital Fam Ther . 2015;41(2):221-35. doi:10.1111/jmft.12073

Rus HM, Tiemensma J. Social media under the skin: Facebook use after acute stress impairs cortisol recovery . Front Psychol . 2017;8:1609. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01609

Estes A, Olson E, Sullivan K, et al. Parenting-related stress and psychological distress in mothers of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders . Brain Dev . 2013;35(2):133-8. doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2012.10.004

Du J, Zhang D, Yin Y, et al. The personality and psychological stress predict major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention for five years . Medicine (Baltimore) . 2016;95(15):e3364. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000003364

By Elizabeth Scott, PhD Elizabeth Scott, PhD is an author, workshop leader, educator, and award-winning blogger on stress management, positive psychology, relationships, and emotional wellbeing.

IELTS Scores
Life Skills Test
Find a Test Centre
Alternatives to IELTS
Find Student Housing
General Training
Academic Word List
Topic Vocabulary
Collocation
Phrasal Verbs
Writing eBooks
Reading eBook
All eBooks & Courses
Sample Essays
Stress Essay

IELTS Stress Essay

This is a model IELTS stress essay. It is about stress in modern society and how to prevent it.

It is a causes and solutions type essay. In other words, you have to identify what causes stressand then suggest solutions.

Stress is now a major problem in many countries around the world.

What are some of the factors in modern society that cause this stress and how can we reduce it?

This type of essay lends itself to two body paragraphs - one explaining the causes and the next discussing some possible solutions.

As is important with any IELTS essay, you must always read the question carefully.

The topic is often narrowed down to a particular group of people or topic.

Narrowing Down the Topic

The key here is that ' modern society ' is mentioned.

If you just talk about stress in general but don't connect it to modern society you may be in danger of not fully answering the question .

You need to brainstorm some issues specific to the world we live in today that may result in stress.

What things effect us today that did not (or not too such an extent) 10, 20, 30 years ago?

Using Personal Pronouns

Also, you may notice that ' we ' is used a lot in the stress essay.

Remember an IELTS essay is not quite the same as an academic essay you will normally write. It is can be more personal as you only have your own experience to support your answer with.

You should avoid too many personal pronouns if possible such as ' I ' throughout the essay but you may wish to use this to give your opinion or examples from your own experience at times. This is ok, but don't overdo it.

This question specifically says how can ' we ' reduce it. So it is already making it personal. So it is ok to write about what all of us, or ' we ', can do.

Model Stress Essay

You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.

Write about the following topic:

What are some of the factors in modern society that cause this stress, and how can we reduce it?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own experience or knowledge.

Write at least 250 words.

Stress Essay Model Answer

Stress is a problem that can have detrimental effects on many people’s lives, and there are various factors in modern society responsible for this. However, there are ways to limit the potential impacts.

The modern world we live in today presents us with many issues that we did not have to cope with in the past. Firstly, there are issues of terrorism that we are constantly confronted with in the media. Whether these are real or not, we are led to believe our lives are in constant danger, be it flying on a plane or travelling on public transport. Climate change is another worry that everyone has to face. The results of a significant rise in temperatures could radically affect our ways of life, and our children’s too. There are also more health issues to be concerned about than in the past, with rises in alzheimer’s, diabetes, and stroke to name but a few. All of these concerns can result in stress.

Tackling such problems will not be easy, but there are measures that can be taken. Governments and the media could play their part by ensuring that instead of persistently bombarding us with such negative images and information about the world in which we live, we are given more positive stories too. However, given this is unlikely to happen, we need to develop our own strategies to distract us from these influences. Of course exercising regularly is one thing we should do as this has been shown to increase endorphin levels and lead to feelings of happiness. Sleeping enough helps us to recuperate and restore our body. Finally, eating properly can improve our health and result in less worry about potential diseases.

All in all, although there are many factors around us today which lead to stress, we can take steps to reduce it. Given that the strains we face in modern society will likely get worse, ignoring it is not an option for many people.

<<< Back

Next >>>

More Causes & Solutions Essays:

Essay: Why are traditional festivals and celebrations disappearing?

IELTS essay on the disappearance of traditional festivals and celebrations - view a model answer and tips on how to answer the question

Why might International travel sometimes make people prejudiced?

This essay is about why international travel might sometimes make people prejudiced rather than broad minded. It's a causes and solutions type IELTS essay.

Why do many children have difficulty paying attention in class?

This IELTS essay is about why many children have difficulty paying attention and concentrating in class in school.

Youth Crime Essay: Why is crime involving the young rising in cities?

This youth crime essay considers why crime involving the young is rising in many cities and what measures there are to reduce it.

Essay on Museums and Historical Places: Why don't local people visit?

Essay on Museums and Historical Places: This is a causes (or 'reasons') and solutions essay as you have to explain why local people visit these places less than tourists, and then present ways to encourage more local people to visit.

Why is there a lack of communication between younger and older people?

This IELTS Essay is about the decline in communication between younger and older people in society. It is a causes and solutions type essay question.

Global Warming Essay: Why is the planet warming & what can be done?

In this global warming essay you are asked in the question to discuss the causes of global warming and possible solutions for individuals and the government.

Any comments or questions about this page or about IELTS? Post them here. Your email will not be published or shared.

Before you go...

Check out the ielts buddy band 7+ ebooks & courses.

Would you prefer to share this page with others by linking to it?

Click on the HTML link code below.
Copy and paste it, adding a note of your own, into your blog, a Web page, forums, a blog comment, your Facebook account, or anywhere that someone would find this page valuable.

Band 7+ eBooks

"I think these eBooks are FANTASTIC!!! I know that's not academic language, but it's the truth!"

Linda, from Italy, Scored Band 7.5

IELTS Modules:

Other resources:.

All Lessons
Band Score Calculator
Writing Feedback
Speaking Feedback
Teacher Resources
Free Downloads
Recent Essay Exam Questions
Books for IELTS Prep
Student Housing
Useful Links

Recent Articles

Decreasing House Sizes Essay

Apr 06, 24 10:22 AM

Latest IELTS Writing Topics - Recent Exam Questions

Apr 04, 24 02:36 AM

IELTS Essay: English as a Global Language

Apr 03, 24 03:49 PM

Important pages

IELTS Writing IELTS Speaking IELTS Listening IELTS Reading All Lessons Vocabulary Academic Task 1 Academic Task 2 Practice Tests

Connect with us

IELTS is a registered trademark of University of Cambridge, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia. This site and its owners are not affiliated, approved or endorsed by the University of Cambridge ESOL, the British Council, and IDP Education Australia.

Cause And Effect Essay Guide

Cause And Effect Essay Examples

Best Cause and Effect Essay Examples To Get Inspiration + Simple Tips

What is a Cause and Effect Essay?

A cause and effect essay explores why things happen (causes) and what happens as a result (effects). This type of essay aims to uncover the connections between events, actions, or phenomena. It helps readers understand the reasons behind certain outcomes.

In a cause and effect essay, you typically:

Identify the Cause: Explain the event or action that initiates a chain of events. This is the "cause."
Discuss the Effect: Describe the consequences or outcomes resulting from the cause.
Analyze the Relationship: Clarify how the cause leads to the effect, showing the cause-and-effect link.

Cause and effect essays are common in various academic disciplines. For instance, studies in sciences, history, and the social sciences rely on essential cause and effect questions. For instance, "what are the effects of climate change?", or "what are the causes of poverty?"

Now that you know what a cause and effect is, let’s read some examples.

Cause and Effect Essay Examples for Students

Here is an example of a well-written cause and effect essay on social media. Let’s analyze it in parts to learn why it is good and how you can write an effective essay yourself.

The essay begins with a compelling hook that grabs the reader's attention. It presents a brief overview of the topic clearly and concisely. The introduction covers the issue and ends with a strong thesis statement , stating the essay's main argument – that excessive use of social media can negatively impact mental health.

The first body paragraph sets the stage by discussing the first cause - excessive social media use. It provides data and statistics to support the claim, which makes the argument more compelling. The analysis highlights the addictive nature of social media and its impact on users. This clear and evidence-based explanation prepares the reader for the cause-and-effect relationship to be discussed.

The second body paragraph effectively explores the effect of excessive social media use, which is increased anxiety and depression. It provides a clear cause-and-effect relationship, with studies backing the claims. The paragraph is well-structured and uses relatable examples, making the argument more persuasive.

The third body paragraph effectively introduces the second cause, which is social comparison and FOMO. It explains the concept clearly and provides relatable examples. It points out the relevance of this cause in the context of social media's impact on mental health, preparing the reader for the subsequent effect to be discussed.

The fourth body paragraph effectively explores the second effect of social comparison and FOMO, which is isolation and decreased self-esteem. It provides real-world consequences and uses relatable examples.

The conclusion effectively summarizes the key points discussed in the essay. It restates the thesis statement and offers practical solutions, demonstrating a well-rounded understanding of the topic. The analysis emphasizes the significance of the conclusion in leaving the reader with a call to action or reflection on the essay's central theme.

This essay follows this clear cause and effect essay structure to convey the message effectively:

Read our cause and effect essay outline blog to learn more about how to structure your cause and effect essay effectively.

Free Cause and Effect Essay Samples

The analysis of the essay above is a good start to understanding how the paragraphs in a cause and effect essay are structured. You can read and analyze more examples below to improve your understanding.

Cause and Effect Essay Elementary School

Cause and Effect Essay For College Students

Short Cause and Effect Essay Sample

Cause and Effect Essay Example for High School

Cause And Effect Essay IELTS

Bullying Cause and Effect Essay Example

Cause and Effect Essay Smoking

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Wondering which topic to write your essay on? Here is a list of cause and effect essay topic ideas to help you out.

The Effects of Social Media on Real Social Networks
The Causes And Effects of Cyberbullying
The Causes And Effects of Global Warming
The Causes And Effects of WW2
The Causes And Effects of Racism
The Causes And Effects of Homelessness
The Causes and Effects of Parental Divorce on Children.
The Causes and Effects of Drug Addiction
The Impact of Technology on Education
The Causes and Consequences of Income Inequality

Need more topics? Check out our list of 150+ cause and effect essay topics to get more interesting ideas.

Tips For Writing a Good Cause and Effect Essay

Reading and following the examples above can help you write a good essay. However, you can make your essay even better by following these tips.

Choose a Clear and Manageable Topic: Select a topic that you can explore thoroughly within the essay's word limit. A narrowly defined topic will make it easier to establish cause-and-effect relationships.
Research and Gather Evidence: Gather relevant data, statistics, examples, and expert opinions to support your arguments. Strong evidence enhances the credibility of your essay.
Outline Your Essay: Create a structured outline that outlines the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. This will provide a clear roadmap for your essay and help you present causes and effects clearly and coherently.
Transitional Phrases: Use transitional words and phrases like "because," "due to," "as a result," "consequently," and "therefore" to connect causes and effects within your sentences and paragraphs.
Support Each Point: Dedicate a separate paragraph to each cause and effect. Provide in-depth explanations, examples, and evidence for each point.
Proofread and Edit: After completing the initial draft, carefully proofread your essay for grammar, punctuation, and spelling errors. Additionally, review the content for clarity, coherence, and flow.
Peer Review: Seek feedback from a peer or someone familiar with the topic to gain an outside perspective. They can help identify any areas that need improvement.
Stay Focused: Avoid going off-topic or including irrelevant information. Stick to the causes and effects you've outlined in your thesis statement.
Revise as Needed: Don't hesitate to make revisions and improvements as needed. The process of revising and refining your essay is essential for producing a high-quality final product.

To Sum Up ,

Cause and effect essays are important for comprehending the intricate relationships that shape our world. With the help of the examples and tips above, you can confidently get started on your essay.

If you still need further help, you can hire a professional writer to help you out. At MyPerfectWords.com , we’ve got experienced and qualified essay writers who can help you write an excellent essay on any topic and for all academic levels.

So contact our reliable essay writing service today!

Write Essay Within 60 Seconds!

Caleb S. has been providing writing services for over five years and has a Masters degree from Oxford University. He is an expert in his craft and takes great pride in helping students achieve their academic goals. Caleb is a dedicated professional who always puts his clients first.

Paper Due? Why Suffer? That’s our Job!

Keep reading

Can Reduced Stress in Your Life Cause Gray Hair to Regain Natural Color?

"there was one individual who went on vacation, and five hairs on that person's head reverted back to dark during the vacation," the researcher noted., nikki dobrin, published april 2, 2024.

In a world where fiction often blurs with reality, the notion of hair turning suddenly gray due to stress or a frightful experience has captured the imagination of many. Stories abound of characters whose locks have transformed overnight in response to a traumatic encounter. These narratives echo a curious phenomenon that has fascinated storytellers, scientists and hairstylists alike.

From comic-book characters like Anna Paquin's Rogue in "X-Men" to the chilling transformation of Keanu Reeves' character Jonathan Harker following his harrowing torment at the behest of Vlad the Impaler in "Bram Stoker's Dracula," examples from film and literature illustrate the enduring fascination with this mysterious graying occurrence.

Wish-fulfillment regarding gray hair reverting back to its natural state has even been discussed on social media, with posts on X (formerly Twitter) like this one from @UberFacts , making the claim that "g ray hairs can naturally regain their color when we feel less stressed," or the following Instagram post:

( k4knowledge /Instagram)

Indeed, gray hair has long been considered an inevitable part of aging, attributed to the decline in pigment-producing cells within the hair follicle known as melanocytes . The National Institute of Health explained in a study that used mice to explore graying hair as it relates to stress , " New melanocytes are made from melanocyte stem cells that live within the hair follicle at the base of the hair strand. As we age, these stem cells gradually disappear. The hair that regrows from hair follicles that have lost melanocyte stem cells has less pigment and appears gray."

However, a recent study titled " Quantitative mapping of human hair greying and reversal in relation to life stress," conducted by researchers at Columbia University , challenged this notion by exploring the potential role of psychological stress in the reversal of gray hair.

Researchers at Columbia University's Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons published their findings in eLife in 2021, after analyzing the tresses of 14 volunteers. The results suggested a potential link between stress and the reversal of gray hair to its natural color. While this study provided insights into the relationship between stress and hair pigmentation, it's important to note the phenomenon seems to have limitations and may not apply universally.

The study, led by Dr. Martin Picard , associate professor of behavioral medicine, used a novel method to analyze pigmentation patterns along individual hair shafts, allowing researchers to quantify the extent of graying in response to stress. The study notes:

Ayelet Rosenberg, first author on the study and a student in Picard's laboratory, developed a new method for capturing highly detailed images of tiny slices of human hairs to quantify the extent of pigment loss (graying) in each of those slices. Each slice, about 1/20th of a millimeter wide, represents about an hour of hair growth. "If you use your eyes to look at a hair, it will seem like it's the same color throughout unless there is a major transition," Picard says. "Under a high-resolution scanner, you see small, subtle variations in color, and that's what we're measuring."

By capturing detailed images of hair slices, the researchers were able to correlate stress levels with changes in hair pigmentation.

The study revealed instances where gray hairs appeared to regain their original color when stress was reduced, a phenomenon that contradicts the prevailing belief that gray hair is irreversible. However, it's important to note that not all gray hairs responded to stress reduction, suggesting that the phenomenon may be limited to certain individuals or circumstances.

"There was one individual who went on vacation, and five hairs on that person's head reverted back to dark during the vacation, synchronized in time," Picard said.

Emphasizing the significance of the findings, Picard noted, "Understanding the mechanisms that allow 'old' gray hairs to return to their 'young' pigmented states could yield new clues about the malleability of human aging in general and how it is influenced by stress."

Further analysis of protein levels in the hair follicles provided insights into the potential mechanism linking stress to hair turning gray.

"Mitochondria are actually like little antennas inside the cell that respond to a number of different signals, including psychological stress," Picard explained to Columbia University's Irvine Medical Center. Changes in mitochondrial activity, influenced by stress, were implicated in the loss and potential restoration of hair pigmentation.

The association between mitochondria and stress-related changes in hair color differs from findings in the study involving mice. In that study, researchers discovered that stress-induced graying resulted from an irreversible loss of stem cells within the hair.

"Our data show that graying is reversible in people, which implicates a different mechanism," said Dr. Ralf Paus, professor of dermatology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and a contributor to the Columbia University study. "Mice have very different hair follicle biology, and this may be an instance where findings in mice don't translate well to people."

While the Columbia University study offered intriguing insights into the relationship between stress and hair pigmentation, it's important to recognize that the process is not fully understood and may not apply to everyone. Factors such as genetics, age and overall health may influence the likelihood of hair re-pigmentation in response to stress reduction.

The study noted the evidence of a potential "threshold-based mechanism" for short-lived graying — if hairs are about to go gray due to the aging process and genetics, a personal upheaval may be the stress that triggers the sudden change. And when the traumatic situation comes to an end or is eliminated, if a hair remains above that threshold, it could revert back to its original hue.

"Based on our mathematical modeling, we think hair needs to reach a threshold before it turns gray," Picard said. "In middle age, when the hair is near that threshold because of biological age and other factors, stress will push it over the threshold and it transitions to gray.

"But we don't think that reducing stress in a 70-year-old who's been gray for years will darken their hair or increasing stress in a 10-year-old will be enough to tip their hair over the gray threshold."

So, while stress reduction may have some benefits for maintaining natural hair color, it isn't a guarantee for reversing gray hair for everyone. Further research is needed to make clearer the mechanisms involved and determine the factors that influence hair pigmentation changes.

Snopes has previously discussed follicular facts about hair, including hair growing after death and shaving your head to make hair grow back thicker .

"Can Premature Graying Be Reversed? Causes & Treatment Chart." MedicineNet , https://www.medicinenet.com/can_premature_graying_be_reversed/article.htm. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

"How Stress Causes Gray Hair." National Institutes of Health (NIH) , 3 Feb. 2020, https://www.nih.gov/news-events/nih-research-matters/how-stress-causes-gray-hair.

Instagram . https://www.instagram.com/k4knowledge/p/C3AeCEbSaje/. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

"It's True: Stress Does Turn Hair Gray (And It's Reversible)." Columbia University Irving Medical Center , 22 June 2021, https://www.cuimc.columbia.edu/news/its-true-stress-does-turn-hair-gray-and-its-reversible.

Lallen. "6 Characters Whose Hair Suddenly Turned White!" Horror Land - The Horror Entertainment Website , 10 May 2019, https://www.horror.land/6-characters-whose-hair-suddenly-turned-white/.

"Mitochondrial Psychobiology Lab - Members." MITOLAB , https://www.picardlab.org/members.html. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Nishimura, Emi K. "Melanocyte Stem Cells: A Melanocyte Reservoir in Hair Follicles for Hair and Skin Pigmentation." Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research , vol. 24, no. 3, June 2011, pp. 401–10. PubMed , https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-148X.2011.00855.x.

Rogue - All Scenes Powers | X-Men Movies Universe . www.youtube.com , https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=diqJgJ5E-gc. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Rosenberg, Ayelet M., et al. "Quantitative Mapping of Human Hair Greying and Reversal in Relation to Life Stress." eLife , edited by Matt Kaeberlein et al., vol. 10, June 2021, p. e67437. eLife , https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.67437.

By Nikki Dobrin

Nikki Dobrin is based in Los Angeles and has previously worked at The Walt Disney Company, as well as written and edited for People, USA Today and The Hill.

Article Tags

An official website of the United States government

Here's how you know

Official websites use .gov A .gov website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.

Secure .gov websites use HTTPS A lock ( ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Facebook
Twitter
Linkedin
Digg
Reddit
Pinterest
Email

Latest Earthquakes | Chat Share Social Media

Recent advances in characterizing the crustal stress field and future applications of stress data: Perspectives from North America

Citation information, related content, jens-erik lundstern (lund snee), research geologist.

Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship Essay

The contemporary fast speed of life is largely associated with a big amount of stress experienced by people in everyday life. Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any situation forcing the person to feel too much mental or emotional pressure (Hellhammer and Hellhammer 14). It is the way our body responds to any demand or threat. Understanding the diverse nature of the causes of the stress is crucial to the effective elimination of its effects, as these two factors heavily depend on each other.

The causes of stress have various origins and are highly diverse. Though stress is strongly associated with negative events, its causes can include positive experience. The main components of stress, change and pressure, can be associated both with good and bad events and, therefore, there are both negative and positive causes of stress (Aldwin 56). A person experiences significant stress both in the situation of loss of close relative and birth of a child. Besides, stressors can be classified to those that are related to everyday events (micro-stressors), those that are connected to major life events, and those that have an ambient nature.

Micro stressors include personal problems, job issues, social interaction, and other minor events happening in the life of every person on a daily basis (“Stress Management – Causes of Stress” par. 2). The causes related to major life events include marriage, graduation from college, loss of parents, etc. The ambient stressors include the external conditions that have a negative value and constitute a part of our environment, e.g. pollution or traffic jams. Severe natural disasters, such as hurricanes, and social crisis, such as wars, can be unified into a separate group of stressors (Whealin, DeCarvalho, and Vega 6; Wilson and Raphael 936).

The effects of stress include both biological and psychological manifestations. The scope of effects largely depends on the causes and the nature of stress. A person attacked by a homeless dog experience a release of hormones and chemicals associated with stress, which are aimed at making the body ensure the survival. The effects of such stress are short-term and fade after the stressor is eliminated. However, a person that is going through a divorce experience a chronic stress, which has long-term negative effects on his/her body, including problems with digestion, immune system, reproduction, etc. (“Q&A on Stress for Adults” par. 4).

Psychological effects of stress also heavily depend on its nature. A person that experiences stress after becoming a father often faces mild effects of stress, such as over excitation while a person experiencing stress after the death of a parent is more likely to have severe psychological effects, such as insomnia and hysteria, which can lead to depression or other post-traumatic problems. The effects of the stress caused by traumatic life events, natural disasters, or social crisis, can fade after a period, but certain consequences will still be likely to appear, including nightmares, panic attacks, phobia, etc.

The analysis of both causes and effects of stress reveals that these two aspects are closely interrelated. The effective prevention of stress is possible only if the person is aware of the effects of stress caused by a certain condition. For example, only after discovering the risks related to constant pressure put by enormous loads of work, the person is likely to search for a solution able to remove such permanent cause of stress. Besides, effective treatment is impossible without exploring the initial causes of the stress. For example, treating such effects of stress as panic attacks cannot be successful until the traumatic event that caused such consequences is discovered. Being aware of potential causes of the stress and understanding its effects are essential to the prevention of severe stressful situations and dealing with the consequences of prior stressful experience.

Various causes lead to stress, and diverse consequences are related to it. Understanding the causes and effects of stress is crucial both for preventive activities and elimination of negative effects of the phenomenon.

Works Cited

Aldwin, Carolyn. Stress, Coping, and Development . 2nd ed. 2007. New York: The Guilford Press. Print.

Hellhammer, Dirk, and Juliane Hellhammer. Stress: The Brain-Body Connection , Basel, Switzerland: Karger, 2008. Print.

Q&A on Stress for Adults: How It Affects Your Health and what You Can Do about It . n.d. Web.

Stress Management – Causes of Stress . 2014. Web.

Whealin, Julia, Lorie DeCarvalho, and Edward Vega. Strategies for Managing Stress After War , Hoboken, New Jersey: Kohn Wiley & Sons, Inc., 2008. Print.

Wilson, John, and Beverley Raphael. International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes , New York: Springer Science & Business Media, 2013. Print.

Chicago (A-D)
Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, June 6). Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-its-causes-and-effects-relationship/

"Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship." IvyPanda , 6 June 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/stress-its-causes-and-effects-relationship/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship'. 6 June.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship." June 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-its-causes-and-effects-relationship/.

1. IvyPanda . "Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship." June 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-its-causes-and-effects-relationship/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship." June 6, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/stress-its-causes-and-effects-relationship/.

Ambient Conditions in Service Marketing
Ambient Conditions: Design and the Retail Environment
Global Marketing and Service Delivery
Biological and Cognitive Approaches of Panic Disorder
Christian Counselling of Panic Disorder
Aspects of Self-Emission Light Sources
The Nature of Nonpoint Pollution Control Problem
Organizational Stressors, Their Results and Types
Air Quality and Peaking Diesel Generators
Environmental Stressors
Biological Psychology: Development and Theories
Reducing Stress: Cognitive Patterns and Behaviors Changing
Working Memory Concept: Psychological Views
People with Disabilities: The Systemic Ableism
Health Psychology: Eating and Stress' Relations

IMAGES

Causes and Effects of Stress in Daily Life Free Essay Example
Cause And Effect Of Stress Essay
015 Stress Essay Example Writing How To Cope With College Paper
Stress Management Essay Pdf
How to write a Cause and Effect Essay?
Stress Management Essay

VIDEO

essay due date stress aesthetic
Cause Effect Essay
"I BOE' FROM GOWA" • Cause Essay • Final Project • Class A/01

COMMENTS

Stress Cause And Effect: [Essay Example], 576 words
The effects of stress on individuals can be profound and far-reaching, impacting both physical and mental health. Chronic stress has been linked to a range of health problems, including heart disease, high blood pressure, and digestive issues. The constant activation of the body's stress response can lead to a weakened immune system, making ...
Stress and Its Effects on Health
Individual response to stressors influences their health. Maladaptive response to stress results in various physical, psychological, and behavioral negative effects. Negative effects of stress on physical health include increased heart rates, sweating, high blood pressure, and long-term development of the cardiac condition. Psychological ...
420 Stress Essay Topic Ideas & Examples
The general rule is that you should use peer-reviewed articles and scholarly books. Ask your professor about the sources in advance. A well-developed stress essay outline is important. Include an introductory paragraph, several body paragraphs (we would recommend writing at least three), and a conclusion.
What Is Stress? Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, Coping
Acute stress: Acute stress is a very short-term type of stress that can either be positive or more distressing; this is the type of stress we most often encounter in day-to-day life.; Chronic stress: Chronic stress is stress that seems never-ending and inescapable, like the stress of a bad marriage or an extremely taxing job; chronic stress can also stem from traumatic experiences and ...
Stress: causes and effects
Furthermore, most respondents reported that the effects of stress are mental instability, headache, lack of motivation and poor performance. According to the data obtained, 80% of employees perform poorly because of stress, while 70% of students are not able to accomplish their academic goals due to stress.
A Step-by-Step Guide for Writing
Thesis Statement: Clearly state the main cause and its corresponding effects. Example: 'This essay will explore the causes of stress and their profound negative effects on physical and mental health.' II. Body Paragraphs. A. Causes. Topic Sentence: Introduce the first cause you'll discuss. Example: 'One major cause of stress is heavy workload.'
STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological
Abstract. Stressors have a major influence upon mood, our sense of well-being, behavior, and health. Acute stress responses in young, healthy individuals may be adaptive and typically do not impose a health burden. However, if the threat is unremitting, particularly in older or unhealthy individuals, the long-term effects of stressors can ...
Causes of Stress: Types of Stress, Symptoms & Tips
loss of your sense of humor. feelings of overwhelm. depression. loss of interest in life or activities. existing mental health conditions get worse. Physical symptoms of stress may include the ...
How Does Stress Affect the Body?
As an immediate and instinctive response to stress, the muscles in the human body become tense. The specified reaction causes muscles to become the shield against a possible injury, also allowing one either to fight effectively or to run (Rathus and Nevid 121). The increase in muscle tension is spurred by the rise in the levels of cortisol ...
What Causes Stress?
Financial Problems. According to the American Psychological Association (APA), money is the top cause of stress in the United States. In a 2015 survey, the APA reported that 72% of Americans stressed about money at least some of the time during the previous month.
The Impact of Stress: Understanding Causes and Effects
This frustration ends up causing stress. Finally, another general cause of stress which is provoked by common life events is pressure. Pressure can arise from many sources, both from domestic and work life. Too many demands and the overwhelming feeling of lack of control and having to commit to them can cause stress when the demands cannot be met.
IELTS Stress Essay
IELTS Stress Essay. This is a model IELTS stress essay. It is about stress in modern society and how to prevent it. It is a causes and solutions type essay. In other words, you have to identify what causes stressand then suggest solutions. Stress is now a major problem in many countries around the world.
8 Cause and Effect Essay Examples to Help You Get Started
Research and Gather Evidence: Gather relevant data, statistics, examples, and expert opinions to support your arguments. Strong evidence enhances the credibility of your essay. Outline Your Essay: Create a structured outline that outlines the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. This will provide a clear roadmap for your essay and ...
Common Causes of Stress & Their Effect on Your Health
Causes of work stress include: Being unhappy in your job. Having a heavy workload or too much responsibility. Working long hours. Having poor management, unclear expectations of your work, or no ...
Causes and Effects of Stress Free Essay Example
Essay Sample: Introduction Life is not always a bed of roses, it includes various twists, ups and downs, and it can be best described as a roller coaster. ... These are emotions people face every day which could cause stress. Chronic illness: This results in stress to both the patient and the family members. Chronic illness requires brings the ...
Effects of Stress on Human Health
Stress affects human body, thoughts and feelings, when the above have been affected, then the behaviors and to some extent the personality of an affected person change. When unchecked, stress results in health complications like high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity and diabetes (Ciccarelli & White, 2012).
Can Reduced Stress in Your Life Cause Gray Hair to Regain Natural Color?
However, a recent study titled "Quantitative mapping of human hair greying and reversal in relation to life stress," conducted by researchers at Columbia University, challenged this notion by ...
Stress Among College Students: Causes, Effects and Overcomes Essay
Causes of Stress in College Students. There are a number of causes of stress among college students (Lund et al. 127-129); according to Brougham et al., some of these causes include daily hassles, financial factors, and academic factors (90). The daily hassles that students are forced to deal with in the process of studying as identified by ...
Recent advances in characterizing the crustal stress field and future
The stress field controls patterns of crustal deformation, including which faults are likeliest to cause earthquakes or transmit fluids. Since the 1950s, maps of maximum horizontal stress (S Hmax) orientations have advanced dramatically, and the style of faulting (relative principal stress magnitudes) has recently been mapped in some regions as well.
Biochemical, histological and transcriptional response of ...
Absrtact. Zinc (Zn) is an essential trace element for the normal physiological function of aquatic organisms, but it could become toxic to organisms when the concentration increased in water. As the first line of defense, the shrimp intestines are the most susceptible organ to environmental stress. In this study, the chronic toxicity of 0 (control, IC), 0.01(IL), 0.1(IM) and 1 mg/L (IH) Zn in ...
Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship Essay
Stress can be defined as the brain's response to any situation forcing the person to feel too much mental or emotional pressure (Hellhammer and Hellhammer 14). It is the way our body responds to any demand or threat. Understanding the diverse nature of the causes of the stress is crucial to the effective elimination of its effects, as these ...

Stress Cause and Effect

Table of contents

Cite this Essay

Related Essays

Still can’t find what you need?

Related Essays on Stress Management

Related Topics

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay: Full Guide

What Is a Cause and Effect Essay

How to Write a Cause and Effect Essay with Easy Steps

Cause and Effect Essay Structure Types

Cause and Effect Essay Outline

Cause and Effect Essay Examples

Why Wait? Get Your Stellar Cause and Effect Essay Now!

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Final Words

Let's Turn Those 'What Ifs' into 'A+ Ifs'!

Related Articles

STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants

INTRODUCTION

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF STRESS

Stressors During Adulthood and Their Psychological Sequelae

DISORDERS RELATED TO TRAUMA

Variations in Stress Responses

BIOLOGICAL RESPONSES TO STRESSORS

Chronic Stress Responses

PSYCHOSOCIAL STRESSORS AND HEALTH

Upper Respiratory Diseases

Human Immunodeficiency Virus

Inflammation, the Immune System, and Physical Health

Inflammation, Cytokine Production, and Mental Health

HOST VULNERABILITY-STRESSOR INTERACTIONS AND DISEASE

TREATMENT FOR STRESS-RELATED DISORDERS

BEHAVIORAL INTERVENTIONS IN CHRONIC DISEASE

Morbidity, Mortality, and Markers of Disease Progression

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

LITERATURE CITED

The Main Causes of Stress

Financial Problems

At a Glance

IELTS Stress Essay

Narrowing Down the Topic

Using Personal Pronouns

Model Stress Essay

Stress Essay Model Answer

More Causes & Solutions Essays:

Essay: Why are traditional festivals and celebrations disappearing?

Why might International travel sometimes make people prejudiced?

Why do many children have difficulty paying attention in class?

Youth Crime Essay: Why is crime involving the young rising in cities?

Essay on Museums and Historical Places: Why don't local people visit?

Why is there a lack of communication between younger and older people?

Global Warming Essay: Why is the planet warming & what can be done?

Before you go...

Band 7+ eBooks

IELTS Modules:

Recent Articles

Decreasing House Sizes Essay

Latest IELTS Writing Topics - Recent Exam Questions

IELTS Essay: English as a Global Language

Important pages

Connect with us

Best Cause and Effect Essay Examples To Get Inspiration + Simple Tips

What is a Cause and Effect Essay?

Cause and Effect Essay Examples for Students

Free Cause and Effect Essay Samples

Cause and Effect Essay Topics

Tips For Writing a Good Cause and Effect Essay

Keep reading

Can Reduced Stress in Your Life Cause Gray Hair to Regain Natural Color?

By Nikki Dobrin

Article Tags

Recent advances in characterizing the crustal stress field and future applications of stress data: Perspectives from North America

Stress, Its Causes and Effects Relationship Essay

Works Cited

IMAGES

VIDEO

COMMENTS