Month: February 2017

After reading through the ‘Pengilly & Dowd (2000) article on Stress Hardiness’ I have found that there are several factors which can have a negative effect on your health. Some of these factors include: normative life transitions, non-normative life transitions, lack of human contact/touch, loneliness and lack of social support.

To begin with, normative life transitions are life events which can be expected or predicted. Examples are retirement or moving home. These types of events can cause stress which impacts an individuals life negativity however, non-normative transitions are more likely to cause the most long-term damage.

Non-normative life transitions are life event which cannot be predicted such as divorce or loss of a job. Effects caused by non-normative life transitions include: neurotic impairment, coronary heart disease and cancer.

Human contact/touch is a necessary and vital part of basic human nature as it helps to show various emotions and allows for individuals to connect with others around them. There are many positive effects gained from human touch, some being: stronger hearts, lower blood pressure, decreased stress levels and overall reduced tension. However if someone isn’t exposed to human contact they do not receive the benefits therefore damaging their health in the long run.

Loneliness is a term often confused with alone. However, both are completely different. Being alone means in the literal sense whereas being lonely is the feeling that no matter how many people are around you, you still feel lonely. Loneliness can have negative effects on the health of individual as it can cause extreme depression, decreased immune system, promotion of unhealthy behaviours, excessive reactions to stress whilst also leaving the individual 4x more likely to get sick.

Social support is having someone there who you can talk to and who can help you through your problems and any other thing that is bothering you. These people can include however are not limited to: family, friends, colleagues, help lines, help groups, educational professionals, your partner etc. If there is a lack of social support, then the individual may experience damaging effects to their health. it may lead to: negative feeling towards themselves, higher levels of stress, decreased life expectancy, longer recovery times from surgery, increased need for medication in some chronic illnesses and the promotion of negative health practises.

Factors which can help in supporting a healthy lifestyle include:

• Religion and spirituality
• Family Support
• Physical fitness
• Coping mechanisms
• Sense of control

I want to start this blog by stating that I am already aware that I am a very anxious person. I worry a lot and get stressed extremely easily, which leads me to suffer from regular panic attacks.

My reading on the ‘Holmes Rhae Scale’ backed up what I was already aware of.  After adding up my score, I received a terrifying 325. What shocked me most about this was that my friends and the people around me were all in the low 100’s whereas I was nearly triple that. This score implies that I have a high chance (about 80%)  of having a major health breakdown in the next two years. This is information is not new to me, I know that if my mind frame does not become more positive then I could be at serious risk later on in life.

I am forever in a constant battle with stress, be that good or bad. Though some flourish under pressure, I crumble. There is always a voice in my head telling me something is wrong, or I didn’t do that right or that I am not good enough. Though to some this would seem bad, to me that is just my life. However, I’d like to think that upon starting University this year things have gotten better because of the new mind frame that I am in.

My social support has increased greatly. I am now surrounded with individuals who bring out the best qualities in me, people who I am confident around and who are always there for me if I need them. In some sense they are my figurative security blanket, always there to reel me back from a stressful situation.

I would say that although there is still stress in my life, that is inevitable, I am finding better ways to cope with things. As a form of escape, I like to read, Anything from Stephen King to Veronica Roth. It is my favourite way to focus my mind into thinking about the positives and not the negatives. Walking is another thing that relaxes me, a nice walk with my dog early in the morning is what regulates my breathing and allows me to analysis and evaluate my situation.

A factor that any realist needs to take into consideration when relating to stress is what you feel/look like physically. I know that I am not physically fit and no matter how hard I try I cant shake the habit of comfort eating. Exercising is something that I enjoy to do (believe it or not) however, I have no one to do it with and that in turn makes me to self-conscious to start. A method to deal with this for me personally is to just put my earphones in and do what I came to do, which is a lot harder than it sounds.

I want to finish by highlighting that although I am naturally stressful, I try not to let that impact my life daily. I know there is always someone there to talk to, be that family or friend, to help me fight that little battle. There is also several coping mechanisms that I have developed such as bit my lip or play with my fingers, which in the right situation, helps me through my day

The ‘Glasgow Effect’ is a government paper which explores different equally deprived UK cities and how they each experience different health outcomes. The study compares various groups in Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool, showing that although all three cities show almost identical levels of deprivation, the results in health largely differ.

The results highlight that all-cause mortality in deaths under 65 for Glasgow is more than 30% higher compared to Manchester and Liverpool. Glasgow was also seen to have a higher percentage (14%) in the all deaths category with a higher suicide rate and alcohol/drug related death rate out of the three cities.

These results emphasize that despite the three cities showing almost identical levels of deprivation, Glasgow has the most problems in regards to: binge drinking, drug addiction and suicide. To provide fuel to the fire, Scotland as a whole is seen as the unhealthiest country in Europe, we have extremely poor health habits in regards to eating right and exercising regularly. This though, is just seen to be part of Scottish culture, with the famous ‘deep fried Mars bar’ coming to mind, each possibly playing an influence in the results of the ‘Glasgow Effect’.

I believe that although, Scotland as a country is deemed the unhealthiest country in Europe, it is important to remember that not everyone in Scotland has that mind-frame. It is all to do with attitude towards health in general as well as an individual’s socio-economical background. The government are taking precautions and setting new legislations to help the young people of Scotland, providing more opportunities for them to take part in sport and to gain the information they need about healthy eating and diets.