Because of my research group’s
interest in stress, I chose to write this week’s blog post about stress,
stressors, and the stress response. The American Psychological Association
(APA) defines stress as “any uncomfortable emotional experience accompanied by
predictable biochemical, physiological, and behavior changes. Last week in
another class we learned about this topic, and one thing I found to be very
interesting, is that stressors- any stimulus that may lead to lead- do not
produce the same response in everyone. Two people could both be given a 10 page
paper to write, or two families could be struggling taking care of a family member
with an illness, and each will be affected differently, if at all, by the
stressors.
In light of this class, I was
thinking about how, around the world, people are exposed to so many different
types of stressors. In America, are primary stressors that lead to stress may
be, our job, doing housework, paying the bills, and helping a loved one deal
with a chronic disease. In developing countries, these things are negligible
compared to what they are suffering through. According to The World Health
report 2008, globalization is putting the social cohesion of many countries
under stress and health systems are not performing as well as they should. The development
of good health systems are crucial for these populations because they are
living in poverty, which has been linked to poorer health, they are vulnerable
to many communicable diseases which are preventable and curable in developed
nations, and they are at a higher risk for outbreaks. The biggest thing I see
as a barrier here, is that these populations are under heightened continued
stress because they have no control over these stressors.
We know that chronic stress can
result in a number of health problems including anxiety, insomnia, high blood
pressure, and a weakened immune system. It can also contribute to the
development of major illnesses such as heart disease, depression, and obesity.
It is clear that stress is a major problem in all parts of the world, but I am
wondering if there are different stress responses for different types of
stressors, whether it’s a big exam or a family member fighting AIDS. Also, what
if person 1 who is well-off was put into a developing country scenario of
person 2 and vice versa? Would person 1 be overwhelmed with stress, and person
2 be resilient? Are there ways to help people in developing countries deal with
stress to limit the chance of worsening a disease? Or is this impossible
because they have little to no control over the situations at hand?
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So Hannah, I was also going to right about stress and PTSD concerning the current killing of unarmed black men in the country, as well as the vilifying of the Muslim community, and quite honestly I just felt the life drain from me. Everyone I read the new or hear of another unarmed black man, I hear people say well he should have just followed direction, and it literally stops my heart. It's like the morality of many people have become so bankrupted that taking a life especially a black life is not even a second thought. It depresses me to think that my life or the life of my brothers, father, and son is decided on whether to follow directions to the letter. That is no life, it's terrorism and imprisonment. I shouldn't have to feel fear about what my sons teachers think about him and would they send him to the principal office if he does something wrong and if he questions why, then he could lose his life or end up in jail. My son, as I do questions everything. My husband and I have taught him that, we have also taught him that he is free, but we also have to teach him that be weary of the police because they are not there to protect and serve you per say. That is a hard lesson. People will say, why would you teach your son that, why would I not. I listened to the police officer in the helicopter say that the guy hundred of feet down looks like a bad dude. How can he have known this from way up in the sky. The implicit and explicit biases exist and sometimes navigating them with a smile on your face can leave you empty, and yearning for a voice or for anyone to see you or feel your pain.I speak with some Muslim women friends and they indicate that they have some of the same worries. Whenever there is a bombing they immediately hope and pray that it's not a Muslim person because all Muslims will get painted with the same broad brush stroke. One woman said, what I wear on my head identifies me as a muslin, most Muslim men don't wear a hijab, so the stigma and signs saying no Muslims allowed in my store is targeting me as a woman for exercising my faith. That was a profound statement that I took to heart. There are so many communities in the US strugglingly silently, and wondering when will the dam overflow on me.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Hannah and heart breaking comment Chris!
ReplyDeleteI also felt so depressed and heart broken from the recent killing of the unarmed black man in the country. It is extremely frustrating that we still see these crimes that is based on racial discrimination in a country that calls for freedom, liberty and social justice. I appreciate your courage in the way you deal with your son regarding such bad reality Chris! As you mentioned, we as Muslims, suffer from such discrimination as well. But, actually, I could not do that with my son. Me and his father raise him that you are Muslim and should be proud of that. We usually tell him that being different from others does not mean that anyone is bad. It is freedom and none should be assaulted for his/her choice. However, I wonder how to deal with this injustice and structural violence when it occurs. It is near, possible and predictable. Recently, a Muslim professor here in Purdue, was chased till his house, then attacked and hit by the chasers before his neighbours could hear his shouts. The woman who was driving kept shouting to other chasers "Kill him" !!
I wonder, when and how can we stop this generalization and break the social construction of reality linking terrorism and bad deeds to specific racial, ethnic or religious minorities and put a halt to the counter terrorism against these minorities that are silently suffering in the US and western countries.
Chris and Salma, both of your stories are hard to swallow and makes me feel so sad that this sort of discrimination is still so present today… As Hannah was talking about, I can only imagine the heightened stress that discriminated groups must feel on a daily basis. Will I be shot today? Will my son be killed? Will I be chased to my house and beaten just because of my religion? These questions and thoughts are enormous compared to the stressors some feel in relation to work or family life. How do people cope with these thoughts? Imagine citizens in war zone areas… The stressors of bombs and soldiers with guns all around them… How could they focus on anything else? If these citizens were brought to a developed country, would they feel relief? Perhaps, or perhaps they would be worrying about their homeland. It is hard to say if they would be resilient. I remember in that class Hannah, someone asking if stress helps make a person resilient or just further breaks them down. I think everyone is different, but regardless of if it builds them up or tears them down, stress has a strong effect on health and disease. That is an interesting concept to consider, helping to relieve stress in these developing countries. It would take a lot of different approaches!
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