Introduction
Stress can be defined as a state of mind and emotions under excessive pressure or tension as a result of unfavourable circumstances and demanding situations. Every human being at some point in his life experiences stress. Stress can be a positive force or a negative force, and the effects of these forces will be different on the health of a person. For example, it will serve as a positive force if you have an interview and you feel motivated but if you are under the stress of getting late for a meeting due to a traffic jam, it will serve as a negative force. In this essay effect of stress on the human body, its causes and its impact will be discussed and who will get more affected by stress, indigenous teenagers or non-indigenous teens.
Discussion
Most of the time stress negatively affects the brain and the body. Stress that is left unchecked can result in many severe problems like headaches, muscle tension, pain in the chest and body, fatigue, weakened immune system, insomnia, heartburn, and stomach issues. Stress may lead a person to anxiety, anger, restlessness, depression, sadness, lack of focus, and motivation. Behavioural issues such as drug addiction, over and under-eating, tobacco usage, social withdrawal, laziness and angry outbursts are also experienced due to stress. Diseases like diabetes and high blood pressure can also result due to stress. Causes of stress can be extremely unfavourable circumstances like the death of a loved one, bullying, harassment, loss of job, financial crises, separation or divorce, moving to a new place, traumatic events or emotional problems. People of any age group can face stress, but mostly elders are its victims. Research shows that bullying and harassment cause stress and have a bad impact on the health of gender minority teenagers in the USA, and they have increased the use of alcohol to cope with the stress of getting bullied (Reisner, et al. 2015).
The effect of stress on non-indigenous teenagers is higher than the of indigenous teenagers living in rural communities. They face many problems like language barriers, cultural shifts, bullying, a new environment and fear of new places and people. Non-indigenous teenagers are highly exposed to unfavourable situations that can cause stress and cast a bad impact on their minds and body as they do not belong to that place. The study shows that immigrant children experience a higher rate of problems like peer aggression and bullying as compared to indigenous children. They show more involvement in violent and suicidal behaviours rather than the native children due to stress. Native children live with their parents, and due to family cohesion, they show a lower violence rate (Pottie, et al. 2015). Native children do not face the fear of new places and people, but immigrant children are new to that place and to the people of that area. They feel hesitant and take some time to feel comfortable in the new environment. On the other hand, another research shows that the rate of suicidal activities and alcohol consumption is getting increased in indigenous children ( Wexler, et al. 2015). However, this research does not show that the rate of suicidal behaviour of indigenous children is greater than that of immigrant children. Victimized racial or ethnic minority teenagers are more exposed and at a higher risk of getting depression and social anxiety problems due to which they show higher suicide-related behaviour than native children (Pottie, et al. 2015). Most of the immigrant children have to leave their families and live on their own, which can cause a stressful situation for them to manage everything independently and they show more symptoms of depression and stress than indigenous children.
References
Reisner, S. L., E. A. Greytak, J. T. Parsons, and M. L. Ybarra. 2015. “Gender Minority Social Stress in Adolescence: Disparities in Adolescent Bullying and Substance Use by Gender Identity.” The Journal of sex research 243-256.
Wexler, L., Chandler, M., Gone, J., Cwik, M., Kirmayer, L., & LaFromboise, T. et al. (2015). Advancing Suicide Prevention Research With Rural American Indian and Alaska Native Populations. American Journal Of Public Health, 105(5), 891-899.
