Lesson 20: Stress and Illness: Slide  11

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Yes, Stress Can Make You Sick

  • However when stress turns chronic, immune defenses begin to be impaired
  • As the stressful stimulus hammers on, stress hormones and chemicals continue to pump out including cortisol
  • Immune cells never have the chance to recover from the continuous rush of cortisol
  • Cortisol shuts down the immune cell responses, shifting them to a muted form less able to respond to foreign triggers
  • We are less able to respond and fight when faced with new invaders such as bacteria or viruses
  • So if you are exposed to the flu or common cold virus when you are chronically stressed out, your immune system is less able to react and you become more susceptible to infection

Notes:

Pg 109, Sternberg, Esther M., 2001, “The Balance Within,” W.H. Freeman and Company, New York.

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