Stress is an everyday thing that many people have to deal with no matter the situation that’s brought onto them. Most of the time this goes unnoticed among people, but studies have shown that stress greatly affects the brain in emotional and physical ways. From minor headaches to completely losing your sense of morality, stress affects your brain in many ways. According to Psychology Today “A new study reconfirms the importance of maintaining healthy brain structure and connectivity by reducing chronic stress.” Stress that is monitored shows that people can have many different types of effects depending on what the stress is from.

PTSD is a common form of trauma due to stress, which affects 8% of Americans in today’s world at some time in their lives. Caused by a substantial amount of stress from things like being at war or something that can be detrimental to you, and can last a lifetime. Things like depression, personality disorders and other health problems come from PTSD. NIH stated that “The President’s New Freedom Commission Report highlights the Importance of providing services for mental disorders related to early trauma. However, the development of effective treatments is limited by gaps in knowledge about the underlying neurobiological mechanisms that mediate symptoms of trauma related disorders like PTSD.”

In conclusion, stress is a massive piece in the lifespan of the brain and should be taken into serious consideration when doing daily activities, interacting with other people, or participating in any stress inducing experiences. Although its affect may or may not be felt on an extreme level, there is always the chance that it will become a deciding factor for how you live.

FSA Connection Questions

1. In the article, the author is trying to convey about stress?
2. In the piece, the word neurobiological mean what?
3. What is the main idea?
4. What two sentences best summarize this piece?
5. What is the connotation of the word lifespan in the story?