We know that stress can cause
havoc but a study says that acute stress can actually be good for us.
Short-term stress can actually be very good for
us as it generates a fight-or-flight response, mobilizes bodily resources in
response to immediate threat and activates the body's defenses, reports Prof.
Firdaus Dhabhar in the Journal of Psychoneuroendocrinology.
Dhabhar is an
associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and member of the
Stanford University Institute for Immunity, Transplantation, and Infection.
The immune system, as we know, is crucial for
fighting or preventing infections and for healing wounds both of which occur
commonly during chases, escapes, combat and other risky times.
Dhabhar collaborated with his colleagues at
Stanford and two other universities to demonstrate this fact. Their work showed
that subjecting lab rats to mild stress
created a massive influx of several types of immune cells into the bloodstream
and, later on, onto the skin and other tissues.
"This large-scale migration of immune cells,
which took place in over two hours, was comparable to the mustering of troops
in a crisis", Dhabhar said.
demonstrated that the huge redistribution of immune cells all over the body was
brought about by three hormones that were released by the adrenal glands in
different amounts and at different times, in response to a stressful event. These findings tell us how the mind
influences our immune responses.
are the brain's call-to-arms to the rest of the body"." Mother Nature gave
us the fight-or-flight stress response to help us, not to kill us,"
has been experimenting on the effects of the stress hormones on the immune
system for well over a decade. He,
along with his colleagues, had previously demonstrated that a similar
immune-cell redistribution in surgery patients does enhance their postoperative
Stress is of two
types acute and chronic. Acute stress has a short term duration and is common
in every day life. It is the type of stress that is cited as beneficial.
Chronic stress on the other hand, is extremely detrimental for one's well being
and needs to be appropriately managed.