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What is stress and what is the Stress-Psoriasis interrelation?
Stress is the term introduced by a Canadian scientist Hans Selye in the 1930's.
Stress is the state of distress of the body and/or nervous system due to various unfavorable factors (i.e. mental trauma, grief, bad news, physical trauma, hunger, cold etc.).
The nervous system of a human is connected with the brain activity. The brain is the organ of control of all functions of the body, the organ of the intellect and the emotions of a human. Emotions (from the Latin word - to excite, to disturb) are the mental conditions, which express the subjective attitude of people toward their experiences - both the happy and the sad.
When a person experiences negative emotions, there occur various chemical reactions in the body, i.e. the quantity of adrenaline in the blood rises. Adrenaline is excreted, as a rule, with anger and fear.
These emotions appeared in people in the time of real danger for many millenniums. Wise nature supplied our bodies with powerful protective reactions. The increased content of adrenaline in the blood instantly leads to the increase of the blood coagulation and to the contraction of the blood vessels. This reaction was necessary for our distant ancestors in order to lessen the loss of blood with their injuries, to become more alert in the face of a danger etc.
The 20th century has introduced its corrections, having practically changed such situations. Nowadays people rarely "fight or flight" with a negative situation. Instead they try to look calm and then to think the negative situation over and over again.
The society has changed, but the genetic makeup of a human practically has not changed. The adrenaline is still being excreted into our blood with a stress.
The excess of the adrenaline is not being used up with a "fight or flight" response. Instead it stays in the body and starts to deteriorate the internal organs. This leads to the disorders of various internal organs (including the liver, kidneys and intestines) as well as to the disorders of the nervous system.
Stress will eventually trigger the pathologic mechanisms of psoriasis and that is the essence of the stress-psoriasis interrelation. Therefore learning to manage stress is very important for the people with psoriasis.
Does psoriasis influence the mental state of a person?
Scientists from Tartu (Estonia) have studied how exactly psoriasis influences the mental state of a person with psoriasis.
There were studied more than a hundred people with psoriasis. The studies were conducted with the use of a special questionnaire, family data, childhood data, and the estimations of different life situations and problems.
The results of the evaluation revealed neurotic symptoms in 51% of men and 70% of women with psoriasis. The fear factor in women was stronger than in men, and in both sexes it was stronger than in the control group.
Are the changes in the nervous system primary and lead to the development of psoriasis? Or are they secondary and develop because of psoriasis?
It's hard to tell... I think it's a two edged blade - the nervous system influences the state of psoriasis and psoriasis influences the state of the nervous system.
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