Emotional_Stress_on_Motor_Skills

Emotion Stress on Motor Skills We all agree to the fact that stress is something universal. We all experience it, though it may vary on different levels. The manner into which a person also relieves his or stress varies—some feel better after doing some binge eating, others are contented with having to use a stress ball. There are also different sources of stress for everyone. For students, their number one source of stress is for them to obtain good grades so that their parents will be proud of them; for the working professionals, their main source of stress is having to earn for their daily sustenance. There are different types of stresses as well. We have physical, mental and emotional stress to name a few. However, this paper will concentrate on the last one, emotional stress, since this is one of the most difficult types of stress that one may encounter in his or her daily dealings. Emotional stress, as what they say, is oftentimes self-inflicted. The degree of stress a person might experience or feel depends on how a person handles bad news. Let’s consider for example a break up. One person might find it easy to cope with the situation by diverting his or attention to something else, and be able to move on after a week or so, while others might find themselves sulking for a couple of weeks, or even months. Emotions may sometimes trigger severe stress that it may affect the person’s nervous system. When the nervous system is the one that is affected, it may affect the way the brain works since the event has caused an incredible strain in the person’s mind. Truth be told, there are various severe emotional experiences that may trigger post-traumatic syndrome such as going into a war and seeing a fellow soldier die in the battlefield. According to experiments conducted by researchers from LSU Health Sciences Center, whenever a mouse experiences even a tinge of stress, its cerebellum gets affected. The cerebellum is the part of the brain in charge of motor skills, as well as learning and memory functions. Whenever a mouse is exposed to emotional stress, it produced GluR2, a glutamate receptor, and it changed the electric current in the mouse’s cerebellum, thus, affecting its motor skills. Motor skill is the sequence formed in terms of movements created by a person. In babies, motor skills appear chronologically: 1. At six months, the baby can already sit straight when laid down. 2. At one year of age, the baby is expected to have taken his or her first steps. 3. At two years of age, the baby can already jump. 4. At three years of age, the baby can already use the scissors to cut paper, and be able to run on his or her toes. For adults alike, the act of raising a mug requires motor skills since the brain will send the information to the person’s muscular system to move his or her muscles so that the mug will be raised. Whenever the brain sends information to the nervous system, the affected part of the body acts on it. One effect of emotional stress is hypoxemia. This is the state wherein the person’s oxygen level decreases due to anxiety. The symptoms of it are restlessness and agitation, and because of these two, the person may encounter things like confusion and distorted motor coordination. Emotional stress oftentimes does not happen abruptly. Most of the times, these are bottled up stresses that the person might not have been able to release for a long period of time (except for situations wherein the news is sudden i.e. death of a relative, etc.). In order for someone to actually avoid the repercussions of emotional stress, he or she must learn how to give him or herself a break from all the stress-causing things around him or her. Diversion is the key in this situation. One may plan vacation trips to places far from his or her workplace or home (wherever the source of stress is). By doing so, the person will be able to get away as far as possible from the triggers of stress itself. Another possible diversion a person might take is for him or her to do activities such as yoga or meditation. These activities require the person to look within. This might be a good opportunity for someone to dig the sources of stress, and figure out a way to solve the root of the problem. By doing so, the person may feel as if he or she will start on a clean slate after such activity since his or her mind will be relaxed. Likewise, doing activities such as sports can divert the person’s attention away from his or her stresses at hand. Such activities will make the person think that he or she is doing something enjoyable and not just because he or she needs to. A person may resort to kinesiology if he or she is experiencing severe problems in his or her motor and brain coordination. This is a type of therapy one might take to bring back the person’s previous motor skills. One can also do physical activities so that the person’s attention will be diverted, as well as develop his or her motor skills at the same time. Lastly, good nutrition also plays a vital role in any kind of motor coordination problem. There are certain food groups that are directed towards the development of a person’s motor skills. Eating these kinds of food will foster its development, and will hasten the process of it. In toto, people should not feel as if stress is something that is unsolvable. He or she should think about the roots of the problem and not be overwhelmed by the effects of it. There are many ways to divert one’s attention, and this is actually the keyword in alleviating, if not eradicating the emotional stresses one might experience. Sources: Dumbleton, T. (n.d.). Dealing With Emotional Stress. SubmitYourArticle.com. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Trevor-Dumbleton-406/stress-2645.phphttp://www.submityourarticle.com/articles/Trevor-Dumbleton-406/stress-2645.php Medical. (n.d.). Emotional stress can affect motor coordination and other cerebellum-dependent cognitive functions: Study. THE MEDICAL NEWS | from News-Medical.Net - Latest Medical News and Research from Around the World. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from http://www.news-medical.net/news/20110113/Emotional-stress-can-affect-motor-coordination-and-other-cerebellum-dependent-cognitive-functions-Study.aspx WD. (n.d.). Causes of Stress - WrongDiagnosis.com. Wrong Diagnosis. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/s/stress/causes.htm Wolontis, M. P. (n.d.). Kinesiology.Net - Kinesiology Network. The Kinesiology Network - Applied Kinesiology, Kinesiologic Medicine and Specialized Kinesiology. Retrieved March 12, 2011, from http://www.kinesiology.net/kinesiology.asp