Addressing health and illnesses among high school and college students is a task that extends beyond looking for the absence or presence of infirmities or diseases. Instead, supporting health and improving the quality of life for this specific population includesbiopsychosocial paradigm (Vincenzi, n.d.). Accordingly, health care teams involved in the activity need to ensure the population achieves a complete psychological, physical, and social well-being.

Notably, the most critical pathophysiology in regards to the population is the “pathophysiology of stress.” High school and college students are actively involved in academic activities. For this reason, stress is unavoidable to this population (Deb, Strodl&Sun, 2015). However, as Deb and his colleagues observe, stress plays a significant role in determining the mental health of students. It involves psychological or physiological factors that compromise the normal physiological processes among the population. Stressor with substantial impacts on students includes lifestyle factors such as extreme (or too little) exercise, excessive consumption of alcohol, and smoking (Deb, Strodl&Sun, 2015).Similarly, physical factors like inflammation,food intolerances, and infection, as well as nutritional deficiencies equally, result in stress among youths and children.

However, a wide range of factors influences the perception of stress by high school and college students. A few of these determinants are genetics and one’s behavior and experiences. In general, anxiety and depression have significant impacts on mental health and the functioning of the brain. For example, when the brain perceives stress, behavioral and physiologic responses are initiated resulting in adaptation and allostasis.”Over time, the allostatic load can accumulate, and the overexposure to neural, endocrine, and immune stress mediators can have adverse effects on various organ systems, leading to disease” (Vincenzi, n.d.).

Allostatic overload occurs when the body begins to tear and wear due to chronic stress. aAllostatic is associated with many symptoms, which have negative influences of the physiological processes. For example, according to Vincenzi, allostatic causes decreased immune functions, increase platelet reactivity, abdominal obesity, hypertension, atherosclerosis, bone demineralization, increased activity of the amygdala, and atrophy of neurons in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus.

On the other hand, depression is a severe disorder of enormous clinical and sociological relevance. According to an article by Bondy (2002), depression is one of the most critical life-threatening disease, which affects many people across the globe. Among high school and college students, depression causes severe disruption and distress of life. Its psychopathological state involves a triad of symptoms with low energy, depressed mood, fatigue, and anhedonia. Moreover, among the members of the population, depression causes psychomotor and sleep disturbances, suicidal tendencies, low self-esteem, and gastrointestinal as well as autonomic disturbances.

Overall, the pathophysiology of stress and depression among high school and college students manifest in many ways. Thus, older children in their upper and middle school years need to be motivated to learn the essential skills to alleviate stress.An effective stress system response can help to counter the homeostatic threat, which is caused by the stressors.

References

Bondy, B. (2002). Pathophysiology of depression and mechanisms of treatment. Dialogues in clinical neuroscience, 4, 7-20.

Deb, S., Strodl, E., & Sun, J. (2015). Academic stress, parental pressure, anxiety and mental health among Indian high school students. International Journal of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, 5(1), 26-34.

Vincenzi, F. F. (n.d.). The pathophysiology of stress. Retrieved from https://depts.washington.edu/abrc/stress/vincenzi.pdf

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