Depression: How Stress Takes Its Toll

Like its more severe cousin depression, ordinary stress is harmful to the body as well as the mind. Stress comes in two forms, each with its own biochemistry

ACUTE A response to imminent danger, it turbocharges the system with powerful hormones that can damage the cardiovascular system

CHRONIC Caused by constant emotional pressure the victim can't control, it produces hormones that can weaken the immune system and damage bones

1 A stress response starts in the brain...

When the brain detects a threat, a number of structures, including the hypothalamus, amygdala and pituitary gland, go on alert: they exchange information with each other and then send signaling hormones and nerve impulses to the rest of the body to prepare for fight or flight

2 ...and the body unleashes a...

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