Frank Leebrick

March 25, 2015

Extended Inquiry Part 4

Fackelmann, Kathleen. "Stress can Ravage the Body, Unless the Mind Says no ; A Positive
Outlook can Reduce Impact of Stress on Health." USA TODAY: Mar 22
2005. ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2015 .
Kathleen Facklemann is the director of Media Relations for the Milken Institute School
of Public Health at the George Washington University. Faklemanns prior experience also
includes residing as the vice president for public health at Burness Communications and ten
years experience as head health and science reporter at USA Today. The article follows the life
of two adults, one male and one female monitoring their everyday stress and how exactly they
handle stressors when overwhelmed. Fackelmann describes real life situations such as a parent
with a sick child who faces daily stress as well as a firefighter whose job has left him over the
edge. The overall purpose of the article is to inform readers that a positive outlook can reduce the
impact of stress on the mind and body.
I found this article to be essential to my research because it faces real life examples and
goes as far as to examine the stress of a parent with a sick child. In the process the researchers
began to peer deep inside their cells to see if stress affected a key part of the chromosome called
a telomere .The way in which the article is written from a psychological, emotional, and
scientific standpoint interested me. I also found while reading that up to 90% of the doctor visits
in the USA may be triggered by a stress-related illness, says the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention. I will use this when creating my final product to create a psychological visual which
will involve the parts of both the body and the brain that is impacted by stressors.
I know this source is credible because it is published on USA Today. USA Today is a
national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded in
September of 1982. USA Today is distributed in all 50 states, the District of
Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, Canada, and the United Kingdom. By researching the newspaper
in which the article was published as well as looking the professional resume of the author I
know that this is a refundable source.
Dhabhar, Firdaus S. "Effects of Stress on Immune Function: The Good, the Bad, and the
Beautiful." Immunologic research 58.2-3 (2014): 193-210. ProQuest. Web. 25 Mar. 2015.
Dr. Dhabhar is Associate Professor of Psychiatry, and a member of the Cancer Institute,
Immunology Institute, and Neuroscience Program at Stanford University. He specializes in
studying the effects of stress on immunity and health. He was the first to discover mechanisms
by which short-term stress physiology enhances the body's immune defenses to increase
protection during a fight-or-flight response. Dr. Dhabhars article goes on to explain that
Although the concept of stress has earned a bad reputation, it is important to recognize that the
adaptive purpose of a physiological stress response is to promote survival during fight or flight.
While long-term stress is generally harmful, short-term stress can be protective as it prepares the

Frank Leebrick
March 25, 2015
Extended Inquiry Part 4

organism to deal with challenges. The article states a main purpose of discussing the immune
effects of biological stress responses that can be induced by psychological, physiological, or
physical (including exercise) stressors.
What really interested me in the article is the medical terminology and viewpoint of the
author. I learned from the article that the reason short-term stress can enhance the acquisition
and/or expression of immunoprotective (wound healing, vaccination, anti-infectious agent, and
anti-tumor) or immuno-pathological (pro-inflammatory, autoimmune) responses. In contrast,
chronic stress can suppress protective immune responses and/or exacerbate pathological immune
responses. Studies such as the ones discussed here could provide mechanistic targets and
conceptual frameworks for pharmacological and/or bio-behavioral interventions designed to
enhance the effects of "good" stress, minimize the effects of "bad" stress, and maximally
promote health and healing. This information will add a medical diagnosis and definitions in my
final product.
I know that this is a credible source based on the credibility of author Firdaus Dhabhar
and his educational as well as professional background. Dhabhar expresses his personal interest
in developing practical and sustainable interventions to minimize bad stress and maximize
good stress, in order to promote health and healing on his personal site which is under the
Stanford School of Medicine. He believes that activities/interventions (e.g. exercise, meditation,
compassion, art, music) that reduce bad stress are likely to increase well-being and the protective
effects of good stress, and to facilitate kind and caring behavior at the level of the individual and
society. It is through the authors professional background as well as passion for his research
which indicates to me that this is a refundable source.
Weinstein, Lawrence, and Antonio Laverghetta. "COLLEGE STUDENT STRESS AND
SATISFACTION WITH LIFE." College Student Journal 43.4 (2009): 11612. ProQuest. Web. 26 Mar. 2015.
Lawrence Weinstein taught the first-year writing course at Harvard University and
cofounded Harvards Writing Center. For nearly thirty years, he was a member of the English
Department at Bentley University, where he directed the Writing Center and the Expository
Writing Program. His study on college students who are impacted by stress and the satisfaction
of life proves that stress is impactful on levels of overall content as well as satisfaction. The
Purpose of the study is to improve the way of living for students on campuses across the United
States by eliminating stress.
his article is important to my research because sources found that scores on the
satisfaction with life scale were significantly negatively correlated with scores on the college
student stress scale, suggesting that overall life satisfaction in college students is adversely
influenced by college stress. Findings also reported that the sample females reported

Frank Leebrick
March 25, 2015
Extended Inquiry Part 4

higher college stress scores than the males did. This research is important because it directly
correlates to my final product rounding out on a topic that my audience can relate to, the stress
brought on by colleges across the United States.