The long-term effects of chronic stress damage a person's health — Page 139, Lesson 216

I want to walk you through the health, behavioural, and cognitive effects of chronic stress — because as a professional pilot, understanding how stress degrades you is just as important as knowing your aircraft systems. Let's start with the health effects. The long-term effects of chronic stress damage a person's health. The earliest signs usually show up in the gastrointestinal system. Symptoms include nausea, indigestion, diarrhoea, and after an extended period of time, ulcers. There is also evidence of a connection between stress and coronary heart disease and high blood pressure. People who suffer from chronic stress have a higher than normal risk of developing asthma, headaches, sleep disorders, and neuroses. They are also much more likely to have allergies, skin diseases, and tend to suffer more from colds and influenza. So the physical toll is broad and serious. Now let's look at the behavioural effects. When an individual is under stress, they will exhibit restlessness, trembling, or may have a nervous laugh. There is a tendency to take longer over tasks, and there may well be excessive changes in appetite and an increase in smoking or drinking. Mood swings are also a common symptom. Some individuals become aggressive in the cockpit towards other crew members and/or outside agencies like ATC. On the other hand, others submit to the situation with an air of resentfulness and frustration. Either way, there is a loss of flexibility. Alternatively, some individuals react to stress by a tendency to rush into decisions. Fewer parameters are taken into account, and therefore the risk of errors is increased. So you can see how stress directly affects how you behave and interact with others in the cockpit. Finally, the cognitive effects. Stress has a major effect on the thought process, with forgetfulness being an early symptom. The ability to think and to concentrate is reduced, and there is an inability to determine priorities or make decisions. Correct actions are forgotten, and procedures learnt in the past are substituted. This is known as regression. Fixation, or "mental block," is another symptom, where it becomes impossible to revise a course of action or consider new information. So your decision-making, memory, and ability to adapt all suffer under stress. These are the three categories of effects you need to know: health, behavioural, and cognitive. Each one can compromise your performance as a pilot.