Stress is Highly Contagious, Say Scientists

You can get stressed by looking at a person dealing with a stressful situation, according to a study.

Stress is one of the primary reasons behind psychological disorders and mental distress suffered by teens, adults and even young children.

Scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive and Brain Sciences in Leipzig and Technische Universität Dresden in Germany, found that stress is contagious and mere observation of stressful content on television or in real life hikes the production of stress hormone cortisol.

 For the study a certain number of participants were given difficult mental arithmetic tasks and interviewed by behavioral analysts who noted their performance and reaction to stress. About five percent of them remained calm while the rest reportedly had a notable increase in cortisol levels.

Nearly 26 percent of the people who were assigned to observe these study participants also had a rise in cortisol levels and this impact was particularly high when the observer and the subject were partners in a relationship. Around 10 percent of the observers also reported being stressed looking at subjects whom they didn't know personally. The researchers discovered emotional closeness between the subjects and observers is promoter for emphatic stress but not its sole reason.

"The fact that we could actually measure this empathic stress in the form of a significant hormone release was astonishing," says Veronika Engert, study author in a press release. "There must be a transmission mechanism via which the target's state can elicit a similar state in the observer down to the level of a hormonal stress response."

Furthermore, the study identified 30 percent of the observers became stressed by watching the subjects in task through a one-way mirror. Almost 24 percent of those who looked at the entire event by video transmission also experienced an upsurge in the production of cortisol.

"This means that even television programs depicting the suffering of other people can transmit that stress to viewers" said Engert.

Our body releases cortisols as response when confronted with difficult and dangerous situations. These hormones act as neurotoxin when produced in excess for longer period and can damage the immune system.

The authors believe people who repeatedly witness their family members, spouse or any other person dealing with too much stress are at risk of getting suffering from empathy stress.

More information is available in the Journal of Neurosciences and Psychoendochrinolgy.