Abstract

Background: Stress is the most influential entity of our lives today. Our body’s defence system allows us to withstand stressful conditions. This ability might get altered if the person lives in a stressed environment over an extended time period. The objective of this review article is to understand how psychological stress impacts our immune system. The study was conducted during the period May-June 2020. The literature review was made using online libraries like PubMed and Google Scholar. It was thus understood that psychological stress would supress the immune system by shifting from Th1 subset to Th2 subset of cells and through the actions of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis and sympathetic nervous system. Thus, making the body vulnerable to many diseases and unable to respond adequately to certain infections, injury or vaccinations. Chronic stress can lead to potential adverse effects on the immune system. The interventional methods for stress management might be helpful in improving immune responses of stressed patients.

Keywords: Psychological Stress, Immunity, Cytokines, HPA Axis and Chronic.