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Stress response and poor health outcomes

While the stress response is adaptive for brief threats, it is not meant to withstand long-term, perpetual threats. When this happens, poor health outcomes like hypertension can occur. Systems of oppression are an example of a more perpetual threat. Thus, systems of oppression are linked to poor health outcomes. An example of this is over-policing in lower income neighborhoods being correlated with hypertension in African Americans, or workplace sexism being related to incidence of breast cancer in women.

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Updated 2025-10-08

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