Running head: THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS

The Effects of Sickness Sean M. Ritchey Writing 1020 Madonna University Mrs. Agee February 22, 2014

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS Abstract Sickness directly effects how our daily lives. From the littlest colds to the more severe sickness like cancer, every day these things change how we do things. Sickness can cause us to miss important activities and daily duties which can lead to more severe consequences like getting fired from a job or not passing a class in school due to absence. When attendance to these duties is crucial and people are sick and contagious, this is when diseases and viruses spread causing

more people to get the sickness. Sickness not only affects us but the ones around us. It can cause bad moods due to a loss of sleep which in turn can cause fights and arguments which negatively effects the ones we love the most. Sickness is a part of our daily lives and shows that our bodies are not indestructible.

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS The Effects of Sickness The human body is tested daily. Every day we can push it to its limits physically or

mentally. Whether we are working late night shifts or getting up early for school our body is on a constant cycle where its only resting period is when we are sleeping. Through the straining of our bodies sometimes the body can be exposed to sickness. According to freedictionary.com, being sick is defined as, suffering from or being affected by a physical or mental illness. Sickness can be anything from a runny nose or simple cough to the worst kind known as cancer. Every day around the world people are effected by sickness. This takes us out of school, work, and other daily activities. Sickness has a negative impact on many peoples lives around the world daily and it shows that the human body is not perfect and has its weaknesses, anything from common colds to severe diseases like cancer can directly affect how we go about daily activities. One huge effect that sickness has one the common person is causing absence in main daily duties. This can include work, school, or any important commitments you may have. Having a sickness may make a person feel not up to participate in these activities. When going to work or school, giving a complete effort may not seem possible when under the weather. Not being able to attend these commitments may cause you to fall behind in your studies or job as well. This leads to loss progress and even in some extreme cases, being let go or failing that class. Being sick gives you a huge disadvantage as you fall behind your competitor and lose the opportunity to learn something new that day. This includes having to make up that class or work as well as potentially losing wages which help you support your family and pay the bills. Financial instability can be another direct result of missing these daily duties which can lead to more struggle within a household. According to WebMD, there are questions to ask yourself to

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS determine whether to stay home or not and those include, Are you going to have a hard time functioning and performing at you normal level? Are you contagious and are you taking

medication that may impair your ability? (Kam). These are things to consider when determining whether to miss school, work, or any important commitments. Another major effect that sickness brings with itself is when someone is contagious or can spread the disease. As an elementary student kids are told daily to repeatedly to wash their hands and that doorknobs are where the diseases spread the most. In earlier times when there was not a cure for most diseases the pilgrims who settled in America often wiped out Native American tribes with diseases they had brought over from Europe that the Native Americans bodies were not immune too. This was even used against the Indians by the Europeans when fighting for the land. The main reason people stay home daily is to not spread the sickness among their peers. During sickness it is important to wash hands repeatedly to insure that sickness is not being spread. The worst thing to do when sick is surround yourself with people and spread the sickness. Thats why isolation is also important while being contagious. According to an article on History.com about a specific plague deemed the Black Death, In 1347, trade ships docked in a Silician port after a journey through the Black Sea. The sailors aboard this ship were mostly dead if not gravely ill, after ordering the ships out of the harbor the citizens thought they were out of the clear. Mistakenly they were not, over the next five years the disease killed over 20 million, almost one third of Europes population (History.com). That is a major story about the effect of contagiousness. When a disease is active it is shown that it can and will spread like wildfire if contagious. This story is just one of the many occurrences of disease spreading throughout the world. Every day sickness is being spread throughout the world due to contagion.

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS Another one of the many effects of sickness is exhaustion and low energy levels which leads to little motivation. As a result of sickness our bodies can make us feel like not getting out of bed or moving a finger that day. This is one of the many reasons that sickness is not a

pleasurable thing. Sickness makes the body feel worthless causing us to have little motivation to accomplish anything that day. Yet, this also allows our bodies time to rest and heal. At times this may be the most important thing for healing. Low energy levels and exhaustion make it difficult to perform activities such as work or school, which are key to our daily lives. This is a huge negative effect of sickness which prevents us from getting what we want to get done and makes our bodies feel worthless. Another direct result of sickness can lead to mood change for the worse which never has a positive impact on any one. Bad moods when sick are a result of feeling terrible and wanting everyone to leave you alone. This can cause an argument or negatively affect the relationship of those who are close to you. Ruining you relationships because of the bad moods that come with sickness are probably the worst effect of sickness. Sickness can also lead to even worse types of moods including anxiety and depression. These usually come with the more intense sicknesses like cancer and other fatally ill diseases. This is why it is always important to surround yourself with family and friend support throughout sickness. They can be the key to getting you through those rough days where you feel worthless and terrible. Bad moods only come from the way you let the sickness effect you, a positive outlook can kill of any disease. Sickness is not limited to just a common cold, more severe sicknesses including Cancer, HIV/AIDS, Alzheimers, and other life changing diseases, these sicknesses can effectively cause inability to perform needed abilities in life and may require assistance from others. The worst effect of all from sickness is that of death. The most well-known disease, cancer is the second

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS most common cause of death and is yet to have a cure. According to the American Cancer Society, It is projected that 1,600 people die a day from cancer. Sadly as of right now there is no way to effectively stop this disease except for ways to stall or rid the system of this sickness.

Two well-known treatments are radiation and chemo therapy. As a result of sickness the effect of death is the most prominent and important effect. As there are many effects of sickness there are also causes for these sicknesses. These range from simply the weather to a more serious cause in smoking addiction. There is an astronomical list of causes for diseases because there are so many diseases. This is why it is important to continually check in with your doctor and get yearly physicals. You can obtain diseases or sickness through heredity, contagion and many more. Consistently monitoring your health and body is the key to maintaining a healthy body which is rid of sickness. Though sickness is an ugly thing and is usually perceived as a bad thing, it can often bring people together through the times of struggle. In these cases of bonding through hard times and sickness the most common disease people stick together on are the cases of cancer. There are even many events where survivors and current patients bond together and raise money to help research to find a cure for this deadly disease. Even though through the rough times in our life sickness can put people in a spell, bonding is crucial to getting over it and connecting with loved ones and past patients can help make the rough times easier while helping your understand what is going on in your body. Sickness can sometimes in fact, bring people together and make them stronger human beings. Throughout our lives sickness affects us all in different ways. Sickness can lead to missed work, school, and important commitments. Sickness can set us back mentally and physically. Being contagious is another key component and effect of sickness. As easy as touching the same

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS door knob of an ill person, this can infect us with their virus. When ill our energy levels as well as our motivation levels can drop as an effect of the disease. This effects daily activities we

participate in that we may miss out on because our body does not feel up too it. A direct result of sickness our mood may change due to how we are feeling. This can negatively affect our relationship with our family members and significant others. A positive outlook is the key to getting yourself out of those bad moods. Serious diseases can affect our ability to perform needed abilities to function which can in turn require assistance. Sickness throughout the world is inevitable and appears daily around us. It takes us out of school, work, and other daily activities. Sickness has an impact on many peoples lives around the world daily, negative or positive sickness surrounds us constantly and effects how we go about our daily activities and lifestyles.

THE EFFECTS OF SICKNESS References History.com Staff. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/black-death (2013). In Cancer Facts & Figures 2013. Retrieved Jan. 26, 2014, from http://www.cancer.org/research/cancerfactsstatistics/cancerfactsfigures2013/index Kam, K. (n.d.). In Too Sick to Work?. Retrieved Jan. 26, 2014, from http://www.webmd.com/cold-and-flu/features/too-sick-to-work (n.d.). In Sick . Retrieved Jan. 26, 2014, from http://www.thefreedictionary.com/sick