A Review of Research Progress in the Pathophysiological Mechanism of Stress-related Mental Disorders

Stress can improve an individual’s ability to adapt to environmental changes. However, excessive stress can induce stress-related mental disorders, including anxiety disorder, depression disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stress can regulate the level of hormones and immune inflammation in the body through the brain network, neural circuits, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the sympathetic nervous system, thereby causing the occurrence of mental disorders. In addition, stress can mediate the occurrence of mental disorders by regulating molecular changes in the level of genes, transcription, protein and metabolism, etc. Studies have shown that the brain-gut axis also plays an important role in the pathogenesis of stress-related mental disorders. However, the pathophysiological mechanism of stress-related mental disorders remains unclear. Besides, studies have also shown that the onset of stress-related mental disorders is closely associated with the individual's physiological and psychological qualities,which has a cross-talk with other mental and physical diseases as well. Therefore, it is important to study individual premorbid diathesis clinical, and to conduct clinical medical, basic medical, and psychological studies of the different stages of the disease, so as to obtain further understanding of the pathogenesis of stress-related mental disorders.