Exsuastion?

Question

If a person was subjected to relentless stress through thier lives without a break for 25 years, which include thier childhood; mainly from deadly illnesses, relentless abuse and so on; how long would they last?

What would the final symptoms be as they died of exhaustion if they didn't survive.

Would they get things such as lethergy, hypothermia, weakness, feeling drained, slurred speach and eventually EEG depression?

Answer 1

"Deadly illness" implies death, doesn't it? Exacerbated by "relentless abuse", I think that a small child would most certainly die. If not, I imagine that they might suffer many developmental setbacks, but if those could be overcome, then their prognosis would not be that bad, because the body has excellent regenerative capacity. In general, one would not simply die of exhaustion one day, unless you had been subjected to something extremely physically-demanding for days, like trekking through a desert barefoot for 500 miles. Symptoms though would depend on the context of the situation, and what resources were available to the person during the time prior to expiration -- e.g. if they had water and food, dehydration and lethargy would not be too likely

Answer 2

I'm certainly no medical professional, but I would expect someone subjected to absolutely _relentless_ stress would probably die within at most a few weeks. Under stress, the body acts differently than under normal conditions in that it has an increased blood pressure and heart rate, among other things. The body reacts this way so that it can perform the needed task, then it calms down.
I'm unsure of what you would actually die from, but I expect a lack of sleep and some sort of brain malfunctioning would occur.

However, it is unlikely for this to actually take place. The mind is also built to respond to constant stressors by dumbing down the response. This person would probably stop responding to normally stressing circumstances.