Intro
This piece aims to consider the social, cultural and, psychological implications of the General Adaptation Syndrome’s effect on stress as well as the varied treatment options available.
Scientist Hans Selye (1907 - 1982) introduced the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) model in 1936 and it is one of the best known biological theories of stress. The “syndrome provides a summary of the psychological changes that follow stress as the body attempts to return to homeostasis” (Olpin & Hesson, 2009). In his work, “he developed the theory that stress is a major cause of disease because chronic stress causes long-term chemical changes” within the body (Essence of Stress Relief, 2014). He noted that the condition probably represented a manifestation of a widespread “call to arms of the body’s defensive forces in reaction to excessive demands” (Hill Rice, n.d.). He called the excessive demands stressors and the body’s response stress. He believed that our bodies must adapt in some way and “there is a limited supply of adaptive energy to deal with stress” which declines with continuous exposure (Essence of Stress Relief, 2014). He found that our reactions to stress always go in three phases; alarm (“fight or flight” response), resistance (adaptation) and, exhaustion.
In the alarm phase, stressors are introduced and the body goes into its “fight or flight” response. Several systems, including the endocrine and nervous systems, are “turned on” without will to prepare the body for action as soon as we see or feel something which stimulates (e.g. threat and enjoyment) us too much. “Homeostasis is now disrupted because the mind perceives what we see or hear or remember as dangerous” (Olpin & Hesson, 2009). As a result, the stress reaction be...
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...toward life rather than seeking revenge for injuries or slights, acting toward others from altruistic rather than self-centered motives, retaining a capacity for wonder and delight in the genuinely good and beautiful things in life, finding a purpose for one's life and expressing one's individuality in fulfilling that purpose and, keeping a healthy sense of modesty about one's goals or achievements” (Selye, The Stress of Life, 1956).
Stress can subtract years from our lives by speeding up the aging process. Resistance is the name of the game when it comes to disease. Stress is one of the most significant factors in lowering resistance and triggering the various mechanisms involved in the disease process. “By learning relaxation and stress management tech¬niques, you’ll improve your overall health as well as your odds of living a disease-free life” (Hill Rice, n.d.).
Adrenaline and glucocorticoids are critical to survival. Animals’ stress responses turn off after escaping from life-threatening situations. However, humans’ stress response come from a psychological state of fear or threat. We are often stressed out due to traffic, increasing taxes, instead of actual life-or-death situations. What’s worse, we are stressed constantly. Since we cannot
To a great extent, stress can be a helpful response, especially for prehistoric humans. During this era, our species needed to react quickly to outside stimuli through a response of “fight or flight”. Through stress, certain hormones are released to help the individual resist the stressor, which may have meant running away from a natural predator. Thus, stress is a positive response that ensures the survival of the species. However, stress over a prolonged period of time causes exhaustion in the individual. Consequently, although stress can be helpful for individuals today, many often experience chronic stress, inflicting varying degrees of damage to their bodies.
The more the person stress, the more the person age. This is why it is never good to stress. I used to always wonder why they always tell people to stop stressing. I finally got my answer after watching this documentary. Also, there is a plant that help reduces stress as well.
The purpose of this paper is to define stress and how it effects the body's physiological systems. This paper will include the normal functions and organs involved in the following five physiological systems, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, respiratory, immune and musculoskeletal. This paper will also include a description of a chronic illness associated with each physiological system and how the illness is affected by stress.
The term ‘stress’ was generally thought to have been a concept created by Robert Hooke in the 17th century. He worked on the design of physical structures, such as bridges; his concept of stress came from how much pressure a structure could withstand. However, Lazarus (1993) pointed out that the term ‘stress’ has been used as far back as the 14th century, when it meant hardship or adversity. Back then it referred to the external stressor, such as the death of a spouse or financial worry; in the 20th century, there are many different schools of thought on this area. Hans Selye (1956), brought together the work of Cannon and Bernard and devised a comprehensive system of physiological stress; which he termed the ‘General Adaptation Syndrome’, and is a 3-stage process. He theorised that a certain level of stress called ‘eustress’ (Cox, 1978) could actually be beneficial to our overall performance. Later In 1976, Cox & Mackay devised another model called the ‘Transactional model’. This model takes into account the individual differences in the perception of the amount of stress experienced by the person. The main difference between these two models is that Selye’s model only accounts for the physiological side of stress, whereas Cox’s model takes into account both the physiological and psychological aspects of stress. Therefore, both models will have slight similarities and differences in their explanation for how stress occurs in individuals, which is the main focus of this essay.
There are several events that provoke stress responses. The three categories of events are catastrophes, significant life changes, and daily hassles and social stress. We respond and adapt to stress by taking part in the three stages of the general adaptation syndrome. The first stage is when you have an alarm reaction. This means that blood is diverted to skeletal muscles and you feel a very faint shock. The next phase is when you are in the response phase. This is where you cope with whatever the stressor is. The last phase is the exhaustion phase. This is where your reserves of energy are depleted and you are more vulnerable to illness.
Stress is a different for every individual and culture plays a role in the way an individual deals with it. Stress causes the body to lose its internal balance known as homeostasis. Homeostasis states the ideal levels of the body functions in order to maintain its balance (Gerung, 2014). The passage of time changes what stresses individuals. In ancient times, stressors were physical and considered acute and short-term. Such as considering their protection form invading tribes and looking out for predators. The modern times perceives stressors as chronic and long-term. Although now, stress invades through the death of close friends and family, relationships, habit changes in eating, sleeping, social, and pregnancy. The continuous stressers of
Based upon the reading about stress in our textbook, personally I have reached phase 3 level of General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) which is exhaustion (Coon, Mitterer, and Martini, 2019). Due to continued stress, I tend to avoid my responsibilities when possible and it has left my body feeling exhausted (Coon, Mitterer, and Martini, 2019). The element of stress that affects me is pressure. Between the pressure to achieve A’s in school (while doubling up on classes) and the pressure to make enough money with running my own business, honestly, it is affecting my stomach and making me exhausted. I have these pressures on top of moving next month as well. However, through “persistence” I know that these are short term “micro stressors” that I will
4th December 2015 Theme chosen: Physiological Stress Reactions According to Taylor (2012), when people experience negative mental experience, some physiological changes will occur, in order to deal with or adapt to the stressor. Hans Selye suggested the general adaptation syndrome theory to analysis physiological changes under stress in 1936. General adaptation syndrome includes three progressive stages, explaining the effects of stress to human body (Pearson, 2014). First, alarm reaction.
Stress is great for responding to immediate threats and helping us focus for a short time, but when a person is stressed for a long period of time it wears down their body. Peoples’ health largely depends on how they resolve their issues with the stress-inducing object. Personally, I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety disorders, so stress is the hardest part of my day to deal with. For instance, after my relationship ended earlier this week, I ended up going on a drinking and smoking spree for a few days. This took a toll on my body, allowing me to recognize the issues and put my effort in to fixing my daily
Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
Stress is defined in the dictionary as “state of mental tension and worry caused by problems in your life”. Everyone encounters stress in their life caused by many different variables in life and we all cope with in different ways. The way one copes with the stress is how it can affect our body. Some take to working out, eating healthy, take breaks from what is stressing you out and getting plenty of sleep which are good ways to cope with it. Some take to other coping mechanisms that are not very great for the body. Some examples are stress eating, abuse of drugs and alcohol, bottling up the stress, and depression. These bad methods can cause serious damage to one’s health on the body.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, most people are effected by stress in some way or another. Acute (sudden or short-term) stress leads to fast changes throughout the body and almost all of the body systems, including the heart and blood vessels, immune system, lungs, digestive system, sensory organs, and brain, prepare for danger. This responses could be very beneficial in a life-or-death situation but over time repeated stressful situations put a strain on the body. The repeat stressful situation is called chronic (long-term) stress...
Stressors initiate a response within the organism and causes changes in the body, specifically responses in the body’s autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system has two branches: the sympathetic and parasympathetic autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic autonomic nervous system helps the body deal with the stress it encounters, initiating the ‘fight or flight’ response. Once the threat has passed, the parasympathetic autonomic nervous system will take over, relaxing the body. There is a balance between these two in a healthy person. However, when someone stays on guard, using the sympathetic autonomic nervous system, all sorts of physical effects can
Modern life is full of troubles, frustrations and deadlines. People have to suffer stressful from many directions and they seem to be consent to live with stress. Many people think that they can stand with stressful and it is harmless, but it is not. If people live in stress during a long period of time, it has bad effect to health and spirit. Therefore, there is actually that you can protect yourself by understanding stress and how to reduce these harmful effects caused by stress.