In the article, Taming Stress, Sapolsky’s objective was to explain the relationship between the brain’s stress pathways and psychiatric disorders (in particular anxiety and depression). He described that having this understanding could facilitate the production of new treatments. The new treatments are portrayed as going “beyond” the older medicine such as Valium and Prozac.
Main Arguments:
• Role of stress in anxiety
• Role of stress in depression
• Research in the biology of stress gave birth to new and improved treatments for the disorders
Role of stress in anxiety: Sapolsky introduced the term chronic stress to clarify how it can cause anxious thoughts. When multiple occurrences of stressful situations happen without any outlets (ways to release it) it can cause anxiety to appear in the absence of a stressor. He related it to the feeling of always “being on guard” as a persons waits for the next challenge. The formation of anxious thoughts can then set off the stress responses in your body such as increased heart rate, sweating, and more energy.
Role of stress in depression: Stress and depression share similar aspects such as the feeling of a situation being out of one’s control, being unable to predict results, and being overwhelmed. Also, he proposed that it is common for stressful problems or life events to come before peoples’ depressive episodes. In other words severe stress can be associated with the emergence of depression. Stress acts on the brain’s mood pathways by reducing norepinephrine and serotonin levels. This reduction would cause issues with a person’s mood, sleep cycle, attentiveness, and energy level.
Research in the biology of stress gave birth to new and improved treatments for the disorders: Sapolsky beli...
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.... Those in the field of psychology would probably benefit having it as a resource.
Works Cited
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Sapolsky, R. (2003). Taming Stress. Scientific American, 289(3), 86-95.
Weir, K. (n.d.). The beginnings of mental illness. http://www.apa.org. Retrieved February 26, 2014, from http://www.apa.org/monitor/2012/02/mental-illness.aspx
Wiborg, O. (2013). Chronic mild stress for modeling anhedonia. Cell and Tissue Research, 354(1), 155-169.
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
McEwen, B. S., & Gianaros, P. J. (2011). Stress-and allostasis-induced brain plasticity. Annual review of medicine, 62, 431-445.
Chorousos et al. (1988) define stress as “the recognition by the body of a stressor and therefore the state of threatened homeostasis”. Schaffer (2000) defines stress as “the arousal of mind and body in response to demands made on them. And according to Sapolsky (1994 p7) a stressor is anything that throws the body out of homeostatic balance, for example, an illness, loud noise, an injury etc. Cox (1978 p. 180) defines stress as a “complex and dynamic system of transaction between the person and his environment”. Based on the published definitions of stress, the author therefore defines stress as anything that causes the body to be uncomforted. Stress can be caused by several different factors ranging from physical (such as fear of something dangerous) to emotional such as worry over children, job, marriage etc.
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.
Stress means different things to different people and stress effects people in different ways. Some people think stress is something that happens to them such as an injury or a promotion and others think that stress is what happens to our mind, body and behaviors in response to an event. While stress does involve events and how one responds to them these are not the critical factors, but our thoughts about the situation in which we are involved are the critical factors. Essentially, stress exists whenever homeostasis is disturbed or cannot be maintained (Stress and the Social System Course Guide, 2013). Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to keep the internal chemical and physical environments constant. As your body begins to react to stress several changes occur. These changes include increased heart rate, blood pressure and secretion of stimulatory hormones. Ones body prepares itself in stressful situations to either stand ground and fight or to flee from the situation. Walter Cannon called this stressful reaction the fight-or-flight response (Greenberg, 2012).
To fully understand stress management, one must understand the natural stress response. When a person encounters a perceived threat, the hypothalamus, a tiny region located at the base of the brain, sets off an alarm in their body. Through a combination of both nerve and hormonal signals, the system prompts their adrenal glands, located at the top of the kidneys, to release a surge of hormones which include adrenaline and cortisol. The adrenaline causes an increase in the heart rate, thus causing an increase in the blood pressure and energy supplies of the individual. Cortisol, which is the primary stress hormone, creates an increase in sugars which are known as glucose in the bloodstream. This enhances the brain’s use of glucose and decreases the availability of substances that help repair tissues. This alarm system also communicates with regions of the brain that control moods, motivation, and fear. Once the perceived threat has p...
Campbell, F., Singer, G., & Schofield, P. (1983). Stress and Illness. Stress, drugs and health: recent brain-behaviour research (p. 32). Sydney: Pergamon Press.
A study revealed that there are interplays between the level of stress and vulnerability based upon cellular functioning, and that there are subsequent consequences for the human brain if these conditions are present (Goh & Agius, 2010). This model expands the idea on how individuals process and react towards biological and environmental stressors in different ways.
Stress is a condition that affects both genders and all age groups. It is a condition that is inevitable to live without in our society. However, the human race has exhausted the use of stress. Originally, stress initial purpose was to actually save us from life threatening situations. For example, when an animal senses a predator or comes into contact with it. The animal triggers its stress response, allowing the animal to burst into energy and trying to get away from the predator. Once the predator the animals' stress levels for example a zebra’s stress levels go down and return to normal. However, that is sadly not the case for humans who can't seem to shut off their stress response, but only know how to trigger it. Therefore, our high
Stress is “the body’s reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental, or emotional adjustment or response.” Many people realize that stress has a great impact on psychological health; however, they do not realize that physical health can be compromised as well. When the body is put under stress, physiological changes take place, such as increased heart rate or blood pressure. Many individuals do not know the extent to which stress can impact their bodies because they cannot see the changes taking place. If stress is prolonged, physical symptoms may begin to arise. These symptoms are real; however, they may or may not be due to some sort of physical disorder. Stress-induced anxiety may begin to form within the individual because of a constant fear that they have a serious medical condition. The cycle will repeat itself with potentially worsening symptoms.
"Stress is a natural physical and mental reaction to both good and bad experiences which can be beneficial to your health and safety." (8 Ways Stress Is More Dangerous Than You Think) Everyone 's body responds to stress by releasing hormones, also, you brain receives more oxygen. Stress starts to occur when we become worried about a task or responsibilities we face. Major stress is called chronic stress. It can cause symptoms that can affect your health in a larger way. Some people may say that they succeed more under stress, but sadly, that’s rarely the case. Research has shown that "stress makes a person more likely to make mistakes" (Stress Symptoms, Signs, & Causes). For most people, stress is extremely normal for them that they don 't see it as anything but ordinary. However, stress can motivate someone while under pressure and even get you through a tough or dangerous
Stress may play a causal role in a wide variety of mental disorders. Some of the mental disorders in which stress appears to have a causal role are anxiety disorders, mood disorders, and substance-related disorders.
The life is full of stressful situations. The human being may found himself in dangerous, awkward, and weary position that will make him stressed and this is how the body responds. Anxiety is the body 's response to any change that requires a conformity or reaction. (Goldberg, 2014). The stress is a coin with two faces, positive face and negative face. So, the stress is not always bad, actually it is your body 's method for securing you. It helps the person to stand on his feet, face the emergency and dangerous situation and make the person do his works rather than play and stay in front of the television. Therefore, when the person threatened his sensory system reacts by discharging a surge of anxiety hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol,
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