Stress is the response of our body to any demand made on it. It is in every experience and activity we encounter. It takes place whenever our body must adapt or readjust to maintain normalcy. Any change in our physical or psychological environment causes some stress. Usually anything that happens for the first time causes stress.
It is our body’s physical, mental, and chemical reaction to circumstances that frighten, excite, confuse, endanger, or irritate us. It can be caused by good, bad, happy, or unhappy events (called stressors). Such as weddings, births, changes in lifestyle, personal loss, illness, injury, new job responsibilities, money problems, family problems, ethical decisions, and retirement.
Dr. Hans Selye, a Canadian physician, endocrinologist, and pioneer in stress studies describes three stages of a stressful experience. He refers to these stages as the General Adaptation Syndrome (G.A.S.).
Alarm Reaction
Chemical changes and adaptations take place within the body during this stage. Several of these adaptations are due to the brain’s instructions to the adrenal glands to secrete the stress hormones, adrenaline (epinephrine) and noradrenaline (norepinephrine).
Adrenaline accelerates the rate and increases the strength of heart contraction, dilates coronary and skeletal muscle blood vessels and constricts blood vessels in the skin, kidneys, and most internal organs. Thus, it elevates blood pressure and redirects blood flow to areas with increased energy needs. Noradrenaline aids in the constriction of small blood vessels and also plays a role in the increased strength of cardiac pumping.
Other adaptations take place, some of which are caused by additional hormones secreted by the adrenal glands.
- Energy-rich sugar is placed in the blood. The blood’s clotting ability is increased.
- Muscle tension is increased.
- The breakdown of adipose tissue is increased.
- Protein is broken down into amino acids.
- The unneeded digestive system goes into temporary inaction.
- Hormones which have strong ant-inflammatory effects and which help the body cope with infection are put into action.
- Cortisone, used to treat certain types of arthritis, is one of these hormones. In fact, almost every known hormone can be influenced by stress.
Resistance
Hopefully, during the state we are able to deal with the stress and function effectively. The alarm stage adaptations should disappear. If the alarm is not quieted and we become overwhelmed by the stress, we enter into the third stage.
Exhaustion
When the stress continues too long, we are unable to maintain our normal functioning and the signs of the first stage reappear. Blood pressure stays up. hormone depletion continues, insomnia takes place. and even a very small amount of additional stress can cause a breakdown. Unless the stress is relieved, physical disorders, or possibly even death can result.
Stress: Is It Good or Is It Bad?
We tend to think of all stress and the response to it as harmful. However, these responses are not only normal but essential. Without them we would not live very long. These responses provide a “call to arms” of the body’s defences and enhance our chance of survival during a stress experience. They gear up the body for effort and seek to protect it from harm. The harm results in what follows. Once these body adaptations take place. In other words, how we cope with stress determines whether our health will be affected.
Consider the dilemma of prehistoric human beings. When faced with emotionally exciting and physically demanding situations, such as the approach of a wild animal, these people had to be prepared to fight for their lives or run to save themselves. Either choice require to act on and placed demands on the body. The cardiovascular and respiratory systems worked harder to supply oxygen and nutrients to the cells and remove waste products.
The increase in blood Sugar and blood fats, and the breakdown of body protein not only provided energy but made them able to forego eating for a long period of time. If necessary, during times of danger. In addition, the amino acids liberated by the breakdown of protein provided a source of raw materials for tissue repair when injury occurred. The body was prepared for action, to fight or flee; and physiological adaptations were what prepared them.
We do not have the opportunity or social approval to perform the vigorous, physical activity needed to neutralize the hormone secretions. Even though our body’s response to stress is the same. Modern society has made the fight or flight practice obsolete, and more people are experiencing emotional and physical problems because of their inability to cope with stress.
How can Stress be Good?
Not all stress is bad, however. If treated in a positive way, it can motivate us to grow, adapt, and find solutions to the problems we encounter. Some individuals thrive on stress and actually rise to the occasion to function better mentally and physically. Many top executives of major businesses fall into this category. They learn to deal with stress and use it creatively to better fulfil their responsibilities. Each stressful experience actually strengthens them for the next encounter.
Those individuals who cannot cope with the stress do not make it to the top, or they do not last very long once they reach that level. Successful athletes enjoy the intense pressure of competition and perform well during such experiences.
On the other hand, some individuals do not react very strongly during emotional experiences; they appear to remain calm. If they truly are calm within, they probably will not suffer from stress-related diseases or disorders. If they are calm only on the outside but in turmoil within, they are very likely to suffer from stress-related disorders.
These body changes continue to take place when we are confronted with stress today. However, wild animals have been replaced for the most part by psychological conflicts. In many instances, the wild tiger is now the “paper tiger. But our body does not make a distinction between emotional crisis and physical crisis.
When we encounter an emotional conflict brought on by the many turmoil’s of our present society, our glands prepare the body for a stressful experience as if we were face-to-face with a wild animal. We are prepared for action. However, present-day civilization often makes it impossible to relieve the tensions within our body.
