General Adaptation Syndrome

Stress is a widespread problem. While it is impossible to eliminate all stressors, it is possible to manage stress. Stress may cause mental exhaustion, irritation, and insomnia. Long-term stress has physical and emotional effects on the body, one example of which is the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). It is easier to detect chronic stress when one understands the stages of stress and how the body responds to them. Understanding GAS, specifically, how it works, is critical to reducing stress. The more stages of stress a body goes through, the greater the chance of long-term harm to physical and mental health.

Nature of stress

Stress is a factor that does not reside in the individual or the environment, it is instead embedded in an ongoing process involving individuals transacting with their social and cultural environments, making appraisals of those encounters, and attempting to cope with the issues that arise. It is a disturbance in homeostasis or an imbalance that necessitates resolving that imbalance or restoring equilibrium. 

According to Lazarus and colleagues in their cognitive theory of stress, an individual’s cognitive evaluation of circumstances and resources to deal with them determine how they deal with stress. The perceived events and how they are evaluated or assessed have a big role in an individual’s response to a stressful circumstance.

Lazarus distinguishes between two sorts of appraisals: primary and secondary appraisals. 

• The assessment of a new or changing environment as favourable, neutral, or negative in its effects is referred to as primary appraisal. Negative occurrences are assessed for their potential for causing harm, posing a threat, or posing a challenge. Harm is a measurement of how much harm an event has already caused. The evaluation of potential future damage caused by the incident is known as a threat. Challenge evaluations are linked to higher confidence in one’s capacity to cope with a stressful experience, as well as the possibility to overcome and even profit from it. 
• When we view an event as stressful, we are more likely to perform a secondary appraisal, which evaluates one’s coping abilities and resources to see if they will be sufficient to deal with the event’s damage, threat, or challenge. Mental, physical, personal, and social resources are all possibilities. People will feel less worried if they believe they have a positive mindset, skills, good health, and social support required to deal with problems.

Not only do our cognitive and behavioural responses to external events depend on this two-level assessment process, but also make our emotional and physiological responses. These evaluations are subjective and are usually influenced by various circumstances, such as previous experience dealing with a difficult situation.

If a person has dealt with comparable situations effectively in the past, they will find them less intimidating. Another influence is whether the stressful event is viewed as controlled, i.e., whether they feel they have command or control over the circumstance. A person who feels that they have control over the commencement of a terrible circumstance or its negative repercussions will be less stressed than those who do not believe they have such power. Finally, a person’s feeling of self-confidence or efficacy, for example, might influence whether they perceive a situation as a danger or a challenge.

General Adaptation Syndrome

What happens to the body when you are under stress? Stress is a term used in physics to explain the interaction between a force and the resistance to that force, and it was Hans Selye who coined the term to describe the “non-specific reaction of the organism to any demand” in medicine. The ‘father of stress research,’ Selye, rejected the study of particular illness indications and symptoms. Selye investigated this issue in the laboratory by exposing animals to various stressors such as high temperatures, X-rays, and insulin injections over a lengthy period. In addition, he watched individuals in hospitals who had various injuries and diseases. Selye found that they all had a similar physiological reaction pattern. He coined the General Adaptation Syndrome to describe this tendency (GAS). GAS, he claims, has three stages: alarm reaction, resistance, and exhaustion. 

Alarm reaction stage: The presence of a noxious stimulus or stressor activates the adrenal pituitary-cortex system, which leads to the alarm reaction stage. This causes the stress response to be triggered by the release of hormones. The individual is now prepared to fight or flee.

Resistance stage: The resistance stage starts when stress is extended. The parasympathetic nervous system encourages the body to expend its resources more sparingly. The organism takes steps to deal with the threat by engaging in combat.

Exhaustion stage: The body’s resources are depleted due to continued exposure to the same or new stresses, resulting in the third stage of exhaustion. The physiological mechanisms involved in alarm response and resistance become inadequate, increasing the risk of stress-related disorders, including high blood pressure.

Selye’s concept has been criticized for giving psychological variables in stress only minor importance. According to studies, the psychological evaluation of events is critical in determining stress levels. Perceptions, personalities, and bodily constitutions all impact how people respond to stress. 

The Immune System and Stress

Stress impairs the immune system’s ability to function, leading to sickness. The immune system protects the body from both internal and external threats. The mind, brain, and immune system study is known as psychoneuroimmunology. It investigates how stress affects the immune system. What is the immune system’s mechanism of action? The immune system’s white blood cells (leucocytes) recognize and kill foreign substances (antigens) such as viruses. Antibodies are also produced as a result of this process. T cells, B cells, and natural killer cells are examples of white blood cells, or leucocytes, found in the immune system. T cells kill intruders, whereas T-helper cells boost immune function.

Conclusion 

Stress disrupts the physical and mental equilibrium of the body. The more phases your body goes through, the more likely it is that your physical and mental health may suffer long-term consequences. Knowing the stages of stress and how the body responds to them helps identify chronic stress. A cheerful mindset, strong health, talents, and social support will help people manage better with adversity. Selye studied the issue in the lab, repeatedly stressing animals with high temperatures, X-rays, and insulin injections. He observed they all had the same physiological reaction to stress. An arousing event or stressor activates the adrenal pituitary-cortical system, triggering the alarm response. Excessive exposure to the same or new stimuli depletes the body’s resources, resulting in fatigue. Alarm response and physiological resistance systems worsen, increasing the risk of stress-related disorders, including hypertension.