The General Adaptation Syndrome Essay Example

The body’s response or reaction to mental or emotional strain or tension is known as stress. Emotional and physical events act as stressors, and the body reacts in a similar way to either type of event. What makes up stress is highly individual and depends to a great extent on personality type. We should learn how our body adapts to stress.

In understanding, Han Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome, it is a theory that proposes on the process of how your body adapts or responds to stress occurs in four stages, though the body does not differentiate between positively and negatively induced stress. It’s only the level of stress and its duration that affects the body. The four stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome are: 1.) Alarm, 2.) Fight-or-Flight, 3.) Exhaustion, and 4.) Return-to-Normal.

In the alarm stage, the body perceives and is aware of stress. There is a distress signal from the body to your brain. The alarm stage leads to the second stage, which is the fight-or-flight stage. Another term for the fight-or-flight stage is also known as the acute stress response, which is a physiological response to stress. During the fight-or-flight stage, the sympathetic nervous system is the large part of the autonomic system that prepares the body for fight or flight by signaling specific body systems. The sudden release of hormones activates the sympathetic nervous system in the body. The reaction at this stage would cause us to either flee or protect ourselves from dangerous situations.

What you can expect during the alarm and fight-or-flight stage is that your heart rate increases, your adrenal gland releases a stress hormone called cortisol, and you receive a boost of adrenaline, which increases your energy. An example would be acute stress that leads to anticipation and a feeling of "being alive”, like an adrenaline rush. A scenario would experience bungee jumping from a cliff and that we are experiencing acute stress. We are anxious or excited. Another scenario would experience skydiving or flying in an airplane. Since the adrenaline rush in this case is short-lived, it brings the world into sharper focus and enhances our lives. Through this, we can focus, achieve our goals, and perform our best.

After all the stress during the alarm and fight-or-flight stages, this leads us to the third stage of the cycle, which is the exhaustion stage. The body becomes exhausted by its reaction to stress, which results from prolonged or chronic stress. With chronic stress, it is an unhealthy form of stress and results from events that we have little control over, such as long-term unemployment, unhealthy relationships, dysfunctional relationships, and chronic illnesses. Long-duration stress that results from chronic stress can be life-threatening and can lead the person to resort to violence, suicide, and self-harm. At this stage, struggling with stress can drain our physical, emotional, and mental resources to where we no longer have the strength to fight. It’s a feeling as if we are giving up or feeling pointless. Some signs of exhaustion would include headaches, fatigue, burnout, depression, and anxiety. The physical effects of this stage can weaken your immune system, and you can be at risk for stress-related illnesses.

The final, or last, stage of the cycle is the Return-to-Normal stage. At this stage, the parasympathetic nervous system is activated, and the body returns to normal after the stressor has been removed. The parasympathetic nervous syndrome is part of the autonomic nervous system. Recovery from acute stress occurs when the stress has been dealt with.

By looking through this cycle, we can understand the pattern of physical changes that our body goes through after being exposed to stress. We can understand what our body goes through responding to stress.