1. Stress is a common experience in life, affecting individuals in various aspects such as academics, relationships, and daily routines. It can be defined as a state of worry or mental tension caused by challenging situations, disrupting physical and psychological functioning. Stressors, events tha...
Life is filled with ups and downs. Stress being a fact of life, wherever you are whoever you are we all must deal with it sometime or
the other. Everyone deals with challenges, big or small. Nowadays, people are stressed because of their academics, relationships,
social media, peers, even something as simple as the daily transport to their workplace, school or college. Sometimes there can be an
actual threat to one’s own health or your loved one’s health, for instance a sudden accident or a severe illness. All these challenges,
threats and changes require people to respond in some way or the other.
Stress can be defined as the state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. It can also be defined as the response to
any situation Stress can be defined as the state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. It can also be defined as the
response to any situation or event that disrupts or threatens to disrupt our physical or psychological functioning. The events occurring
around us which cause stress are known as stressors. There are two types of stressors namely: Eustress and Distress.
Eustress is a positive or good kind of stressor which arises when motivation and inspiration is needed, provides focus and energy for
an individual to perform at the highest level of his/her ability. On the other hand, Distress is more of negative or bad type of stressor,
and it often influences an individual’s ability to cope up with his/her task.
Stress is a huge problem today’s society. It is one of the reasons for chronic diseases as well as most of the deaths. It can lead to many
health problems such as high blood pressure, heart diseases, obesity, frequent headaches and even cancer. Infact, 89% of the Indian
population is reportedly undergoing severe amounts of stress, which is higher than the global average 86%.
MODELS OF STRESS
GENRAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME.
Genral Adaptation Syndrome was first proposed by Hans Selye (1956,1976), the body’s response or psychological responses to
stressors or stressful events.
It consists of three stages namely: a) Alarm reaction b) Stage of resistance c) Stage of exhaustion respectively.
a) Alarm Reaction: The alarm reaction is essentially the emergency response of the body.
This stage takes place during the first stage of stress. Your body’s warning or emergency system activates also known as the fight or
flight hormone and it starts to mobilize all its resources against the stressor. A distress signal is sent to the part of the brain namely, the
Hypothalamus.
b) Stage of Resistance: If the resistor continues to be present, the stage of resistance starts, where the body tries it’s best to resist
the present stressor and its continuous effects. Although, resistance to new stressors is impaired during this stage. If the
stressful situation is no longer present and you can overcome the stress, your heart and blood pressure will start to return to
its normal levels during this stage. However, if that is not the case, certain hormonal responses of the body are important foe
the defence of resisting the effects of the stressors.
Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) is secreted into the bloodstreams by the cells of pituitary gland. The rate of ACTH secretion is
controlled by another hormone like chemical substance known as the Corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), which is made in the
brain structure known as the Hypothalamus. The corticotrophin releasing factor flows the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland through
a specialized system of blood vessels also known as the HP access. Having the nerve cells of the hypothalamus, more corticotrophin
releasing factor is sent to the pituitary gland, thus increasing secretion of ACTH into the blood vessels.
c) Stage of Exhaustion: The final stage of the Genral Adaptation syndrome is the stage of exhaustion.
Here the body is exhausted and has reached its maximum ability in the process of trying to avoid the stressor. The body’s capacity to
respond to a continuous stressor as well as the existing stressor has reached its limits.
Due to the excess secretion of cortisol an individual may seriously fall sick or die in the long run. High risk of cancer, blood pressure,
asthma, skin disorders are likely to be caused in this stage.
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