03/08/04

The human stress response can be described as a three part process:

1. Alarm Reaction

2. Stage of Resistance

3. Stage of Exhaustion

Alarm Reaction

  This occurs when an organism recognizes a threat.  It is during this time that the fight or flight response is activated.  The autonomic nervous system, which controls blood vessels, smooth muscle, and glands, prepares the body for an energy expenditure. 

Stage of Resistance

  This stage is a result of prolonged stress.  The physiological responses that are seen during the alarm reaction stabilize, although physiological arousal is still higher than normal.  Also, the physiological arousal can decrease more as the organism becomes accustomed to the threat. 

Stage of Exhaustion

  After exposure to stress for an extended period of time, exhaustion will occur.  This happens when the body's resources for coping with stress are depleted.  The organism may collapse and become unable to continue resisting the stress.

  The response to stress also has an emotional component.  The person may feel annoyance, fear, or dejection, depending on the type of stress experienced.  Surprisingly, some have reported experiencing pleasurable emotions even while enduring very high levels of stress. 

Optimal Arousal Level for a Task

  Sometimes emotion can interfere with efforts to cope with stress.  As a general rule, the optimal level of arousal decreases with the complexity of the task.  For instance, you would not enjoy conversation while working on a difficult homework assignment, but you probably would not mind if you were brushing your hair.  This theory, called "The Inverted U" hypothesis, is not exclusive and is up to interpretation.

  We tend to make efforts to reduce the demands created by stress.  Some tactics are healthy and effective, while others are self-destructive in nature. 

Negative Behavioral Responses

1. Learned Helplessness:  In this example, a subject will passively accept any setbacks with fatalism and resignation. 
2. Self-blame:  This has also been called catastrophic thinking because the subject will attribute every outcome of stress to their personal inadequacies.
3. Aggression:  A person may feel compelled to lash out at others even if they had no part in causing the stress.
4. Self-indulgence:  This can manifest itself in many different forms including drug and alcohol use, over-eating, shopping, smoking, etc.
5. Defense Mechanisms:  These are unconscious reactions that protect a person from experiencing emotions such as anxiety or guilt.  Although there is some debate as to whether all defense mechanisms are bad, it is assured that most are maladaptive.

Positive Behavioral Responses

  See "Managing Stress"