The stress process
stress: the body’s natural defense against predators and danger. It flushes the
body with hormones to prepare systems to evade or confront danger. This is
known as the fight or flight mechanism. → over a period of time, this leads to ill-
health
Three types of stress symptoms
- Physical: sweating, pain in the back or chest (associated with loss), cramps or
muscle spasms, erectile dysfunction or loss of libido, fainting, headache, heart
disease, high blood pressure, lower immunity, sleeping difficulties, upset stomach
(associated with anxiety), neck pain (associated with anger)
- Behavioral: food cravings and eating too much or too little, sudden angry outbursts,
drug and alcohol abuse, higher tobacco consumption, social withdrawal, frequent
crying, relationship problems
- Emotional: anger, anxiety, burnout, concentration issues, depression, fatigue,
insecurity, forgetfulness, irritability, nail-biting, restlessness, sadness
→ behavioral stress symptoms are related to the fight or flight system
Stress process:
1. stressor: an internal or external stimulus event that threatens the
homeostasis of an organism → an intense stressor will change the balance
in an organism, the next time the stressor appears, the organism is more
alert → you can learn from stress (which changes the response and
outcome)
- examples of stressors: poor health, environmental stress (war, noise, crowds),
significant life events (trauma, neglect, accident, loss), internal stress (memory,
emotions, psychological conflicts), Private live stress (loss, conflicts, bullying,
relational), social (discrimination, stigmatization, low social support)
2. processing: coping, perception, appraisal, seeking social support, a defense
mechanism
3. response: limbic-cortical circuitry, the reaction of organism aimed to regain
homeostasis, psychological, physiological, or behavioral
4. health outcome: adaptation, resilience, or pathology
Resilience: capacity of an organism to handle the situation (is improved by
exposure) → genetic factors, epigenetic factors, developmental factors,
psychological factors, neurochemical factors, neural circuitry of resilience
Stress outcome
- adaptation: return to homeostasis (recovery), improved resilience
- increased vulnerability
- non-adaptation: physical ill-health, mental ill-health (psychopathology), death
Stress-related mental disorders
- Acute stress disorder
- Adjustment disorder
- Addiction disorder (indirectly connected to stress)
, - Brief reactive psychosis
- Bulimia nervosa
- Depressive disorder
- Intermittent explosive disorder: people who get anger attacks (like panic attacks but
with anger)
- Panic disorder
- PTSD
- premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- schizophrenia
- separation anxiety disorder
- social anxiety disorder
- somatic symptom disorder
- norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors have an antidepressant effect
- dopamine important for learning → hacked by addictive compounds
Neurobiology of the stress process
1. Processing in Limbic system: hypothalamus (hormonal reaction), amygdala (fight or
flight), hippocampus (learning)
2. HPA-axis: hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis → hormone regulation
(production of cortisol)(DHEA = precursor for testosterone and other
hormones)
3. limbic cortical system: ventral and dorsal → dorsal system is acute (fast)
4. Stress process: acute phase
, 5. Stress process: chronic phase → interaction HPA axis with the autonomic
nervous system
6. Interaction sympathetic nervous system & HPA-axis: HPA axis produces cortisol
which activate the sympathetic nervous system (eg accelerates heartbeat)
7. Interaction immune system & HPA-axis
8. Stress: three interacting systems
stress: the body’s natural defense against predators and danger. It flushes the
body with hormones to prepare systems to evade or confront danger. This is
known as the fight or flight mechanism. → over a period of time, this leads to ill-
health
Three types of stress symptoms
- Physical: sweating, pain in the back or chest (associated with loss), cramps or
muscle spasms, erectile dysfunction or loss of libido, fainting, headache, heart
disease, high blood pressure, lower immunity, sleeping difficulties, upset stomach
(associated with anxiety), neck pain (associated with anger)
- Behavioral: food cravings and eating too much or too little, sudden angry outbursts,
drug and alcohol abuse, higher tobacco consumption, social withdrawal, frequent
crying, relationship problems
- Emotional: anger, anxiety, burnout, concentration issues, depression, fatigue,
insecurity, forgetfulness, irritability, nail-biting, restlessness, sadness
→ behavioral stress symptoms are related to the fight or flight system
Stress process:
1. stressor: an internal or external stimulus event that threatens the
homeostasis of an organism → an intense stressor will change the balance
in an organism, the next time the stressor appears, the organism is more
alert → you can learn from stress (which changes the response and
outcome)
- examples of stressors: poor health, environmental stress (war, noise, crowds),
significant life events (trauma, neglect, accident, loss), internal stress (memory,
emotions, psychological conflicts), Private live stress (loss, conflicts, bullying,
relational), social (discrimination, stigmatization, low social support)
2. processing: coping, perception, appraisal, seeking social support, a defense
mechanism
3. response: limbic-cortical circuitry, the reaction of organism aimed to regain
homeostasis, psychological, physiological, or behavioral
4. health outcome: adaptation, resilience, or pathology
Resilience: capacity of an organism to handle the situation (is improved by
exposure) → genetic factors, epigenetic factors, developmental factors,
psychological factors, neurochemical factors, neural circuitry of resilience
Stress outcome
- adaptation: return to homeostasis (recovery), improved resilience
- increased vulnerability
- non-adaptation: physical ill-health, mental ill-health (psychopathology), death
Stress-related mental disorders
- Acute stress disorder
- Adjustment disorder
- Addiction disorder (indirectly connected to stress)
, - Brief reactive psychosis
- Bulimia nervosa
- Depressive disorder
- Intermittent explosive disorder: people who get anger attacks (like panic attacks but
with anger)
- Panic disorder
- PTSD
- premenstrual dysphoric disorder
- schizophrenia
- separation anxiety disorder
- social anxiety disorder
- somatic symptom disorder
- norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors have an antidepressant effect
- dopamine important for learning → hacked by addictive compounds
Neurobiology of the stress process
1. Processing in Limbic system: hypothalamus (hormonal reaction), amygdala (fight or
flight), hippocampus (learning)
2. HPA-axis: hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis → hormone regulation
(production of cortisol)(DHEA = precursor for testosterone and other
hormones)
3. limbic cortical system: ventral and dorsal → dorsal system is acute (fast)
4. Stress process: acute phase
, 5. Stress process: chronic phase → interaction HPA axis with the autonomic
nervous system
6. Interaction sympathetic nervous system & HPA-axis: HPA axis produces cortisol
which activate the sympathetic nervous system (eg accelerates heartbeat)
7. Interaction immune system & HPA-axis
8. Stress: three interacting systems
