PSYCHOLOGY {PSDE2724}
STRESS, HEALTH AND WELL- BEING
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is a generic term that can be subs tuted for words like apprehension, fear or
anxiety.
In other contexts, stress can refer to different emo ons like irrita on, embarrassment or
grief.
However, stress is not limited to emo onal experiences.
It can be experienced emo onally (e.g., fear, irrita on), physiologically (e.g., “bu erflies”
on the stomach, headaches), behaviorally (e.g., smoking more, swearing/screaming), and
cogni vely (e.g., worry). Generally, stress is regarded as undesirable and harmful to one’s
health and well-being.
Walter Cannon’s Fight-or-flight response refers to the body’s physiological response to fight
a stressor or flee from it to protect itself. For example, when a vicious looking dog a acks
you, you will run away (flee). Most healthy people return to their homeosta c baseline
a er a stressful experience.
This refers to Cannon’s term homeostasis, the biological self-regula on process that
enables organisms to adapt to life’s demands. The idea that chronic stressors can be
detrimental to one’s health was formalized by Hans Selye.
The General Adapta on Syndrome (GAS) proposed by Hans Selye (1956), a stress
researcher, is a three-stage model of when stress becomes chronic or long-term.
Stages of the GAS:
During the Alarm stage the fight-or-flight response is ac vated, and the sympathe c
nervous system is mobilized.
During the Resistance stage the body con nues to mobilize its resources to deal with
stressors un l its natural resources begin to be depleted.
During the last stage, the Exhaus on stage the body’s systems break down and illness or
premature death ensues (e.g., heart disease leading to a fatal heart a ack).
LOOK AT THE GRAPH BELOW THAT ALLUSTRATES BETTER
STRESS, HEALTH AND WELL- BEING
WHAT IS STRESS?
Stress is a generic term that can be subs tuted for words like apprehension, fear or
anxiety.
In other contexts, stress can refer to different emo ons like irrita on, embarrassment or
grief.
However, stress is not limited to emo onal experiences.
It can be experienced emo onally (e.g., fear, irrita on), physiologically (e.g., “bu erflies”
on the stomach, headaches), behaviorally (e.g., smoking more, swearing/screaming), and
cogni vely (e.g., worry). Generally, stress is regarded as undesirable and harmful to one’s
health and well-being.
Walter Cannon’s Fight-or-flight response refers to the body’s physiological response to fight
a stressor or flee from it to protect itself. For example, when a vicious looking dog a acks
you, you will run away (flee). Most healthy people return to their homeosta c baseline
a er a stressful experience.
This refers to Cannon’s term homeostasis, the biological self-regula on process that
enables organisms to adapt to life’s demands. The idea that chronic stressors can be
detrimental to one’s health was formalized by Hans Selye.
The General Adapta on Syndrome (GAS) proposed by Hans Selye (1956), a stress
researcher, is a three-stage model of when stress becomes chronic or long-term.
Stages of the GAS:
During the Alarm stage the fight-or-flight response is ac vated, and the sympathe c
nervous system is mobilized.
During the Resistance stage the body con nues to mobilize its resources to deal with
stressors un l its natural resources begin to be depleted.
During the last stage, the Exhaus on stage the body’s systems break down and illness or
premature death ensues (e.g., heart disease leading to a fatal heart a ack).
LOOK AT THE GRAPH BELOW THAT ALLUSTRATES BETTER
