The stress response is a normal biological response to stressful or traumatic events, environmental stressors and interpersonal conflicts that we experience. Stress poses a risk to health when it occurs frequently or is intense, prolonged or mismanaged.
“The word stress, like success, failure, or happiness, means different things to different people.” Hans Seyle, 1956 (the father of stress research)
The stress response has four combined effects:
- Blood flow is redirected from the skin, intestines and other vegetative organs to the muscles and brain
- Glucose and fatty acids are mobilised from storage sites into the bloodstream to provide readily available energy
- Alertness is increased through a sharpening of sensory processes such as vision and hearing
- Functioning of the immune system, restorative processes and routine maintenance functioning, such as digestion, is reduced
In all cases, the biological response is preparing the body for the fight or flight response. This is an evolutionary response and has been part of our normal and everyday biological make up for millions of years. All advance animals react in this way to the perception of threat.
The suppression of the immune system under chronic or severe stress leads the ‘general adaptation syndrome’ (a term coined by Hans Selye) leading to a generalised rather than a specific health risk. A person may experience a range of medical, psychological and/or behavioural disorders, depending on their vulnerabilities, as a result of this generalised response.
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