Stress and the General Adaption Syndrome (GAS)
If you want to deal with stress, a good place to start is with Hans Selye’s 1974 book, “Stress without distress.” In the 1930s he began publishing about the general adaption syndrome (GAS). I have found it helpful to become familiar with GAS in working with stress in any form.
If something is wrong with you physically and you go to the doctor, you want the doctor to explain exactly what it is in terms you understand. Then you can discuss and consider the options available.
Since stress has been a major problem in my life, I want to know the physical side of this debilitating discomfort. Once I understand the root of the problem, I can do the research and come up with a plan for dealing with it.
But stress has never been discussed in all my years of therapy and so it went on unabated. If I brought stress up with a psychiatrist, it would be dealt with as a symptom of my OCD with medication. For each of my symptoms I was prescribed a medication and since high school, I had a dresser drawer filled with color-coded pills of all shapes and sizes.
“Stress Without Distresss” offers a comprehensive overview that is understandable to the layman. You can skip over descriptions about the brain and still come away with the message. But the ability to picture parts of the brain helps to understand how the brain affects changes in the body. It takes some mental weight lifting, but it pays in dividends.
Three Stages of Stress: Alarm, Resistance, Exhaustion
Selye divides the way our body reacts to stress into three time periods:
- Alarm reaction
- Resistance ( or Adaption )
- Exhaustion
Alarm – Sympathetic nervous system squirts fight-or-flight adrenaline via adrenal glands. Pupils dilate, heart rate increases, muscles tense, and respiration quickens.The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis kicks in.
If you would like to visualize how the HPA works, below is a simple diagram.
This diagram shows the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. The hypothalamus activates the pituitary gland, which in turn activates the adrenal glands, increasing their secretion of cortisol.
a) The hypothalamus, a limbic structure of the brain, releases corticotrophin-releasing hormone ( CRH ).
b) CRH nudges the pituitary gland, nearby in the brain, to release adrenocorticotropic hormone ( ACTH )
c) ACTH activates the adrenal glands atop the kidneys to secrete a number of hormones into the bloodstream. An important hormone is cortisol. Cortisol, a stress hormone, helps provide that boost of energy when we first encounter a stressor, preparing us to run away or fight. But sustained elevated levels of cortisol weaken the immune system.
Resistance – This is the Adaption phase of the GAS. If stress is prolonged after the initial shock of alarm reaction, your body is still on alert, but at lowered intensity. During the resistance stage of the GAS, your body adapts to stress. If your body is starved, it may adapt to this stressor by maximizing the digestion of food and extracting more of the nutrients. Your appetite may be reduced and you may loose the desire to exercise or move about, so as to conserve energy.
Exhaustion – Harm comes if the stress persists after the resistance stage and the body no longer has the strength to adapt. So often a stressful job or family situation continues for a prolonged period of time and you are no longer able to adapt. Your body’s ability to resist becomes depleted as physical wear and tear takes its toll. If you don’t learn to manage stress, it may lead to high blood pressure, heart attack, and stroke. Even severe infection may come about due to lower immunity.
Stress/Eustress/Distress
Not all stress is bad. Seyle coined the term “eustress” for good stress (Greek “eu” means
good.) Eustress is determined by the perception of the stressor, rather than the stressor. Athletes and actors get motivated and energized from pre performance stress.
Stress motivates and energizes me to research and try out hopeful self therapies. It motivates me to get up when my alarm sounds each morning.
Increasing level of stress causes increase in performance, general well-being, and a state of eustress. At the perfect stress level both performance and well-being peak. At this level you feel energized, focused, and creative. You are in the zone; a state of flow.
Beyond this point it is downhill and you feel fatigued. As stress is increased it becomes excessive and debilitating. Performance declines and may come to a halt. You feel exhausted, in a state of distress.
Stress
Self-help books that help:
Total Self-Renewal through Attention Therapies and Open Focus
The Open-Focus Brain: Harnessing the Power of Attention to Heal Mind and Body
