What is stress, and what does it do to us?

Understanding the Individual

Defining Stress
A pattern of negative physiological states and

psychological responses occurring in situations where people perceive threats to their well being which they may be unable to meet.
Lazarus and Folkman (1984)

Why have stress?

Some stress is

necessary to keep us alert and occupied Stress that is too intense or prolonged can have harmful psychological and physical effects

Physiological signs of stress

Selye administered noxious agents to rats All had same physiological response Could be the same with humans & stress? Different sources of stress same nonspecific physiological response occurs

Called this General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

Selyes General Apaptation Syndrome

Consists of three stages:

1. Alarm Reaction 2. Resistance 3. Exhaustion

Think of an occasion on which you experienced stress, e.g. studying for an exam. What might each stage involve?

GAS - Alarm
Occurs when the person first recognises the

threat A number of physiological changes can occur What changes do you think occur, and why, in:
Heart rate? Breathing rate? Sweating?

Blood pressure?

GAS - Alarm
Breathing rate is increased to bring more oxygen

to the muscles Heart rate and blood pressure are increased to move blood around the body faster Muscles are tensed in preparation for a response Sweating occurs to cool the body and allow more energy to be burned

GAS - Resistance
Physiological changes gradually stabilise

Body attempts to restore its lost energy and

repair any damage which may have been sustained in the alarm stage Resistance to disease is lowered Performance at work and elsewhere is likely to deteriorate. Human may have little enthusiasm for life.

GAS - Exhaustion
If stress cannot be overcome then the bodys

resources become depleted May become depressed, irritable and unable to concentrate. Turn to alcohol or drugs in an effort to cope and may lose their appetite and feel tired and listless Further problems:
Kidney problems Low hormone stores Low blood sugar

Reduced resistance to infection

Illness such as flu, ulcers or heart disease

Research into stress

Brady (1958) studied Evans et al (1994)

pairs of monkeys Executive monkey must press lever every 20s to avoid both getting shock Executive monkey died after few weeks perforated ulcer

studied antibody which prevents infection (slgA) Student participants were exposed to mild stress Short-term, acute stress increased immune system long-term, chronic stress weakened.

Experiences of stress/GAS
Think of times in your life when you have

experienced stress What symptoms did you experience? Did you go through all three stages of GAS? If not, what do you think happened? Why were you able to avoid some stages? How was the stress resolved?

Evaluating the Research

Awww cute!

Is it ever ethical to test

on animals (cutness aside)? Can studying monkeys help us to understand human behaviour? What problems exist with Evans (1994) study of human students?

Evaluating GAS
What are the strengths of this model?

What does it not explain?

Can we explain stress as an entirely biological

phenomenon, or are there psychological/mental processes involved as well? Does the evidence so far support the model?