Stress and The Human

Body

A look at how the human

body reacts to stress
 STRESS
Thebody’s reaction to
any change that requires
an adjustment or
response.
Stress affects all systems of the
body including the
musculoskeletal, respiratory,
cardiovascular, endocrine,
gastrointestinal, nervous, and
reproductive systems.
Musculoskeletal system
When the body is stressed, muscles tense up.
Muscle tension is almost a reflex reaction to
stress—the body’s way of guarding against
injury and pain.
Respiratory system
The respiratory system supplies oxygen to cells
and removes carbon dioxide waste from the
body. Air comes in through the nose and goes
through the larynx in the throat, down through
the trachea, and into the lungs through the
bronchi. The bronchioles then transfer oxygen to
red blood cells for circulation.
Cardiovascular system
The heart and blood vessels comprise the two
elements of the cardiovascular system that work
together in providing nourishment and oxygen to
the organs of the body. The activity of these two
elements is also coordinated in the body’s
response to stress.
Endocrine system
When someone perceives a situation to be
challenging, threatening, or uncontrollable, the
brain initiates a cascade of events involving the
hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis,
which is the primary driver of the endocrine
stress response.
Gastrointestinal system
The gut has hundreds of millions of neurons
which can function fairly independently and are
in constant communication with the brain—
explaining the ability to feel “butterflies” in the
stomach.
Esophagus
When stressed, individuals may eat much more
or much less than usual. More or different foods,
or an increase in the use of alcohol or tobacco,
can result in heartburn or acid reflux.
Stomach
Stress may make pain, bloating, nausea, and
other stomach discomfort felt more easily.
Vomiting may occur if the stress is severe
enough. Furthermore, stress may cause an
unnecessary increase or decrease in appetite.
Unhealthy diets may in turn deteriorate one’s
mood.
Bowel
Stress can also make pain, bloating, or
discomfort felt more easily in the bowels. It can
affect how quickly food moves through the
body, which can cause either diarrhea or
constipation. Furthermore, stress can induce
muscle spasms in the bowel, which can be
painful.
Nervous system
The nervous system has several divisions: the
central division involving the brain and spinal
cord and the peripheral division consisting of the
autonomic and somatic nervous systems.
The autonomic nervous system has a direct
role in physical response to stress and is divided
into the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), and
the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS).
 STRESS
Evolutionists credit the
survival of human species
to our ability to react to
stressors that we
encounter in our
environment.
 STRESS
Physiologistrefer to the
human reaction to stress
as the “General
adaptation Syndrome”.
 János Hugo
Bruno "Hans" Selye

“Father of Stress”
was a Hungarian endocrinologist and the first to
give a scientific explanation for biological
“stress”. He actually borrowed the term “stress”
from physics to describe an organism’s
physiological response to perceived stressful
events in the environment.
He eloquently explained his stress model, based
on physiology and psychobiology, as the
General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), stating
that an event that threatens an organism’s well
being, a stressor, leads to a three-stage bodily
response.
 General Adaptation
Syndrome
There are three distinct
phases to the General
Adaptation Syndrome:
The Alarm Phase, The
Resistance Phase, and
The Exhaustion Phase.
A Graphical Representation of the
General Adaptation Syndrome
If that last slide startled
you a little you probably
experienced the first
phase of the General
Adaptation Syndrome
called the Alarm Phase.
 Alarm Phase
In the Alarm Phase the
body gets ready for fight or
flight through a number of
rapid physiological changes.
changes
 Alarm Phase
 Physical changes and their benefits which
occur during the Alarm Phase:

– Adrenaline is Released getting body

ready for fight or flight quickly.

– Heart Rate increases, allowing oxygen

and nutrients to get to the muscles and
brain quickly while transporting waste
out of the body.
 Alarm Phase
– Respiration increase, oxygen uptake
quickly while also purging carbon
dioxide from the body.

– Arteries constrict causing blood pressure

to increase which moves blood
throughout the body at a higher rate of
speed.
 Alarm Phase
– Pain tolerance increases which allows a
person to be able to continue to fight or
flee without becoming incapacitated by
injuries.

– Digestion slows/stops and the water

that was being used in the digestion
process is pushed out to the skin to be
used as perspiration to keep the body
cool.
 The Resistance Phase
 During the Resistance Phase the
body pulls itself out of the alarm
phase in an attempt to reestablish
equilibrium within the body
(homeostasis).

 Without
this phase the body would
breakdown and die of exhaustion.
 The Exhaustion phase
 During the exhaustion phase the
body rests, recuperates and
replenishes nutrients until it has
reached homeostasis.
 The Danger of Stress
 When a person is subjected to either
physical or mental stressors for extended
durations the exhaustion phase is cut
short which eliminates the body’s ability to
heal itself.

 Not only does this eliminate the body’s

ability to heal itself but now the body
spends greater time in the alarm stage.
 The Danger of Stress
 You need only to look at the diseases
and disorders associated with stress
to see the dangerous impact stress
can have on a person’s health.
 The Danger of Stress
 Diseases and disorders associated with
high amounts of stress:

– Cardiopulmonary Disease
– Stroke
– Cancer
– Diabetes
– Depression
– Anxiety
– Sleep Apnea
– Insomnia
Transactional & Interactional
Model

Richard S. Lazarus
stress as a product of a transaction between a person (including multiple systems:
cognitive, physiological, affective, psychological, neurological) and his or her
complex environment.
Lazarus & Folkman’s Transactional
model of stress (1984)
• Transaction (interaction) occurs between a person & the
environment

• Stress results from an imbalance between (a) demands & (b)

resources

• Thus we become stressed when demands (pressure) exceeds

our resources (our ability to cope & mediate stress)

• Thus the interpretation of the stressful event is more

important than the event itself
Primary Appraisal
• Considers whether the person has a personal
stake in encounter (are their goals
thwarted)

• Evaluates the significance of the encounter –

which either

1. Has no significance for person

2. Is a benign-positive encounter (desirable)

3. Harmful/ threatening/ challenging

 Primary
Appraisal
Stressful situations are appraised as involving

1.Harm/ loss - that has occurred (so far)

2.Threats – i.e. potential future harm

3.Challenges – i.e. how can we learn/ gain confidence from

this experience

Primary appraisal –
concerns relevance
to our well-being
Secondary Appraisal
• Individual will then
engage in secondary Secondary appraisal
appraisal to work out how
we can best deal with – concerns coping
situation & change options
undesirable conditions

• Evaluate internal/
external coping options as
well as more specifically
resources to create a more
positive environment.

1. Internal options – e.g.

will power, inner strength

2. External options – peers,

professional health
• Thus it may become a
reappraisal of stressor
and our coping resources
 The Interactional Model of Stress (1982).
• In this model, stress as seen as interaction
between environment and the individual’s
perception of it.

• It suggests that the appraisal of the event and of

your resources for dealing with it are
important in determining the level of stress
experienced.
In this model, stress depends on the individual’s
appraisal of :-

•A. How threatening an event could be.

•B. Whether or not he/she is able to

cope with it.
A. How threatening an event could be

• In this process Individual analyses the

severity of the Event.

• Example, a life event, an exam i.e. Some may see

an exam as very threatening and some may see
it a challenge, a way to show what they know
B. Whether or not he/she is able to
cope with it.
• Primary appraisal- 'Is this a threat?’

• Secondary appraisal - ‘Have I some control and

can I cope?’

• Decreasing the threat- increasing coping strategy e.g. stress

management may help here. Boosting social support
can increase self-efficacy, “of course, you can do it”. Also,
increasing information may decrease if a threat is
perceived as a result of appraisal and you can cope then the
event (threat) is not stressful.

• If you cannot cope and have no resources then the threat is

stressful.
Secondary Appraisal
• Individual will then
engage in secondary Secondary appraisal
appraisal to work out how
we can best deal with – concerns coping
situation & change options
undesirable conditions

• Evaluate internal/
external coping options as
well as more specifically
resources to create a more
positive environment.

1. Internal options – e.g.

will power, inner strength

2. External options – peers,

professional health
• Thus it may become a
reappraisal of stressor
and our coping resources
 Coping Strategies
 Peoplewho find themselves under a
great deal of stress can rely on
coping strategies to counteract
stresses destructive manner.
 Coping Strategies
 Deep Breathing exercises
 Exercising (sublimation)

 Talking

 Organizing

 Mental imaging (projection)

 Hobbies

 Laughter
Psychoneuroimmunology of Stress

Psychoneuroimmunology refers, most simply, to

the study of the interactions among behavioral,
neural and endocrine (or neuroendocrine), and
immunologic processes of adaptation.
 Itscentral premise is that homeostasis is an
integrated process involving interactions
among behavior and the nervous, endocrine,
and immune systems.
Has his roots on Ivan Pavlov’s Model
Dr. Robert Ader’s Rat
Experiment
 Measuring Stress
 Stressresponses can be measured with self-
report measures, behavioral coding, or via
physiological measurements. These
responses include emotions, cognitions,
behaviors, and physiological responses
instigated by the stressful stimuli.
 Perceived Stress Scale
 10-item self-report measure that captures an
individual’s perception of how overwhelmed
they are by their current life circumstances.
Responses to acute stressors have traditionally
been studied in controlled laboratory settings
in order to capture responses that unfold
within minutes of stressor exposure (e.g.
emotional and physiological reactivity to an
acute stress task).
 Trier Social Stress Test (TSST)
a standardized laboratory stress task in
which participants give a speech and
perform mental arithmetic in front of
judges
 The TSST reliably evokes an acute stress
response for the majority of participants.
 Stress coping, as described by researchers such as
Lazarus and Folkman, implies a more specific
process of cognitive appraisal to determine
whether an individual believes he or she has the
resources to respond effectively to the challenges of
a stressor or change (Folkman & Lazarus, 1988;
Lazarus & Folkman, 1987).
The capacity for thriving, resilience, or stress-
related growth has been associated with
improved health outcomes. For example,
building on Carver’s work on dispositional
optimism and thriving, Shepperd, Maroto,
and Pbert (1996) found, in their longitudinal
study of cardiac patients, that optimism
predicts success in making health changes
associated with lower risk of cardiac disease.
Optimism was significantly and directly correlated with
improved health outcomes, including lower levels of
saturated fat, body fat, and global coronary risk, and
positively associated with success in increasing aerobic
capacity. Billings and colleagues (2000) showed that
coping affected positive and negative affect among
men who were caregiving for AIDS patients.
 Social support coping
predicted increases in
positive affect, which in turn
were related to fewer
physical symptoms.
Avoidant coping, however,
was related to increases in
negative affect, which were
related to more physical
symptoms.
END