Selye On Stress

Schneiderman, N., Ironson, G., & Siegel, S. D. (2005). STRESS AND HEALTH: Psychological, Behavioral, and Biological Determinants. Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, 1,

Stress affects health in a number of ways. It is defined by James (2011) as pressure or tension that comes in many shapes and forms and furthermore the body and mind in particular reacts psychologically and even emotionally.

Society defines stress as anything which forces us to change. Through technical terms stress is defined as “a negative emotional state occurring in response to events that are perceived as taking or exceeding a person’s resources or ability to cope.” To explaining stress researchers came up with the “Cognitive appraisal model”, this system works to tell us whether we believe we have enough resources to deal with the situation without becoming stressed. For instance as a now college student those who have had previous experience taking finales in high school can have less stress than those who have not taken it. This is because they have previous experience with taking the tests and learning how to study while those who have never taken one can become extremely stressed over the unknown of the test. Stress is one of the sub branches that is attached to the world of health psychology. Health psychology is a quickly growing branch that deals with the way the mind and body work together. Psychologists that work in the health field came up with the biopsychosocial model. This model explains the complex interaction with biological, psychological, and social factors.

Stress was defined by Selye as "the nonspecific response of the body to any demand" (Christopher, 1996), the

Stress is known to negatively impact health. Psychological responses, such as mood, emotion and coping, influence the way we perceive stress and the impact it has on the physiological response (Chida & Hamer, 2008). Past studies have used the hormone cortisol to test the stress response(Dickerson &

Selye, H. (1975). Confusion and Controversy in the Stress Field. Journal of Human Stress, 1(2), 37-44. doi:10.1080/0097840x.1975.9940406

Stress is one of the number one causes that contribute to people’s health problems. According to Weber.edu, “in Healthy People 2000, a report from the U.S.

2011, pp. 28-29). The findings of the study show a strong “interaction” between stress and

The mass media and our peers are even major causes of stress in our daily life! Our knowledge of stress is expanding as new studies are undertaken and new connections are made between stress and other aspects of our lives. As a student of both physiology and psychology I understand stress can be either a physical strain or injury, or a perception of one's feeling of well-being. In most cases, physical strain will cause personal stress and vice-versa.

Stress as a useful adaptive response is a fairly new concept. In fact, a great emphasis on its detrimental effects has often disregarded the original purpose to evolution. Looking at the physiology of stress may shed some light on the problem of this protective response becoming so threatening in modern society, with more and more people getting stuck in dysregulation patterns, being these at psychological or somatic level.

Stress has been noted to have an impact on general health for quite some time. Perceived stress however is an entirely different matter and can be very detrimental to one’s overall health. With the increase of health problems and stressful circumstances as well, it is imperative that we study the effects of perceived stress on health. Past research has suggested that perceived stress is related to health (Burns V., Carroll, D., Drayson, M., Whitham, M., and Ring, C. (2003); Cohen, S., Tyrell, D., and Smith, A. (1993); Ebrecht, M., Hextall, J., et al. (2004); Koschwanez, H., Vurnek, M., et al. (2013); Vits, S., Dissemond, J., Schadendorf, D., Kriegler, L., Korber, A., Schedlowski M., Cesko, E. 2013).

The purpose of this study is to highlight the depth to which stress affects physical and emotional health of an individual.

The relevance of this is the environmental factors of stressors according to Cardwell and Flannagan (2005). These are events, experiences or environmental stimuli that causes stress to an individual, such as lack of control, daily hassles, unpredictability, life events and pressures from work which may affect some individual’s health when they are long-lasting and highly disruptive or seen as uncontrollable. However, stress has no definite definition, but much of the studies today give praise to Hans Selye (1956), who carried out the pioneered research on the subject of stress on

Psychological stress is a result of many factors and should be dealt with very carefully. Stress can be defined as “An excess of demand made upon the adaptive capabilities of the mind and body”.(Joseph 1). Another way of putting it, is that there are some things that put certain demands on us. The effects of stress should not be limited to unpleasant emotional states. Many studies have concluded that the effects on our physical health from stress can be extremely detrimental. These adverse physical effects include heart disease and formations of cancer. There are also some societal issues that psychological stress can hamper.

Stress is also linked low fertility in one’s reproductive organs, and can cause problems during pregnancy or one’s menstrual cycle (www.everydayhealth.com). This happens when one is overwhelmed with the stress he or she is going through in their lives. No one person is the same, meaning stressors as well as stress levels differ for each individual. This is why it is hard for scientists to reach the core because it is a subjective sensation related with a variety of symptoms that differ for each of us. Because of this, stress is not always a synonym for distress. Situations like a steep roller coaster ride that cause fear and anxiety for some can prove highly pleasurable for others (www.stress.org). Each person also responds to stress differently. There are numerous physical as well as emotional responses to stress. Stress can cause an ocean of different emotions that are often times unpredictable. It can have wide ranging effects on people’s emotions, mood and behavior (www.stress.org). Stress has said to have been America’s number one leading health problem. It has been shown that stress levels have escalated in children, teenagers, college students and the elderly for reasons that of which have lead to: increased crime, violence, and other threats to personal safety; pernicious peer pressures that lead to substance abuse and other unhealthy life style habits; social isolation and loneliness; the erosion of family and religious