Stress Theory/General Adaptation Syndrome

Stress Theory/General Adaptation Syndrome

Stress and Coping Theories

The word “stress” has been used at least once by every individual on the planet earth. It was a word that was used in physics to refer to the relationship between a force and the resistance that counters the force (Tan & Yip, 2018). The consistent use of the word as it relates to our body was coined by a man named Hans Selye who introduced the word into the medical dictionary (Tan & Yip, 2018). Selye was born on 26 January 1907 in Vienna, his father was a surgeon who worked in the Austro-Hungarian Imperial army and later started his own clinic, his mother was the administrator of the clinic and was the one who ingrained in him the need to be intellectual and excellent in everything he does.Stress Theory/General Adaptation Syndrome Instead of going the path of his father, Selye chose to do research, at age 17 he attended the medical school of Charles University in Prague, Czech and completed his fellowship at McGill University in Montreal, Canada. It was at the University in Prague in his second year that he was first introduced to the idea of biological stress (Tan & Yip, 2018). While he was at the medical school in Prague, he observed during ward rounds that the patients often had the same complaints even though they may be suffering from different diseases (Tan & Yip, 2018; Rosch, n.d). Selye observed that there were specific signs and symptoms associated with the patient’s disease that would enable his teachers to diagnose that specific disease and it was what was being taught in medical school, however, the doctors often ignore the “less important” complaints like looking tired, having no appetite, preferring to lie and not stand, and losing weight.

Ten years later, Selye decided to carry out a research into this complaints. Selye was the first to discover the concept of “stress” assigning it to the non-specific signs and symptoms of sickness that are often ignored. While he was doing his fellowship, he once again encountered the concept of stress when he was assigned a project to identify various undiscovered female sex hormones. During this project, he was required to collect cow ovaries for examination as well as inject some extracts into female rats and measure their responses. It was here that he discovered three surprising findings, adrenal gland enlargement, lymphatic system atrophy, and peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum and these findings were not related to the injected extracts. He then placed these rats under physical stressors like cold temperature and increased physical activity.Stress Theory/General Adaptation Syndrome

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Selye proposed that an individual would experience stress if he or she is exposed to nonspecific demands. He further termed the response to chronically applied stressors as general adaptation syndrome. The syndrome divides response to stress in three forms, the alarm reaction, the stage of resistance, and the stage of exhaustion (Yip & Tan, 2018; Burgess, 2017). Stress is a choreographed event that first takes an individual off guard when he or she is exposed to a stressor, then attempts to maintain homeostasis by resisting hence the need to lie down, and becomes exhausted by trying to counter the stressor. These responses are mediated by neurotransmitters as well as the adrenal hormones and the pituitary hormones (Yip & Tan, 2018; Burgess, 2017). Selye also talked about local adaptation syndrome in which a portion of the body or organ adapts to a stressor (Papathanasiou et al, 2015).  The theory proposes that the nurses recognize the patterns of stress in their patients and help them cope with it. Nurses intervention in helping patients avoid stress include rest and sleep, this would help the patients maintain homeostasis, nutrition can also increase the patient’s resistance to stress (Papathanasiou et al, 2015). Another concept of stress has been generated called the Lazarus theory, this is the application of the stress theory in psychology (Khrone, 2002).

In an article written by Salleh (2008), the stress theory has been used by medical practitioners to determine its connection with cardiovascular diseases and other chronic diseases as well as with viral infections. It is said that long-term exposure to stress could lead to an increased risk of type 2 diabetes. The theory is being used in fields like cardiovascular medicine, psychology, and economics. The stress theory by Selye was groundbreaking but it had its weaknesses, one of it was mainly directed at the non-specificity of the cause of general adaptation syndrome. Mason highlighted that the stressors that were effective were strange, new, and unfamiliar to the animal, thus, it can be said that the animal was in a state of helplessness, lack of control, and uncertainty (Khrone, 2002). Therefore, general adaptation syndrome is a result of an emotional response and the specific response to the stressors. Further limitations of the theory are that humans elicit stress not only due to stressors but also as a result of cognitive meditation (Khrone, 2002), something Selye failed to identify.Stress Theory/General Adaptation Syndrome

References

Burgess, L. (2017). What To Know About General Adaptation Syndrome. Medical News Today. Retrieved on 8 December 2018 from https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/320172.php

Krohne, H. W. (2002). Stress and coping theories. International Encyclopedia of the Social Behavioral Sceinces, 22, 15163-15170.

Papathanasiou, I. V., Tsaras, K., Neroliatsiou, A., & Roupa, A. (2015). Stress: Concepts, theoretical models and nursing interventions. American Journal of Nursing Science, 4(2-1), 45-50.

Rosch, P.J. (n,d). Reminiscences of Hans Selye, and the Birth of “Stress”. The American Institute of Stress. Retrieved on 8 December 2018 from https://www.stress.org/about/hans-selye-birth-of-stress/

Salleh M. R. (2008). Life event, stress, and illness. The Malaysian journal of medical sciences: MJMS, 15(4), 9-18.

Tan, S. Y., & Yip, A. (2018). Hans Selye (1907-1982): Founder of the stress theory. Singapore medical journal, 59(4), 170-171.Stress Theory/General Adaptation Syndrome

 

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