stress response

(noun)

This halts or slows down various processes, such as sexual responses and digestive systems, to focus on the stressor situation; this usually causes negative effects like constipation, anorexia, difficulty urinating, and difficulty maintaining sexual arousal.

Related Terms

Examples of stress response in the following topics:

  • The Stress Response

    • The body's stress response is mediated by the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
    • The body's stress response is mediated by the interplay between the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and the hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
    • The SNS plays a key role in mediating the neural response to stress known as the fight-or-flight response.
    • The hypothalmic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is an endocrine cascade that mediates several aspects of physiological stress, including responses to acute stressors (i.e., fight-or-flight response) but it also causes chronic stress.
    • Distinguish between the nervous system and endrocrine system responses to stress

  • How the Body Responds to Stress

    • When presented with stress, the body responds by releasing hormones that will prepare it for the fight-or-flight response.
    • When our bodies are faced with a stressor—any trigger that leads to a stress response—certain physical processes take place.
    • The sympathetic nervous system regulates the stress response via the hypothalamus.
    • Stressful stimuli cause the hypothalamus to signal the adrenal medulla (which mediates short-term stress responses) via nerve impulses, and the adrenal cortex (which mediates long-term stress responses) via the hormone adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which is produced by the anterior pituitary.
    • The sympathetic nervous system regulates the stress response via the hypothalamus.

  • Stress and Immunity

    • In one study, individuals caring for spouses with dementia, representing the stress group, saw a significant decrease in immune response to an influenza-virus vaccine compared to a non-stressed control group.
    • Stress responses release a hormone called cortisol in the adrenocortex through a complex neuroendocrine pathway that is controlled by the hypothalamus and anterior pituitary gland.
    • Evolutionary biologists believe that this stress mechanism is intended to protect the immune system from becoming overactive to facilitate the fight-or-flight response, which would be weakened by inflammation.
    • Normally, stress responses are beneficial for the body, provided they are moderate and cortisol returns to normal levels after the stressful situation ends.
    • Other activities like meditation and listening to music have been found to calm the mind, which can relax the parts of the brain responsible for the stress response (such as the anterior pituitary gland).

  • The Endocrine System and Stress

    • Stress is the simple name for what happens when the body's emergency response is activated; a stressful event is one that activates the sympathetic (fight-or-flight) nervous system.
    • In experimental studies in rats, a distinction is often made between social stress and physical stress, but both types activate the HPA axis, albeit through different pathways.
    • All vertebrates have an HPA, but the steroid-producing stress response is so important that even invertebrates and monocellular organisms have analogous systems.
    • Studies on people show that the HPA axis is activated in different ways during chronic stress—depending on the type of stressor, the person's response to the stressor, and other factors.
    • In post-traumatic stress disorder there appears to be lower-than-normal cortisol release, and it is thought that a blunted hormonal response to stress may predispose a person to develop PTSD.

  • How Stress Impacts our Health

    • Acute stress occurs in the short-term and is usually resolved rather quickly; chronic stress is long-term and usually unresolved, leading to a variety of problems.
    • Many people experience some type of depressive mood or feeling in relation to stress, and excessive amounts of stress has been shown to contribute to depression or anxiety.
    • One of the most serious ways that stress can impact psychological well-being is in post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
    • Cortisol, also known as the "stress hormone", plays an integral role in our body's reaction to stress.
    • This diagram shows structures associated with fear and stress responses in the brain.

  • Introduction to Stress

    • The nature of this response depends on a combination of different factors, including the extent of the demand, the personal characteristics and coping resources of the person, the constraints on the person trying to cope, and the support received from others.
    • Stress can be either positive (eustress) or negative (distress).
    • Eustress, or positive stress, on the other hand, is the positive emotional or cognitive response to stress that is healthy; it gives a feeling of fulfillment or happiness.
    • Stress management is the application of methods to either reduce stress or increase tolerance to stress.
    • Psychological methods include cognitive therapy, meditation, and positive thinking, which work by reducing the response to stress.

  • Specific Effects of Stress: Cancer

    • While psychological stress alone has not been proven to cause cancer, prolonged psychological stress may affect a person's overall health and ability to cope with cancer.
    • Psychological stress describes what people feel when they are under mental, physical, or emotional pressure.
    • Stress can be caused both by daily responsibilities and routine events, as well as by more unusual events, such as a trauma, illness, or loss.
    • Studies in mice and human cancer cells grown in a laboratory have found that the stress hormone norepinephrine, part of the body's fight-or-flight response system, may promote angiogenesis and metastasis.
    • Emotional and social support can help cancer patients learn to cope with psychological stress.

  • Consequences of Workplace Stress

    • Since stress of this type is often difficult to notice, managers would benefit from carefully monitoring employee behavior for indications of discomfort or stress.
    • Physiological reactions to stress can have a long-term impact on physical health.
    • In fact, stress is one of the leading precursors to long-term health issues.
    • Managers are in a unique position when it comes to workplace stress.
    • As they are responsible for setting the pace, assigning tasks, and fostering the social customs that govern the work group, management must be aware of the repercussions of mismanaging and inducing stress.

  • Managing Stress Through Conventional and Alternative Medicine

    • Stress management resources aim to control or diminish a person's level of stress through both conventional and alternative methods.
    • Stress management resources aim to control a person's level of stress, whether chronic and recurring or acute and unique.
    • Stress management techniques provide a way to cope with stress and its symptoms to promote and maintain general well-being.
    • This finding led to the belief that stress was somehow outside of or beyond the control of the person experiencing stress.
    • Modern stress-management techniques were modeled from this idea that stress is not a predetermined, direct response to a stressor but rather an changeable perception of deficiency on behalf the individual.

  • Reducing Workplace Stress

    • A combination of organizational change and stress management is a productive approach to preventing stress at work.
    • Stress management refers to a wide spectrum of techniques and therapies that aim to control a person's levels of stress, especially chronic stress, to improve everyday functioning.
    • But there are many ways managers can prevent job stress in the first place.
    • Among the many different techniques managers can use to effectively prevent employee stress, the main underlying themes are awareness of possibly stressful elements of the workplace and intervention when necessary to mitigate any stress that does arise.
    • Establish work schedules that are compatible with demands and responsibilities outside the job.