46 STRESS AND HEALTH
Hans Selye (1956) built on Cannon’s work and described a reaction pattern called
the general adaptation syndrome (GAS). Selye wrote that ‘Adaptability and resistance
to stress are fundamental prerequisites for life and every vital organ participates in them’
(1950: 1383). He believed that the basic physiological reaction was always the same
regardless of the stressor and that an understanding of this phenomenon depended on
many branches of physiology, biochemistry and medicine. He even stated that the
phenomenon would never be really understood ‘since the complete comprehension
of life is beyond the limits of the human mind’ (Selye, 1950: 1383). It is difficult to
do justice to this complex theory in a brief paragraph! However, in essence it
comprises three stages:
- Alarm: the immediate reaction whereby stress hormones are released to prepare
the body for action (fight or flight). - Resistance: if stress is prolonged, levels of stress hormones remain high. However,
during this period the individual seems superficially to adapt to the stressor but
will still have heightened susceptibility to disease. - Exhaustion: if the stress continues long enough the body’s defensive resources are
used up leading to illness and, ultimately, death.
In summary, according to Selye, prolonged exposure to a strong stressor will increase
an individual’s risk of developing health problems, which he described as diseases of
adaptation (e.g. ulcers, high blood pressure). Moreover, he suggested that repeated and
long-term exposure to stress will lead to dysfunction of a number of the body’s basic
systems such as the immune and metabolic systems.
Selye’s early approach focused on stress as a physiological reaction and his theory
influenced many subsequent researchers. However, Mason (1971) questioned the
generality of this approach, arguing that some noxious (stressful) physical conditions
do not produce the predicted three-stage alarm, resistance and ultimately exhaustion
responses (e.g. exercise, fasting, heat). More recent approaches have tended to
emphasize psychological process and impacts and have recognized that individuals may
respond differently to the same stressful events.
How is stress measured?There are three main types of measures used to study stress: (1) generic measures
of perceived stress; (2) event measures; and (3) cognitive appraisal measures.
These are not mutually exclusive. Generic measures of perceived stress aim to
capture appraisals of non-event-specific perceptions of stress over the recent past.
Event measures examine the experience of major life events, hassles and single
acutely stressful events. Cognitive appraisal measures assess primary (the extent
to which an event is appraised as threatening, challenging or likely to lead to loss)RESEARCH METHODS 3.1