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following the disaster, and this is probably due to the stress that the hurricane created (American
Medical Association, 2009). [2] And people in New York City who lived nearer to the site of the
9/11 terrorist attacks reported experiencing more stress in the year following it than those who
lived farther away (Pulcino et al., 2003). [3] But stress is not unique to the experience of
extremely traumatic events. It can also occur, and have a variety of negative outcomes, in our
everyday lives.
The Negative Effects of Stress
The physiologist Hans Seyle (1907–1982) studied stress by examining how rats responded to
being exposed to stressors such as extreme cold, infection, shock, or excessive exercise (Seyle,
1936, 1974, 1982). [4] Seyle found that regardless of the source of the stress, the rats experienced
the same series of physiological changes as they suffered the prolonged stress. Seyle created the
termgeneral adaptation syndrome to refer to the three distinct phases of physiological change
that occur in response to long-term stress: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion (Figure 10.8
"General Adaptation Syndrome").