Stress helps you meet your daily challenges and motivates you to reach your goals, ultimately making you a smarter, happier, and healthier person. However when you are stressed, what body reactions or clinical manifestations do you often experience? After studying the endocrine system and the stress response, can you explain how these clinical manifestations occur?
A human cannot escape the endeavors of stress. Life is inconceivable without the stress that brings us positivity or negativity in dealing with different circumstances. In surviving my daily life, I deal with numerous matters that lead to stress. Whenever I'm stressed, I experience loss of appetite, too much hair loss, trouble sleeping, and sadness. These experiences make my body so weak that some of my priorities are set aside.
Within the course of studying the endocrine system, I have discovered that clinical manifestations occur as a response to stress. The different bodily changes occurring are called stress response or general adaptation syndrome (GAS) controlled by the hypothalamus. There are three significant stages: an initial fight-or-flight response, a slower resistance reaction, and exhaustion.
In the first stage, the fight-or-flight response, the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) commenced by the nerve impulses from the hypothalamus that quickly mobilizes the body's resources conditioning for immediate physical activity. Its purpose is to convey immense amounts of glucose and oxygen toward different organs that are most active in warding off hazards.
During the second stage, resistance reaction, a large part of the hypothalamus unleashing hormones is formed and has a longer-lasting response. Whereas various hormones are involved such as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH), and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH). This stage is very relevant because it helps the body to continuously against stressors after a fight-or-flight response.
Lastly, exhaustion occurs once the resistance stage cannot resist causing it to eventually become depleted. As the body is disclosed to resistance reactions, resulting the body is compromised.
References:
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. (2012). Principles of Anatomy and Physiology (13th ed.). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.