We will today have a look at the General Adaptation Syndrome, how our body adapts to prolonged Stress. According to Dr. Hans Selye, the Stress Response can be divided into three phases. We already saw in our previous articles how Stress is built up, how it affects our body and health etc. The three stages of Stress Response are known as “Alarm Response”, “Adaptation” and “Exhaustion” according to Dr. Hans Selye.
The three Stress Response Stages
Alarm Response is the fight-or-flight response that prepares our body for immediate action. Our body secretes hormones that increase blood sugar levels to sustain energy and raise blood pressure when the source of stress persists. This is an immediate action initiated for long-term protection and the Adaptation Phase. Adaptation Phase is the result of exposure to prolonged periods of Stress, which is common and normally not harmful. Those who suffer become prone to fatigue, lack of concentration without periods of relaxation and rest to counter-balance the Stress Response.
Under persistent and chronic Stress, we enter the Exhaustion Phase. Here mental, physical and emotional resources suffer heavily and our body experiences “Adrenal Exhaustion”. Due to this, Blood Sugar levels decrease as the adrenals become depleted. It leads to decreased Stress Tolerance, Progressive Mental and Physical Exhaustion Illness and collapse.
We will look at more aspects in our next article.
Stay Healthy, stay Stress-Free and live Happily.
