What words do you associate with the term "stress?" Examples coming to mind might
include homework, relationship conflicts,
on-the-job annoyances, traffic--a seemingly
endless array of items. While these examples can certainly lead to
stressful feelings, they are not the actual
stress per se. Rather, they are triggers
causing the stress and are
termed stressors.
Hans Selye, considered by many to be a
leading pioneer in stress research in the 1930's
through 1950's, believed stress to be
nonspecific. That is, he described stress as the
response of the body to any demand placed upon
it, whether that demand be interpreted as
"positive" or "negative." For
example, he compared sitting in a dentist chair
with kissing a lover. Both situations are perceived as quite
different from each other, but they can result in very similar
physiological responses i.e. an increase in heart rate and breathing
frequency. In each scenario the
stress response is the same, or very
similar--an increase in heart rate and
respiration--while the stressors--sitting
in the dentist chair and kissing a lover--are
different.
Selye believed a human being responds to
stress via the General Adaptation
Syndrome (GAS), a three-stage reaction
process: alarm, resistance and exhaustion. In the
alarm phase, the body is immediately
responding to the stressor. Those bodily
responses include the activation of the
sympathetic nervous system (O--wikipedia), resulting in an increase in heart rate and breathing frequency, improved
alertness, increased blood pressure, perspiration, and a
diversion of blood from organs (such as the stomach) to working muscles, to
prepare the body to
either face the stressor ("fight") or escape the stressor ("flight"). In the resistance
phase of the GAS, the body is adapting to the
stressors, attempting to return to its normal
state. Bodily reactions in the resistance
phase include drops in the previously elevated heart rate and blood pressure,
a reduced perspiration output,
and lessened anxiety or fear. If a person is exposed to a
stressor repeatedly, or for a long period of
time, he or she may move on to the exhaustion
phase. In the exhaustion stage, the body is
losing its ability to adapt to the stressor.
Subsequently, illness may develop, and injury may
more likely occur. Travel to Youtube.com to
view a video clip on the
physiology
of stress (R). Travel to Vitamin Research
Products website for more information about the
General
Adaptation Syndrome (O).
Stressors can be acute or chronic.
Acute stressors are those occurring once, such as
a car accident, a sprained ankle, or being called
upon in class to answer a question. A chronic
stressor is one that is repeated or prolonged,
such as day-to-day traffic jams, ongoing sleep
deprivation, or arthritis. As Selye describes,
stressors can be perceived by an individual as
positive or negative. Stressors perceived as
being disruptive or unenjoyable can lead to
negative feelings, or distress,
while those stressors perceived as being
motivating or enjoyable can lead to positive
feelings, or eustress. Examples
of acute or chronic stressors triggering negative
feelings or discomfort include an injury, a death
in the family, homework, an inability to manage
time, and many others. Examples of acute or
chronic stressors leading to eustress may include
interviewing for a new job, taking on a new
exercise program, planning for a wedding, or
winning the lottery.
A popular theory in the stress research field
relates stress arousal to performance. A basic
principle of the theory is that some stress is
necessary for optimal performance to occur. To
illustrate this idea, consider
Kim Clijsters (O--US Open), the
professional tennis player who
recently had a baby and yet came back to
win the 2009 U.S. Open Tennis Championship.
Imagine Clijsters' performance
if her stress levels had been extraordinarily
high. For example,
what if she had been thinking to herself,
"There's NO way I can win the championship.
I haven't
trained physically or mentally enough to beat
my opponents." Such a negative thought process could arguably have interfered with
her performance.
Conversely, imagine Clijsters' performance if
her stress levels were very low. For instance, what if
her mind
wandered instead of
focusing on her tennis match? Such lack of
attention and concentration may lead to a failed
service return, mis-hit or similar error. A
national women's tennis title could
hardly be obtained in either the over-stressed or
under-stressed scenarios. Kim Clijsters needed
a certain level of stimulation to play well, but
not so much that it would negatively impact
her performance.
Visual learners may think of an
inverted letter "U" to visualize the
relationship between stress and performance:
As stress increases, so does performance, but
only to a certain point, after which performance
begins to decline.
A kinesthetic learner may liken the concept to a hill on a
roller coaster. As stressors continue to accumulate, the roller
coaster car climbs to the top of the hill. When the number or
degree of stressors becomes too much for the individual, the
roller coaster car goes over the hill and downward in a scary screamfest of a ride.
Apply this 'optimal stress' idea to yourself in the
classroom: imagine yourself preparing for an
in-class written test.
