psychiatry

1. GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME
-- Dr.maithri[FIRST YR
PG ]
moderator-Dr.saikiran
ASST. PROFESSOR

2. STRESS
 Stress is an internal state which can be
caused by physical demands on body
[disease conditions ,exercise ,extremes of
temperature,...]or by environmental and
social situations which are evaluated as
potentially harmful, uncontrollable or
exceeding our resources for coping .
 The physical ,environmental and social
causes of stress are called as stressors.

3.  Almost any change in the environment ---
even pleasant change ,such as a vacation ---
demands some coping ;and little stress is
useful in helping us to adapt .but beyond
some point ,”stress” becomes “distress”.
 What acts to produce distress varies greatly
from person to person but some events
seem to be stressors for many of us
 ex: injuries,infections

4. A rough indicator of stressor strength ,based
on the judegements of adults ,adolescents
,and elderly people is give by “life –change
units”
 By adding the life change units during a
year,a life crisis score can be obtained for
that year.
 Mild ---150-199 life change units
 Moderate ---200-299
 Major ---more than 300,susceptibility to
illness rises progressively

5. HOLMES –RAHE LIFE STRESS INVENTORY

6. STRESS CYCLES
 Stress has a number of immediate effects and ,
if the stressors are maintained ,long term
behavioural , physiological ,emotional , and
cognitive effects occur.
 If these effects hinder adaptation to the
environment or create dsicomfort and
distress,they themselves become stressors .
 on other hand ,many people have developed
ways of coping with stressors so that they are
able to rspond adaptivively thios is give by
wellness cycle

9. HANS SELYE –GENERAL ADAPTATION
SYNDROME

10.  Hans selye termed the body’s response to
stressors the general adaptation syndrome
 It consists of 3 stages
 1]alarm reaction
 2]stage of resistance
 3]stage of exhaustion

11. ALARM REACTION
 The alarm reaction is essentially the
emergency response of the body
 In this stage,prompt responses of the
body,many of them mediated by the
sympathetic system

13. STAGE OF RESISTANCE
 If stressors continues to be present ,the
stage of resistance begins ,wherein the body
resists the effects of the continuous stressor
‘.however resistance to new stressors is
impaired during this stage .
 During this stage ,certain hormonal
responses of the body are an important line
of defense in resisting the effects of the
stressor.esp ACTH

15.  Cortisol and other ,similar hormones have many
actions which allow the body to deal with adaptavely
with stressors for long periods of time during this
stage,bur maintained high levels of these hormones
can be harmful.
 For instance ,cortisol promotes the formation of
glucose –a fuel needed for nerve and muscle activity-
by breaking down fats n proteins.In short run this is
adaptive,in long run, though, the increased use of
protien to make fuel may be serious because protiens
are needed in the manufacture of new cells.

16.  For example,WBC,which are crucial for
fighting infection,have a short lifetime and
must be continuously replaced.If the proteins
needed to make new WBC are in short
supply because they are being used to make
fuel ,fewer WBC can be produced and the
body will be less able to fight infection.
 Prolonged cortisol---- raised BP

17. STAGE IN EXHAUSTION
 In this stage,the body’s capacity to respond to both
continuous and new stressors has been seriously
compromised .
 For instance ,due to the actions of cortisol ,a person
may no longer be able to ward off infection and may
become sick and perhaps die .or,because of other
stressor-induced hormonal effects, stomach ulcers,
diabetes, skin disorders, asthma, high BP, increased
suspectibility to cancer,or a host of other diseases
may occur at this stage.
 Other pschosomatic symptoms also occur in this
stage.

18. COPING WITH STRESSORS
 The impact of stressors can sometimes be
reduced if a person has control over the
stressors

19. THANK YOU