What are the Categories of Environmental Stress?

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Hello friends i am Hunting for Different Categories of Environmental Stress. anyone like to Share information on Environmental Stress.

Types of Stress
Stress can manifest itself in a number of ways depending upon the suddenness of an event to be dealt with and types of stressors to be handled by an individual. It may manifest itself either physically, emotionally and / mentally, as certain symptoms.

Physical – This happens when the body as a whole suffers due to stressful situation. There are many symptoms like, headaches, tension in the neck, forehead, and shoulder muscles. Long periods of stress can cause other serious symptoms like digestive problems, ulcers, insomnia (sleeplessness), fatigue, high blood pressure, nervousness, excessive sweating, heart ailments, strokes and hair loss as well.

The General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)
Hans Selye, the world's foremost authority on stress was the first to describe systematically the changes through which the body passes to deal with a perceived threat. He described what he called the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), an adaptive response that occurs in three phases: A- an alarm reaction. B- the stage of resistance; and C- the stage of exhaustion. The figure below shows the course of the General Adaptation Syndrome.

The above diagram shows the course of the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS) and describes the psychological and physical response to stress – that is, the way a person tries to adapt to a stressor. The syndrome is called "general" because the stress response occurs in several areas of the body. GAS has 3 stages.

1. Alarm Stage: According to this model, the general adaptation syndrome begins when a person encounters a stressor and enters the alarm stage. A person in this stage wonders how to cope and feels anxiety, even panic. The person breathes faster, blood pressure rises, pupils dilate and muscles tense. At this stage, the person is coping ineffectively.

2. Resistance: Assuming the person can summon the resources to cope with the stressor, he or she begins to feel more confident and to think of how to respond. During the second stage of the general adaptation syndrome, "resistance", the person channels his or her energy and uses it to resist the stressor's negative effects. The person tackles the problem, delegates the challenge, or adjusts to the change. Resistance to the stressor is high, but the person's resistance to other stressors may be low because the body's resources are being used up. Evidence shows that a person's immune system function tends to decline during periods of stress.

3. Exhaustion: Many stressors are short term - the person manages to solve the problem, or the situation ends on its own. In such cases, the general adaptation syndrome ends during resistance stage. But occasionally, a stressor persists. In situations where stressors persist, the person may enter the third stage: exhaustion. In this stage, the symptoms of the alarm stage return and the person eventually uses up his or her adaptive energy.

Emotional – These responses are due to stress affecting the mind and include, anxiety, anger, depression, irritability, frustration, over-reaction to everyday problems, memory loss and a lack of concentration for any task. Anxiety is exhibited as a response to loss, failure, danger or a fear of the unknown. Anger is a response to frustration or social stress and can become a danger to other individuals, if not kept in check. Depression is frequently seen as an emotional response to upsetting situations, such as, the death of a loved one, illness and failure.

Psychological – Long-term stress can cause psychological problems in some individuals. Symptoms may include social isolation, phobias, compulsive behaviors, eating disorders and night terrors.

Stress may be classified into two types:
Positive stress (Eustress) -Moderate and manageable levels of stress for a reasonable period of time can be handled by the body through mobilization of resources and is accompanied by positive emotions, such as, enjoyment, satisfaction, excitement and so on. This beneficial element in stress has been defined by Selye (1974) as Eustress (EU- meaning – good).

It is often known as curative and pleasant stress which is very important for a person to generate maximum performance and output. Sometimes we don't want to get away from stress because it is actually Eustress.
Eustress, or positive stress, has the following characteristics:
Motivates, focuses energy
Is short-term
Is perceived as within our coping abilities
Feels exciting

Some of the examples of Eustress are:
A) Getting the promotion
B) Excitement of winning a race
C) Accomplishing a challenge


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Selye’s 1975 model divided stress into two major components: eustress and distress. This model is based on his earlier work on the General Adaptation System (GAS). Persistent, unresolved distress may lead to anxiety, withdrawal or depression.

Negative stress (Distress)–an overload of stress resulting from a situation of either over arousal or under arousal for long periods of time causes the following: first an unpleasant feeling, followed by physical damage, fatigue and in extreme cases, even death of an individual. This has been termed by Selye as distress (dys- meaning – bad).

Distress, or negative stress, has the following characteristics:
Causes anxiety or concern
Can be short- or long-term
Is perceived as outside of our coping abilities
Feels unpleasant
Decreases performance
Can lead to mental and physical problems

Examples of negative personal stressors include:
The death of a spouse
Hospitalization (oneself or a family member)
Being abused or neglected
 
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