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photo by Rodnae Production for Pexels By Andrea Blundell Not sure if you are stressed or managing? The body doesn’t lie, goes the saying, and when it comes to stress ‘general adaptation syndrome’ is a tell all. What is general adaptation syndrome?General adaptation syndrome, or ‘GAS’, is a fancy way of describing the biological chain of reactions that stress triggers in your body. The term is attributed to endocrinologist Hans Selye. Way back in the 1930s he noticed the stress the poor rats in his laboratory were going through had similarities with those his patients when a medical student did. It had a predictable physical pattern.
Why should I care about GAS?It’s a useful way to tell if you are more stressed than you realise. If you are trying to convince yourself you are ‘fine’, and things are ‘under control’, general adaptation syndrome can help you realise if that is not true. You can then take steps to lower your stress, such as by delegating things, or saying no to people. Or realise it’s time to reach out get some support. photo by Shvets production for Pexels Knowing the symptoms of general adaptation syndrome can also help lower our stress. We won’t mistake them for some kind of illness, and won’t ‘stress about our stress’. Finally, GAS can show us if our attempts to lower our stress have worked, as we will find ourselves not entering the final stage of the process. The three stages of general adaptation syndromeThe three identified stages of general adaptation syndrome are alarm, resistance, and exhaustion. AlarmAlso called the ‘reaction’ phase. This is down to our primal brain, which unfortunately has not kept up with the times. It can react to a colleague being snarky with us much the same effect as if a bear was attacking us in the woods. It ‘sounds the alarm’ with the infamous ‘fight or flight’ response, now called ‘fight flight or freeze’ as it turns some of us go for the deer in the headlights response. And fight or flight leaves our ‘sympathetic nervous system’ being triggered. This system manages how our stomach, heart, muscles, and bladder/intestines get on. (So if you ever wondered why stress makes you need the loo, there’s your answer.) Alarm stage symptoms are short. A few seconds, sometimes longer. They are the precursors to the more well-known stress symptoms, that moment where you feel like you’ve been given a shot of something or drank ten coffees. Symptoms include:
ResistanceResistance (or the ‘adaptation’ phase) brings the bigger stress symptoms most of us recognise. This is augmented by the body now releasing cortisol. So we are looking at things like:
Note that this adaptation phase can go on for days, weeks, months…in some cases, years. Such as in the case of complex trauma and c-PTSD, even years. ExhaustionThis ‘stage three’ has an alternate, which is ‘recovery’. This happens when we deal well with the resistance stage and lower our stress. Otherwise the stage three of ‘exhaustion’ means we can cycle back through the symptoms of the alarm phase (sweating, racing heart, etc). And also end up with symptoms like:
At this point, the body’s immune system is depleted. We can develop physical illness like diabetes and cardiovascular issues. And we can also develop mental illness. General adaptation syndrome and mental healthWhen we allow stress to cycle through to the exhaustion phase, we put ourselves in line for mental health issues like:
How can I stop the stages of stress?Once our fight, flight, or freeze mode has triggered, there are self help tools that can really help our mind and body calm down. Such as:
Of course the obvious choice for dealing with stress and the GAS response is to step away from the stressor. Say no, walk away, ask someone else to do all or part of the responsibility you are struggling with. But part of high-end stress can be cognitive distortions, thinking that isn’t true. We can believe we are trapped, that we ‘have’ to do something. Or that if we don’t we are some sort of failure, and will ‘never again get this sort of opportunity’. What types of therapy can help?Cognitive behavioural therapy can be a great help here. It is focused on helping you with recognising, questioning, and changing such distorted thinking, so that it stops leading to negative choices and mood states. Losing the plot because of too much stress? We connect you with some of London’s most highly experienced and rated talk therapists in three central locations. Otherwise, use our booking sister site to find UK-wide registered therapists. Still have a question about general adaptation syndrome? Post below. Note that all comments are moderated and that we cannot offer free counselling over comments. In which stage of general adaptation syndrome are you most likely to get sick from response to stress?The final physical stage of GAS is known as exhaustion and may happen when a person is exposed to stress for extended periods of time. This, in turn, makes them more vulnerable to stress-related illness.
In what phase of the general adaptation syndrome reaction to stress does the body adapt?The resistance stage of general adaptation syndrome is when your body tries to repair itself after the initial shock of stress. If the stressful situation is no longer present and you can overcome the stress, your heart and blood pressure will start to return to prestress levels during this stage.
What happens in phase 3 of general adaptation syndrome?3. Exhaustion stage. This stage is the result of prolonged or chronic stress. Struggling with stress for long periods can drain your physical, emotional, and mental resources to the point where your body no longer has strength to fight stress.
What happens during the 3 stages of stress?[18] This syndrome is divided into the alarm reaction stage, resistance stage, and exhaustion stage. The alarm reaction stage refers to the initial symptoms of the body under acute stress and the "fight or flight" response.
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