It was in the summer of 1936 that the idea of General Adaptation Syndrome (G.A.S) was first introduced in the British Journal Nature. The G.A.S is also known under the name stress syndrome, and it was the idea which Hans Selye introduced as the process under which the body uses several of its mechanisms to deal with stress. Selye theorized that in the process of coping with stress, the body passes through the three main stages being the ‘Alarm reaction,' ‘adaptation’ and ‘stress.' In the words of Selye, stress could be taken to mean anything in between food deprivation and the injection of any unknown substance into the human body.
In his theories and research, stress did not specifically relate to the condition of nervousness. His ideas about stress became the basis upon which an entire medical field later came to rest, and this field particularly found progress through the middle of the twentieth century. Up until the present day, stress has successfully been linked to illness and the same phenomenon has also been used to deal with the life’s challenges and shortcomings.
Research that we have so far gathered leads us to believe that the exposure to stress specifically through the childhood years may lead to the alteration of parts of the brain which might be responsible for learning as well as the processing of stress and emotion. Conditions which may induce stress may include poverty, neglect from parents as well as physical abuse. The changes that result from these conditions may be linked to negative behavior, health and employment problems and even the way a person makes relationship decisions towards the later years of life.
This is all evidence which has been gathered through extensive research in the field and these facts provide great support in helping us understand what the reasons are for the manifestation of these effects that may result from stress in childhood years. These changes in the brain which are made more long term due to exposure to stress provide us with concrete reasons as to why a person behaves as he/she behaves during adult years even through the conditions of stress mostly are found during the individual’s early years.
There was one study in particular which presented evidence for all of these facts that one of the co-leaders of the same study explained that since the experiences of stress and the resulting repercussions put a great deal of trauma on the entire society, it is very essential that we understand which part of the brain is affected most by the conditions of extreme stress so that we could later figure out the best way to deal with the ramifications of the same environmental condition.
We have carried out physical examinations of the brains of the individuals who were exposed to particularly high levels of stress to understand better which parts of the brains are most affected and through these studies, discoveries have certainly been made. Several of these studies have also linked the early exposure to stress with the deterioration of the health over the longer term. We have also discussed, and studied stress as the violence that goes on in homes in the form of neglect and physical abuse and many clinical solutions to the resulting consequences have been pondered upon as well.
With our research, however, we have been stressing too much on one problem and its remedy and not enough on the other. We have figured out the approximate part of the brain the size and structure of which changes with exposure to stress and we have also worked out the clinical treatment and also recommended medication which could normalize the stress hormones in the body and consequently regulate behavior. These are all physiological solutions to a psychological problem.
Our research still lacks the analysis of how stress impacts the health and the long-term behavior of a person from a psychological perspective. The consequences of stress include increased heart rate, high blood pressure and abnormal secretion of hormones that we are aware of. But when questioned about the several ways in which the psychological problems could be triggered because of stress, we seem to draw a blank more often than not.
Attempts should be made to figure out how the person is affected psychologically by stress and how cognitive behavior therapy and other clinical treatments for psychology could be employed to make a person and his/her health better. We also know little as to the psychological trouble the exposure to which might increase because of early exposure to stressful conditions. It would also be a good idea to figure out how we could bring down the chances of the psychological ailments in spite of our exposure to stress and the mental health exercises which could help make mental health better. It might also be a good idea to figure out the warning signs which might suggest that a child is being exposed to conditions which exert high mental stress so that steps could be taken to make changes to those conditions.
Works Cited
Audage, J. S. (2008). The Effects of Childhood Stress. Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Gabriel, G. (2013, April 05). Hans Selye: The Discovery of Stress. Retrieved from Brain Connection: http://brainconnection.brainhq.com/2013/04/05/hans-selye-the-discovery-of-stress/
Klaus-Grawe, T. E. (2013). Childhood exposure to violence and lifelong health: Clinical. Dev Psychopathol, 1-28.
Pedersen, T. (2015). Chronic Childhood Stress Leaves Lasting Impact on Brain. Retrieved May 18, 2016, from Psychcentral: http://psychcentral.com/news/2014/06/29/chronic-childhood-stress-leaves-lasting-impact-on-brain/71836.html
