General Adaptation Syndrome: How To Deal With Stress

General Adaption Syndrome (GAS) is an explanation of how our bodies react to stressful situations.

This theory, outlined by psychologist Hans Selye in 1936, shows the physiological processes we feel when there is something in our world that metaphorically weighs us down, overwhelms us, or transcends our ability to control.

Nerves, abdominal pain, worry, a feeling of stress, headache…

Most of us have experienced these stress-induced symptoms. Although we know the consequences of it, what triggers triggers and most importantly, understand the reason why we experience these phenomena. Although stress can be a normal physiological response, we often experience this reality with a lot of suffering.

Why do we not admit it?

We live in a society where we not only normalize stress and anxiety disorders, but also believe that people who do not reach this level simply do not work hard enough in work or everyday life. Integrating this belief into our lives has serious consequences for our health.

Let’s take a look at how the body handles the process of adapting to stressful situations.

General adaptation syndrome: definition and phases

Let’s imagine we’re in a new job. In a few weeks, we will begin to see how great the workload is, and how the work environment dampens our enthusiasm and enthusiasm, in addition to being bad. Mental wear and tear is evident.

What we experience during this time reflects the essence of Hans Selye’s theory. General adaptation syndrome describes the process of man’s natural response to stressful situations.

This experience can be adaptive and normal when we finally manage to adapt to these demanding stimuli that are present in our world. However, when these conditions exceed our capacity to control and we are exposed to them over time, negative symptoms appear.

In the same way, it is important to mention that these reactions are universal. Dr. Selye performed a series of experiments on mice at McGill University in Montreal. He exposed them to stressful situations to test their behavior.

The effects were always the same. He later went from animal models to humans to test that general adaptation syndrome develops in three phases.

1. Alarmed or shocked phase

Selye’s model continues to be valid by today’s standard. According to studies like this, done by West Virginia University in the USA, they have tried to find cracks and weaknesses in this approach, but the basic aspects remain valid.

Often, and to test its effectiveness, specialists use it in a world of athletes, an area that allows us to clearly illustrate these phases. The first of these is when we are in a very stressful situation for the first time.

For example, we meet an opponent in tennis, football or karate. We can also take an example such as starting in a new position at work.

Our bodies react as follows:

• We experience tachycardia (an accelerated heart rate) and feel anxious.
• The most common characteristic is that we feel paralyzed at first, and we do not know how to react.
• In the face of a threatening stimulus, the adrenal glands begin to release cortisol, the stress hormone.

If the person manages to overcome this initial reaction and take control, adaptation syndrome generally stops here. If not, take a look at the next phase.

2. Resistance phase

When the stressor remains in your environment and you still have not adapted to it, you reach the resistance phase. At this stage, the activation level is not as elevated, but the physiological irritations are still present in one form or another and in one way or another.

Let’s take a closer look at this:

• We define resistance as a persistent inability to deal with, accept, or respond to something that overwhelms, worries, or alarms us.
• The condition persists, it is clear that the heart rate is no longer higher than normal, and that we are not constantly trapped in a state of high alarm and hypersensitivity. The uncertainty and discomfort continues because we have not adapted.
• Cortisol is still released in our bodies, and this can lead to fatigue, mood swings, irritability and concentration problems.

In cases where we do not adapt to the specific situation and triggers of stress at this stage, we reach a more problematic phase.

3. General adaptation syndrome and the stage of exhaustion

Just as doctor M. Carmen Ocaña Méndez explains in his work on general adaptation syndrome, a good part of the population living today is immersed in the stage of exhaustion.

By this they mean that many of us live with a persistent state of stress because we do not acclimatize or fail to meet these stressors that we are burdened by.

• When we spend months immersed in a persistent state of stress, we use up our physical and physiological resources.
• The risk of developing certain diseases increases. The most common characteristic of this phase is that we begin to see signs of, among other things, hypertension, changes in digestion, insomnia, muscle pain, headaches and dizziness.

• On the other hand, we must not forget the fact that chronic stress can develop into anxiety disorders.

The importance of dealing with stress

General adaptation syndrome demonstrates the importance of dealing with stress in order to avoid reaching the stage of exhaustion. Stress that we are unable to cope with becomes chronic and with it comes discomfort and potential illnesses.

We must keep in mind that addressing these conditions is not only possible but necessary. We all have the opportunity to do so (Lazarus, 1980).

Here are some strategies:

• Clarify the cause of stress.
• Come up with solutions to the problem. Avoid making the challenges bigger and more uncontrollable day by day.
• Work on your emotions. We should be able to control them and not make them control us.
• Every day you need to devise new measures that will help you resolve the situation and favor well-being.
• Follow a healthy lifestyle, practice relaxation and deep breathing.

Last but not least , we need to ask for help when we need it. Support from loved ones and specialized professionals will be able to help avoid such exhausting limits.