We associate food as the source of energy. Dr. Hans Selye, whose pioneering work in stress research laid the foundation of our knowledge about how body reacts to stress, considered the stress reaction as the physical process through which the body releases enormous energy. How well we harness this energy determines how well we cope with the challenges of daily living, and thus it also determines our physiological and psychological well-being.

      Dr. Selye himself had the misfortune-he would probably call it a challenge-which forced himto test the positive effects of managing stress. At age 65 he was diagnosed as having Reticulum Cell Sarcoma, a type of cancer from which recovery is rare. He was given 6 to 9 months to live. Here is how he described his response: "I was sure 1 was going to die, so I said to my self, 'All right now, this is about the very worst thing that could happen to you, but there are two ways you can handle this; either you can go around feeling like a miserable candidate on death row and whimper away a year, or else you can try to squeeze as much from life now as you can.' 1 chose the latter because I'm a fighter and cancer provided me with the biggest fight of my life A year went by, then two, then three, and look what happened, it turned out that 1 was the fortunate exception." His cancer went into remission and did not recur. Dr. Selye continued to live a very active and productive life until his death ten years later at age 75.

Three Stages of Stress
      Every time we face a stressful situation, our body goes through three basic stages. Dr. Selye identified these three stages on a model, which he named General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), and this model continues to remain the basis of all modern discussions of biological stress. The three stages are:

•	The Alarm Reaction
•	Resistance (or adaptation)
•	Exhaustion

      In biomechanical terms, stress as broken down by Dr. Selye in three stage model is a very primitive bodily reaction that provides us with the energy to either fight or flee. Every time we face stress our body goes through these three stages in its attempt to deal with the threat and then gets back as quickly as possible to normal operational equilibrium or homeostasis, what Selye categorized as the normal or healthy level of resistance. During the resistance phase, it is as if your body temporarily turns up its stress thermostat. As soon as possible it turns it back down to normal.

      To explain the three stages the body goes through during stress reaction, Selye constructed two diagrams which show that the GAS has two distinct patterns. The first diagram shows an acute, or short-term stress reaction with a short resistance phase that quickly returns the body to normal

      This diagram represents many everyday situations that we face regularly, such as trying to catch a bus, rushing through traffic to meet an appointment, picking up kids at school on time. Most of these stressful situations last only a few minutes; there is a burst of energy to get over the hump, to get the immediate task done, and then we get back to the level of normal resistance. A person may go through several such stressful events during the course of a day. 

If you have conditioned your self properly you'll be able to draw upon this reservoir of stress energy to accomplish a whirlwind of activities. After successfully completing these activities, your body will return to its resting stage, leaving you with a serene sense of achievement. Problems start when you do not allow yourself to "come down" to the idle-running state, ready to face the next stressful event.

The second diagram represents a prolonged stress reaction. The person grieving over the loss of a husband or father, or someone going through the breakup of a marriage may face such prolonged stress reaction which may last not just a few minutes, but hours, days, weeks, or months. Unfortunately, it is not just certain ' catastrophic' events in our lives that cause such prolonged stress reaction; this may also be the picture of the way many of us spend our entire lives. Dr. Selye used to say that the major cause of distress in modem man was frustration, the cumulative effect of the many difficulties and annoyances of daily life. We pass from one stressful situation to another, never giving the body the time or opportunity to return to the level of normal resistance. We end up spending a major portion of normal working day in the resistance zone.

HANS SELYE'S GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME 

An Acute, or Short-Term Stress Reaction

Challenge Successfully Met                   Level of Normal Resistance                                               C. Exhaustion (and Recovery)  Allarm      Alarm Stage

A Prolonged Stress Reaction    B. Resistance Stage Alarm                                                                 Exhaustion Stage Strage Source: Your Vitality Quotient by Richard Earle, M.D. and David Imrie, M.D.

Stage one: The Alarm Reaction:   When body senses a stressful situation, it responds by releasing hormones that trigger specific changes in the body; it marshals all its resources to deal with the situation. The body feels tension, ready to spring into action. There is that rush of adrenalin, with common symptoms of sweaty palms and pounding heart.

Stage two: Resistance (or adaptation)   As long as the body perceives the threat caused by the stressful situation, we remain in the resistance stage. During this stage,  we try to adapt to changed circumstances in order to diffuse the threat. While we are in the resistance zone, the increased awareness allows us to cope with the situation. Unfortunately, many of us stay in this high-stressed resistance stage long after the particular challenge has passed. We remain in that excited stage, with our hands trembling, and heart beating away. All this makes it difficult to relax, return to the levelof normal resistance.

Stage three: Exhaustion   We enter this stage once the real or perceived threat has passed, or when we run out of available stress energy. This is when we feel our body going limp. We all have experienced this feeling; we come back from an especially stressful day at work and then we hit the bottom when we get home like a balloon that has lost its air. The degree of severity and duration of the exhaustion stage is directly dependent upon the duration and intensity of the resistance stage. If you were in control during the resistance stage, you will not hit the bottom in the exhaustion stage.

      Richard Earle, co-founder and director of the Canadian Institute of Stress, describes  this transition from the resistance stage to the exhaustion stage in his book, Your Vitality Quotient as follows:

The physiology of the stress reaction
      We have come to understand better the physiology of the stress reaction - the sequence of chemical and physical events our body goes through during the three stages of the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), the model originally created by Dr. Selye to understand the effects of stress on our body. 

      As we have seen before, stress perception isn't the same in every individual. What one person considers a normal situation may be extremely stressful for another. In this initial stage the body becomes aware that something unusual is about to happen which maybe a challenge, exciting new opportunity or threat. These days we do not face the tiger on the way to work which was the physical form of stress for the primitive man. Today the stress may be psychological, (appearing in court, making a presentation in front of superiors), physical ( climbing Mt. Whitney, sliding hard into second base), or biological (busy day at the office after a sleepless night, feeling the effect of fIu). In each of these situations the body appears to deal with a difficult situation.

      Stress by its definition is deviation from the norm and our body has a way of dealing with  it. When the body feels stress, the brain releases hormones that trigger certain chemical reactions; the heart beats faster, breathing quickens. These reactions have evolved in human beings over millions of years. When the primitive man met a tiger his body underwent the same physiologic response that we undergo when we appear for an examination.

      There is an increase in adrenaline and in the activity of sympathetic nervous system (things that occur in the body "automatically"). Pupils dilate for better vision. Heart rate and blood pressure increase and blood flows more freely to the brain for improved decision making. Blood clots more quickly, an advantage in the event of blood loss from an injury. Blood sugar rises and fat stores are quickly broken down to provide extra energy. Blood  flow is diverted from the abdominal area, where it is not needed at the time for digestion, to the large muscles of the arms and legs to provide extra strength for fighting or extra speed for running away. To understand the body's response to stress, it is necessary to look at the two main physiological systems that seem to work in a mitigating fashion. 

      The first system involves a pathway from a deep-brain structure called the hypothalamus to the sympathetic branch of the automatic nervous system, and from thereto the adrenal medulla. The sympathetic nervous system, or SNS is responsible for the heart-pounding, sweaty-palmed "fight or flight" response that mobilizes the body and mind to deal with challenging situations. As part of this response, the adrenalg1andreceives its main hormone - adrenaline.

      The second system involved also begins with the hypothalamus but acts through the pituitary gland, which in turn stimulates the adrenal cortex to release cortical-the chief "stress"  hormone identified by Hans Selye in his stress model. When body perceives a stress situation, the hypothalamus causes three things to happen. First, stress hormones are released into the body, especially adrenaline and nor adrenaline, the combined affect of which is to lower your  level ofki11er T cells, responsible for fighting off infection. This in turn has a detrimental effect on the immune system Second, the sympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system gets into action, for instance, by diverting blood to the parts of the body where it would be needed the most. Finally, the hypothalamus triggers the release of the beta endorphins, the body's own painkillers that are opiates identical to morphine. Just like the drug, the effect is to raise your threshold for pain, allowing you to function with little pain or discomfort for as long as the stress is present. This is why a football player may not feel the pain of a sprained ankle while running down the field until he has reached the end zone.

      Body remains in this "coiled spring" stage as long as it perceives the threat. Sometimes the resistance stage may last for only a short duration, and some other times it may last for a long period, often without your being fully aware of it . If the resistance stage is prolonged, a key part of your immune system is affected. Under acute stress the thymus shrinks to half its normal size, which in turn will affect your body's ability to ward off diseases. The final stage known as the exhaustion stage is the decompression stage, the body wanting to get back to its normal relaxed rhythm. The exhaustion phase is triggered by a rapid increase in the release of cortizol, a steroid hormone produced by the adrenal gland. The stimulating effect of the sympathetic nervous system is now supplanted by the calming effect of the parasympathetic branch of the autonomic nervous system.

      Ideally, your body should be fully relaxed at this stage, but often it stays in an elevated stage of alert. Although the danger may have passed, the shadow still lingers.This is why after a particularly stressful situation you may have trouble relaxing, falling asleep or obtaining full possession of your faculties. The longer or more intense a stress reaction is, the more wear and tear it will inflict upon your body. Chronic stress could have a devastating effect on your physiology. This is when the person is carted off to the hospital.

Your Personal Distress Quotient

How many of the following signs and symptoms do you exhibit? Assign a score of 1 to each sign or symptom you feel applies to you, add up your total score, divide by 29 to arrive at your percent score. Measure your distress quotient as follows:       More than 90% - extremely distressed       More than 80% - highly distressed       More than 70% - moderately distressed       Less than 20% - serene  Physical Signs ____________ Your heart pounds or skips a beat for no apparent reason.   ____________ Your throat and mouth are dry.   ____________ You experience tightening of muscles, especially in the neck and  shoulders and in the lower back.   ____________ You complain of chronic neck and back problems.   ____________ Frequent headaches, particularly before and during a stressful  situation.   ____________ You have indigestion or queaziness in your stomach.   ____________ You have muscular tics with no obvious cause.   ____________ You have a hard time falling asleep, or wake up during the night and  cannot go back to sleep.   ____________ Elevated blood pressure.   ____________ You feel tired all through the day, although you are not physically exerting yourself ____________ People say you have signs of hypochondria. ____________ You easily catch colds or develop flu ____________ You break out into a rash or show allergic reactions not shown before. Mental or emotional signs ____________ You have trouble listening to others or concentrating on your job. ____________ You feel emotionally tense. ____________ You excessively worry about uncertain situations. ____________ You feel depressed for long periods. ____________ You have anxiety attacks for no apparent reason. ____________ You become forgetful. ____________ You feel you are not contributing on the job. ____________ You feel unsure of your self in routine situations. ____________ You are subject to feelings of worthlessness. Behavioral/lifestyle signs ____________You become irritable, easily annoyed. ____________Your work draws criticism from your supervisor. ____________You have a hard time arriving at decisions. ____________You get into stupid arguments with your co-workers and family members. ____________ Your actions are more impulsive than rational. ____________ Excessive eating and drinking. ____________ Possible drug or alchohol abuse Source: Your Vitality Quotient by Richard Earle, M. D. and David Imrie, M.D.