Hans Selye: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 00:31, 5 February 2007

Revision as of 04:59, 11 February 2007

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His initial inspiration for GAS came from an endocrinological experiment in which he injected mice with extracts of various organs. He at first believed to have discovered a new hormone but was proved wrong when every irritating substance he injected produced the same symptoms (swelling of the adrenal cortex, atrophy of the thymus, gastric and duodenal ulcers). This, paired with his observation that people with different diseases exhibit similar symptoms, led to his description of the effects of "noxious agents" as he at first called it. He later coined the term "stress", which has been accepted into the lexicon of various other languages.

Although Selye claimed to have coined the term "stress", it should rightly be attributed to Walter Cannon, according to Robert Sapolsky{{factFact|date=February 2007}}. Selye in the preface to 'STRESS', gives a couple of nods to Clade Bernard (developed the idea of 'millieau interior') and Walter Cannon's 'homeostasis' (here the idea of feedback is implicit if not explicit[?] and the idea of stress as an activating mechanism in all life capable of activation. Thus a cell sits content till a stressor ie danger or appetite, external or Internal stress activates mechanisms leading to an Adaptation to circumstance. In 'higher' animals this includes activities from blood clotting, flight/fight, etc. etc. up to Play { which prepares the safe animal for serious activity} ) Selye conceptualized the physiology of stress as having two components: a set of responses he called the general adaptation syndrome; under certain conditions, stressors cause illness.

To grossly oversimplify to the point of circular argument, Selye discovered and documented that stress differs from other physical responses in that stress is stressful whether the one receives good or bad news, whether the impulse is positive or negative. He called negative stress ''distress'' and positive stress ''[[eustress]]''. The system whereby the body copes with stress, the [[hypothalamus]]-[[pituitary]]-[[adrenal]] system, was also first described by Selye. He also pointed to an alarm state, a resistance state, and an exhaustion state, largely referring to glandular states. Later he developed the idea of two 'reservoirs' of stress resistance or alternatively stress energy (which might be compared to Qi). A superficial level which is restored and a deeper level which is permanently depleated when drawn upon. One might also draw a parallel to muscular exercise where strength is gained by tension-release, whereas either tension or relaxation by itself leads to wasting. One might infer an ethic whereby an ill (including psycho and socio disease) person should do everything to reduce stress (sometimes this appears as attachments to minor anxieties to mask deeper ones) but in one's strength the taking on of