Bio-Psychology and the Hypothalamus-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis - Essay Example

The General Adaptation System (GAS) controls and regulates the effects of stress through an interaction of brain activities. This, therefore, prevents stress levels from increasing to such a high extent that they can cause brain damage in an individual. The whole information is communicated through the nervous system which then tries to find countermeasures.

The Sympathetic Adrenal Medullary (SAM) also controls stress via the brain but with the coordination of HPA and GAS. When the hypothalamus detects a stressor, it sends the message via SAM and the sympathetic nervous system to GAS and thus the stressor is controlled and regulated (Seaward and Seaward, 2011, pg. 49).

1. Evaluate the potential sources of stress. Mention Holmes and Rahe's study

There are various sources of stress including the daily hustles of life where annoyance, irritation, and pressure from stressors like traffic and work lead to stress development. Life changes have also been discovered as a potential cause of stress by research carried out by Holmes and Rahe. This is because of the social readjustments an individual may have to go through as a result of the change. This may include changes in the family, work, and health among others which bring about long-term strain and hence act as a stressor. According to the research, the other potential cause of stress is individual differences and coping mechanisms when faced with difficult situations. Some people may be able to handle the difficult circumstances but others may not and hence are potential clients of stress. Finally, catastrophic events may be a potential cause of stress because it is unexpected and the impacts are more than most people can imagine or even handle hence stress starts creeping in.

2. Evaluate a critical understanding of the treatment of stress and anxiety mentioning the strength and weaknesses, side effects, and CBT.
There are various treatment methods for stress and the most common ones are biological and cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Biological treatment involves the use of drugs that reduce arousal and anxiety levels which increase causes stress. The treatment is through anti-anxiety drugs like valium. The weakness of this type of treatment is that individuals under such medication may develop drug dependency and hence become addicted and this presents another major set of problems. The only way to counter this side effect is to administer the drug in short doses and as a short-term measure.

The other treatment that is mostly used as a long-term measure is CBT. This is a therapy and hence no drugs are administered. It aims at changing the way individuals cope with stress by changing their cognition and also behavior. The individuals learn relaxation techniques and have positive thoughts in each difficult or stressful situation and hence are calm enough to be able to solve the problem and this reduces the anxiety and arousal that leads to stress. This type of stress treatment has no potential side effects and is therefore recommended for the majority of individuals who are unable to use the biological treatment (Seaward and Seaward, 2011, pg. 247). Read More