coping abilities and resources and whether they will be sufficient to meet the harm, threat or challenge of the event. These resources may be mental, physical, personal or social. If one thinks one has a positive attitude, health, skills and social support to deal with the crises s/he will feel less stressed. This two-level appraisal process determines not only our cognitive and behavioural responses but also our emotional and physiological responses to external events.
These appraisals are very subjective and will depend on many factors. One factor is the past experience of dealing with such a stressful condition. If one has handled similar situations very Fig. .
: A General Model of the Stress Process successfully in the past, they would be less threatening for her/him. Another factor is whether the stressful event is perceived as controllable , i.e. whether one has mastery or control over a situation. A person who believes that s/he can control the onset of a negative situation, or its adverse consequences, will experience less amount of stress than those who have no such sense of personal control.
For example, a sense of self-confidence or efficacy can determine whether the person is likely to appraise the situation as a threat or a challenge. Thus, the experience and outcome of a stressor may vary from individual to individual. Stress, includes all those environmental and personal events, which challenge or threaten the well-being of a person. These stressors can be external, such as environmental (noise, air pollution), social (break-up with a friend, loneliness) or psychological (conflict, frustration) within the individual.
Very often, these stressors result in a variety of stress reactions, which may be physiological, behavioural, emotional, and cognitive (see Fig. . ). At the physiological level, arousal plays a key role in stress- related behaviours.
The hypothalamus initiates action along two pathways. The first pathway involves the autonomic nervous system. The adrenal gland releases large amount of catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) into the blood stream. This leads to physiological changes seen in fight-or-flight response.
The second pathway involves the pituitary gland, which secretes the corticosteroid (cortisol) which provides energy.