STRESS PHYSIOLOGY m.mateen@sr.edu.sa

OBJECTIVES Brief review of SNS and HPA axis regulation Responses to acute and chronic stress Stress system abnormalities in depression and PTSD Individual differences in stress sensitivity: a developmental perspective

STRESS Can you give me some examples? What are the 2 main systems involved in stress response?

Can these 2 systems fail? What happens if these 2 systems fail?

FEAR RESPONSE Why is fear so intractable?

How long does medulla take to act in a stress response?

Is fear genetically determined? Rat recoils on odor of fox.

Glucocorticoid vs Mineralocorticoid action?

Answer this… What is the effect of stress on immune system? Stress slows growth. True or False?

CORTISOL

CORTISOL

“Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up “Every morning in Africa, a Gazelle wakes up. It knows it must run faster than the fastest Cheetah or it will be killed. Every morning a Cheetah wakes up. It knows it must outrun the slowest Gazelle or it will starve to death. It doesn’t matter whether you are a Cheetah or a Gazelle… when the sun comes up, you’d better be running.” ~Anonymous

Dr. Janet Lang, once put it in a seminar on functional endocrinology, “The endocrine glands are a family and behave like one. We might think we gain understanding of them by taking them aside and studying their function and behavior.  Put them back with their siblings and their behavior changes as they interact with them.  So, we need to understand and treat them as part of a family and not as isolated hormonal glands. “

COMMON SENSE ADVICE Avoid overhyped TV news programs or Web sites, which leave you susceptible to personalizing the dangers depicted. Like Enrand, identify what matters to you—and use that knowledge to bolster your courage. Practice the “five R’s”: regular sleep, regular meals, regular entertainment, regular exercise and regular work schedule. Establishing order and control over many aspects of your daily life eases stressful fears.

THANK YOU