Final answer:
Hans Selye's General Adaptation Syndrome describes how stress affects the body in a three-stage cycle: the alarm reaction, stage of resistance, and stage of exhaustion, detailing the body's physiological responses from initial stress recognition to potential health decline.
Step-by-step explanation:
The three-stage response cycle proposed by Hans Selye, known as the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS), is a model that describes the body's physiological reaction to stress. This process consists of:
- Alarm Reaction - The initial stage where the body identifies a stressor and triggers the fight-or-flight response. A flood of stress hormones prepares the body to face the threat.
- Stage of Resistance - If the stressor persists, the body enters a phase of coping and adaptation, working to mitigate the impact of the stressor.
- Stage of Exhaustion - After prolonged stress, the body's resources are depleted, which can result in a decrease in immune competence and potentially lead to various health issues, such as hypertension and coronary artery disease.
While Selye's model offers insights into how stress can affect the body physically, it also has been criticized for not accounting for psychological factors such as the interpretation of threats.