Stress evokes a response from the body known as the general adaptation syndrome. This response has three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.

The alarm phase is triggered by the body's recognition of a threat. Hormones such as adrenaline are secreated into the bloodstream, initiating arousal. This phase is marked by increases in heart rate, respiratory rates, and blood pressure, and decreases or suppresion of immune function, digestion, and growth. The body uses all necessary tactics to fight off the threat during this phase.

The next phase of the general adaptation syndrome is resistance. This is when the body remains alert and in a state of physiological arousal. Local defenses are set into motion and stress hormones continue to be released.

If over a prolonged period of time, the stress continues, the body drops into the phase called exhaustion. This has been shown to occur because various systems in the body begin to shut down from overuse of the resources it uses to fight stress, increasing the risk of illness. Based on this model then, it is seen that short-term stress can be adaptive, but when it is prolonged it can compromise health and well-being.

Psychological stress has been show to increase the risk of a wide variety of physical ailments such as "chronic back pain, diabetes, appendicitis, upper respiratory infections, herpes, gum disease, common colds, and some forms of cancer." The reason for this seems to be that stress causes decreases in immune function and thus lowers the body's ability to fight off illness.

There seems to be two possible causes of immune function decreases in relation to stress. First, when people are under substantial amounts of stress they tend to engage in behaviors such as smoking more, using alcohol and drugs more, get less exercise, and eat less healthy diets. These behavior have a tendency to compromise immune function. The second possible cause is that stress sparks the secretion of stress hormones such as adrenaline into the bloodstream. These hormones have a tendency to decrease function of immune cells, resulting in a temporary drop of the body's ability to fight off illness.

Unhealthy behaviors during college are sometimes seen as "appropriate" by peer groups. Staying up all night or eating pizza every day for two weeks is seen as normal for many college students, when in fact these unhealthy behaviors are adding to the stress that they experience.(Hudd, 2000)

Stress can interfere with students' concentration and their ability to learn. It can influence behavior and have an inpact on their overall well-being. (Large, 1999)

When students experience stress, a variety of changes occur in the body and mind. Many of these changes are unpleasant, as nobody enjoys feeling stressed. Please click on the link below labeled "Coping with Stress" to learn how stress can be managed and prevented.

Stress and the College Student