The Human Stress Response

A human stress response refers to the physiological reaction that results due to a perceived event or attack. Human stress responses can be explained from different perspectives, including physiological and developmental perspectives. In the physiological perspective, both the nervous system and hormonal responses are involved. In the nervous system, the presence of a stressor sends signals to the brain, and the hypothalamus initiates the arousal of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system which is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic subsystems then initiates the stress responses. The parasympathetic nervous system controls energy conversion in the body and secretion of body fluids such as tears and mucus. On the other hand, the sympathetic nervous system enables the release of neurotransmitter noradrenaline which enhances physiological changes such as increased heartbeat, dilation of pupils, and strengthening of skeletal muscles. The hormonal response involves the adrenal glands located at the top of kidneys. The adrenal medulla has nerves that connect directly to the sympathetic nervous system.

Besides, human stress responses entail the developmental perspective. Studies show that excessive stress exposure of the human brain can lead to damage of brain structure and function. Also, children who went through prenatal stress and poor treatment are likely to face abnormal changes in the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis and reduction in hippocampal volume. As a result, their bodies end upreleasing excess cortisol during the day which can interfere with learning and memory, reduces the body’s immune system, and can cause heart disease. In this case, children end up experiencing physiological problems in their later lives which may even affect the way they perform their activities of daily living.

Attachment

Attachment refers to the ties that specific individuals or human beings develop towards each other. Also, there are different perspectives of attachment in human beings. To begin with, an attachment is based on physiological relationships among interacting individuals. People who have related genetic makeup are likely to be attached to each other because they possess similar traits. For example, young children are most likely to attach to their mothers than any other person even when their cognition is still low. Also, evidence of genetic attachment is the ability of children to develop certain behaviors that relate to those depicted by their parents. As such, people will have to describe their similarities to their parents using the observable, and this will strengthen the bond between them. Thus, a genetic attachment will be established.

More so, an attachment can be viewed from a relational perspective. In this case, individuals, especially young children tend to be attached to people who are close to them, and also those who show good behavior when handling them. For example, most children are attached to their mothers since they are always around to hold, feed, and dress them. The continuous care leaves children conditioned towards the specific person because of the benefits they get from them. In some households, infants tend to be more attached to caregivers than to their mothers. Such an attachment can be as well be termed as relational since the infants spend most of their time with caregivers. Therefore, they relate most of their needs to the caregivers, and this builds the ties between them. In essence, an attachment can as well be created between individuals who are not genetically related.

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