Maya owes the credit card company $20,000, her adjustable rate mortgage has just gone up, and she has been out of work for 3 months. Today her husband of 15 years just told her he was having an affair and wants a divorce. With that news, she collapsed and had to be taken to the emergency room. According to Hans Selye, Maya is in which stage of the general adaptation syndrome?

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

Stress theories can be tricky, so let’s walk through what each term typically means in Hans Selye’s framework.
Option 1: alarm. This is the immediate 'fight-or-flight' response to a sudden or significant stressor, involving rapid activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the HPA axis. Maya’s collapse and emergency room admission after a cascade of overwhelming stressors (financial strain, impending mortgage anxiety, job loss, marital betrayal) are classic triggers for the acute alarm reaction, making this a strong fit for the initial stage.
Option 2: appraisal. Here we’re talking about a cognitive process—how a person interprets or evaluates a stressor. While appraisal is essential in recognizing stress, it is not itself a stage of the general adaptation syndrome; it’s more of a mental assessment that informs which physiological response might follow.
Option 3: resistance. In the resistance (or adaptation) stage, the body attempts to cope with the stressor for a prolonged period by engaging various physiological systems to maintain function. This stage follows the alarm reaction if the stress continues, but Maya’s immediate collapse is not an adapting or coping response; it signals the onset of the alarm phase.
Option 4: exhaustion. Exhaustion is the final stage, occurring when the body's resources are depleted after extended exposure to stress. It describes a wear-down state rather than the initial reaction. While chronic stress could eventually lead there, the scenario centers on the acute response rather than the depleted state that defines exhaustion.
In summary, the scenario portrays an immediate, acute reaction to multiple overwhelming stressors, aligning best with the alarm stage rather than the later stages like resistance or exhaustion. The mention of a collapse highlights the rapid mobilization of bodily systems characteristic of alarm, while cognitive appraisal is a precursor process, not a stage, and resistance or exhaustion would require a longer course of stress responses to manifest in their typical forms.

Introduction to Psychology EXAM #4 (8,9,10,12) - PSYC 1A - Traditional Exam - No Notes - Tuesday, 5/6

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