ABSTRACT
In the last chapter, there was some discussion of the sympathetic nervous system. This is the part of the autonomic nervous system involved in producing arousal and energy. In our everyday lives, high levels of activity within the sympathetic nervous system are often found when we are feeling stressed and finding it hard to cope. It is because stress has this important biological aspect to it that it is dealt with in the main part of the book on the biological approach to psychology. However, there are several kinds of changes that occur inside someone when he or she is stressed. Many psychologists have argued that there are four major kinds of effects associated with the stressed state: emotional, physiological, cognitive, and behavioural. Here are some specific examples of what stress looks like:
1. Emotional effects: • Feelings of anxiety and depression. • Increased physical tension. • Increased psychological tension.
