Biological Approach To Stress

Two biological processes which control our stress response involve the hypothalamus and the autonomic nervous system. When a human is under threat, the sympathetic branch of the automatic nervous system becomes active and sends a signal to the adrenal medulla. Similarly, when the body is no longer under threat, the parasympathetic branch sends the body into a more relaxed state. Therefore, the human body will automatically react when the body is under threat or stressed and then help itself go back to its normal state once that threat/stress has gone. The biological approach shows how the body produces hormones when under threat/stress. When the body is under stress it sends signals to the pituitary gland and the adrenal medulla which produces
If there are higher levels of cortisol in the body this can supress the immune system. People who are stressed are more prone to sickness. Another strength is that this approach has had many practical applications and the experiments are measurable, objective and can be repeated for reliability. Finally, the biological approach to stress shows that the human body will automatically react when under stress/threat to protect its self. For example, if I human was being attacked by a bear, adrenaline would be produced to prepare the body to go into flight or fight mode. The body would start perspiring, the heart would start racing and boost energy to protect itself.
It believes that human thought processes affect the way humans think. It looks at attention, perception, language, memory, and thinking. The key assumptions include; that human behaviour can be explained through scientific processes, behaviour can be explained as a response from stimuli and that behaviour is controlled by the thought processes. This approach attempts to show how the thought process can lead to human seeing things as a threat or not.