Hpa Axis

The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, a multiunit system in the body that is activated in response to stress and can have various effects on an individual. Stress is a normal part of life and it’s something we all experience in our daily lives but, often, we don’t think about it in depth. My goal is to create more awareness about the range of harmful effects to our bodies from stress as well bringing attention to how stress can be successfully coped with. During the first half of my paper, I will introduce my topic of the HPA axis, it’s mechanisms of activation, harmful side effects, and predispositions in early life that can result in certain individuals to experience stress at greater levels. During the second half of my paper, I

will be focusing on my lens in which I will concentrate on the college student population, in particular, to understand what degree of stress they experience, how they manage their stress levels and how effective their coping methods are based on research studies. For my basic foundation of understanding, I plan on using Shelly E. Taylor’s textbook titled “Health Psychology”, however, for exploring this subject in greater depth and focus on my particular interest, I will be using psychological research paper and other articles.
In response to stress, a brain region called Hypothalamus releases corticotrophin-releasing hormone which stimulates the Pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone which in response stimulates the Adrenal gland to release glucocorticoid; hence the HPA axis.

Cortisol or glucocorticoid is the end product from the activation of the HPA axis and it has both beneficial and harmful side effects on the body, from reducing inflammation in cases of injury to impairing the immune system and alerting certain brain regions. Early life experiences, such as childhood abuse and being raised in a stressful environment are predispositions that can cause certain individuals to be more responsive to stress than others. In addition, prolonged and repeated exposure to cortisol can increase susceptibility to certain illness and injuries amongst individuals. For instance, the rate of visits at a doctor’s office often increases amongst college students during finals week. Given that stress is part of life and it serves us in both positive and negative terms, in today’s fast paced environment, however, it’s negatives outweigh the positives. Our busy schedules in combination with daily stressors are impacting our stress levels and with repeated stimulation of the HPA axis, our bodies are taking the biggest

hits.
Following an introduction on the topic of stress and the HPA axis, I will be viewing this phenomena through a lens that will focus on understanding to which extent college students are affected by stress and how they are managing their stress levels to further examine how effective their coping methods are. Although the general population often deals with many stressors in their daily lives, college students are taking the bigger hit. Survey studies have concluded that stress levels amongst college students have reportedly been increasing throughout the years. With our highly competitive and fast phased environment, students are facing more pressure to achieve closer to perfect grades in their courses in order achieve admission to graduate school while having to work minimum wage jobs to pay for their continually increasing tuition and somehow managing to take parts in research studies or internships to build up their resumes. In addition to increased stress levels, research studies have also indicated that majority of college students are not managing their stress levels in efficient ways as their coping methods are not very effective.