The Fat cat and the Doggy Door: dysregulated stress response
A stress response in the human body goes through something called the HPA axis. It’s a system that activates the body to fight or flee in response to a stressor. Let’s take your neighbor's fat cat, Fuzzy, and introduce an aggressive Husky that makes a bee-line for him when he’s let off his leash. When Fuzzy sees the dog he experiences a stress response to the danger.
The danger is processed in hypothalamus inside fuzzy’s brain, which releases a hormone called CRH. This hormone signals the pituitary gland to activate the stress response. The adrenal glands release steroid hormones that speeds up his heart rate and gives fuzzy that extra energy to squeeze his way through the cat door on the front step. High levels of Cortisol in his blood make negative feedback to the system that slows the digestion of the cat kibble he just wolfed down. Whether Fuzzy tries to dash or stand his ground, his inner sympathetic system is sending signals to activate and deactivate needed parts of his body. This system, The HPA axis, is important to Fuzzy’s survival but also to his …show more content…
Mortality is high for people who suffer from the vast influences of an inability control emotions and stress responses. What’s interesting about bipolar disorder is that it can be tracked to its functionality in the HPA Axis, the stress response system that would help regulate a person’s physiological response to a stressor. People diagnosed with bipolar disorder inherently have a different base levels of the chemicals that active and negatively feedback to make the system run smoothly. Unlike Fuzzy, people suffering from bipolar disorder are unable to fully inhibit or activate their stress hormones. The use of medication to help regulate the system can be effective mood stabilizers for people suffering from a high or low
A stress response in the human body goes through something called the HPA axis. It’s a system that activates the body to fight or flee in response to a stressor. Let’s take your neighbor's fat cat, Fuzzy, and introduce an aggressive Husky that makes a bee-line for him when he’s let off his leash. When Fuzzy sees the dog he experiences a stress response to the danger.
The danger is processed in hypothalamus inside fuzzy’s brain, which releases a hormone called CRH. This hormone signals the pituitary gland to activate the stress response. The adrenal glands release steroid hormones that speeds up his heart rate and gives fuzzy that extra energy to squeeze his way through the cat door on the front step. High levels of Cortisol in his blood make negative feedback to the system that slows the digestion of the cat kibble he just wolfed down. Whether Fuzzy tries to dash or stand his ground, his inner sympathetic system is sending signals to activate and deactivate needed parts of his body. This system, The HPA axis, is important to Fuzzy’s survival but also to his …show more content…
Mortality is high for people who suffer from the vast influences of an inability control emotions and stress responses. What’s interesting about bipolar disorder is that it can be tracked to its functionality in the HPA Axis, the stress response system that would help regulate a person’s physiological response to a stressor. People diagnosed with bipolar disorder inherently have a different base levels of the chemicals that active and negatively feedback to make the system run smoothly. Unlike Fuzzy, people suffering from bipolar disorder are unable to fully inhibit or activate their stress hormones. The use of medication to help regulate the system can be effective mood stabilizers for people suffering from a high or low