Dog Experience Psychology

995 Words4 Pages
On the daily, every human being will come into contact with various sources of stress, major events, and minor events. However, despite extreme differences in every individual’s life, our bodies cope with these situations in relatively the same manner. The biological aspects of psychology, along with theories of emotion, can help explain how and why our bodies react the way they do to these given events. The daily routine of a nine year old should not be nearly as terrifying as William’s. This reoccurring dog experience will result in short-term arousal/fear, and long term effects. As William is walking down the block, his senses are absorbing the stimulating information around him. When the dog jumps the fence and begins to come after William,…show more content…
In fact, William would not even interpret the mean dog as a threat without the emotional evaluation of the amygdala. The amygdala processes the emotions William is having towards the dog as fear. (Thomas, Stress & Health, 2015) Once the amygdala has interpreted the stimuli, and senses danger, it will send an output to the hypothalamus. When the hypothalamus receives the output, it will control various parts of the nervous system to prepare the body for fight- or- flight. However, the process of fight-or flight cannot be prepared without the autonomic nervous system. This system controls involuntary functions such as heartbeat, blood pressure, respiration, and metabolism (health.harvard.edu, 2011). The sympathetic branch is the key aspect in the given “dog” situation. When William is approaching the fence, where the dog will begin to chase him, the autonomic nervous system will prepare him for fight-or-flight. This means the involuntary actions will all increase in order to maximize Williams’s readiness. This sympathetic part of the nervous system is activated by the hypothalamus when it sends an output to the adrenal glands. Adrenaline, also known as epinephrine, is released and…show more content…
It allows him to respond accordingly, and get away from the dog. (Schacter, Gilbert, Wegner, Nock, 2015). However, since the dog chases William for a decent period of time, his body must keep pumping this energy and continue to send outputs to the sympathetic branch. This is where the HPA axis comes into effect. The hypothalamus, pituitary glands, and adrenal glands are the key components of the axis. As long as the dog keeps chasing him, the hypothalamus activates the pituitary gland, which then releases ACTH to activate the adrenal glands to release cortisol. Cortisol will continue to energize fight-or-flight (Thomas, Stress & Health, 2015). Without this axis, the hypothalamus would not be able to continuously respond to the threat of the dog. This would result in no stimulation in the pituitary and adrenal glands that release the hormones to fuel the body’s reactions. This huge process occurs in a matter of seconds, and lasts only a short period of time each day for William. However, long term, the effects of stress on the body can be damaging. If Williams HPA axis never really slows down to halt the activation of the sympathetic branch, his body will not be able to stop stress. According to Selye’s theory, resistance to stress can only last so long before exhaustion occurs. This process is
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