Outline and evaluate two physiological approaches to stress management. One physiological approach to stress management is drug therapy. Drug therapy targets the symptoms of stress, two such drugs are Benzodiazepines and Beta-blockers. Benzodiazepines reduce nervous system activity, this happens because the drug reduces serotonin levels that reduce anxiety. Beta-blockers reduce autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and stop the effects of stress becoming so harmful. Beta blockers relieve blood pressure and thin the blood.
Drugs are used because they are very effective the patient can feel them working and they are easy to use, this is because drug therapy takes very little effort from the patient. Drugs offer a quick fix and are sometimes cheaper than using biofeedback. Drugs are brilliant at fixing acute stress problems, drugs also allow for the window of opportunity where they can clam the patient down and offer them an alternative to drug therapy.
There are problems though with using drug therapy as you can become addicted to them, patients start to depend on them and can’t go with out them. Another problem with using drugs is that the more people use the drugs they build a resistance to the drug and they become less effective. Drugs also carry side effects that can have damaging long term effects, such as: dizziness, dry mouth, upset stomach and tiredness. Drugs only treat the symptoms not the causes and are not suitable for chronic stress. Another physiological approach to stress management is Biofeedback; this is where the patient is attached to a machine that can tell if you’re stressed out by measuring muscle tension, body temperature, blood pressure and galvanic skin response. The machine lights a bulb or sounds a buzzer if you are stressed and you and told to put it out, which you could only do if you clam yourself down.
Biofeedback gives the patient the ability to control the involuntary behavior that stress causes, like increased blood pressure and increased thickness of the blood. Biofeedback is a treatment for chronic stress and it gets to the symptoms of stress. Biofeedback does not have any side effects because it is not altering the body in any way, because of this people do not become addicted to it either. Biofeedback does have some difficulties, it is very expensive, not only because of the machinery but it also requires trained doctors. Biofeedback produces a more lasting solution to stress management, whereas drugs have drawbacks and Biofeedback does not. Both of these ways of stress management still only cure the symptoms and people cannot change their body to respond to the new stress we face.