Question

Both Walter Cannon and Hans Selye theorized about link between stress and physical disease. Describe the primary differences in their theories. Give examples to elaborate.

Answer 1

Walter Canon's theory of stress discusses three responses to stressful situations, i.e., fight, flight, and freeze. According to him, when we face a negative or stressful situation in life, we either fight, if capable of, with the situation to cope or win. When it's not possible to fight the situation, we escape, i.e., flight. In the third response, however, if both fight and flight are not possible, the individual freezes and becomes unable to respond at all. For e.g, if one sees a tiger coming towards him, he would either run (flight) or fight if equipped (fight) or just freeze on the spot.
In Hans Selye's theory, for every stressful situation, our body reacts in the same way (General Adaptation Syndrome). It starts with an "alarm reaction", in which the body prepares for a stressful situation. In this stage, a stressful situation is perceived and the body decides to either fight or flight. Then in the "resistance" stage, the body focuses on being alert, at the same time the parasympathetic system tries to get back the homeostasis. Then, in the last stage, the body goes into the "exhaustion" phase before going back to homeostasis. Thus, the selye's theory incorporates Canon's theory and elaborates the process further.