Mental & Physical Health: Risk and Resilience Hub. Crisis Stress: #1 How and Why Crises Affect People and Performance June 27th, 2025

 https://riskandresiliencehub.com/crisis-stress-1-how-and-why-crises-affect-people-and-performance/

Crisis Stress: #1 How and Why Crises Affect People and Performance

By Robert Chandler|June 27th, 2025|

People affected by crises and emergencies, both professionals and civilians, experience various stresses and challenges, which can be traumatic.

This article is first of an 8-part series on crisis stress.

 

It’s crucial to understand how these events impact them and potentially lead to conditions like acute stress disorders, acute crisis episodes, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Recognizing these effects and adapting to support individuals under pressure is essential.

 

Even emergency responders and crisis managers, despite their training and resilience, can be significantly affected by crisis events. While generally resilient, the demands of crises impose unique stresses on them. Professionals face challenges such as performance pressures, time constraints, high-stakes risks, and potential exposure to horrific circumstances, all leading to significant physical and psychological responses.

General Adaptation Syndrome Has 3 Phases

Hans Selye coined the term “stress” in the 1930s to describe a predictable pattern of physiological responses to noxious stimuli, which he called the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). GAS has three phases:

• Alarm Phase: Initial response to a stressor, triggering the body’s alarm response.
• Resistance Phase: The body attempts to adapt and cope with the stressor.
• Exhaustion Phase: Resources are depleted, leading to potential long-term damage if stress continues.

While the latter two phases are relevant to chronic stress, the alarm phase is particularly important in understanding acute stress during emergencies.

 

Not all stress is harmful. Research in high-risk industries like aviation and law enforcement has explored the effects of stress on performance. 

 

While challenging to study in real-life events, research methods like simulations and physiological studies offer insights into how stress impacts attention, memory, decision-making, and even group performance.

Categories of Stress

• Chronic lower-order stress: Routine daily and work-related stresses, ranging from minor inconveniences to more significant personal issues.
• Acute stress: Tied to specific events or contexts like emergencies or crises. Acute stress can be further divided into:
  • High stress: Measurable physiological and psychological effects disrupt normal functions.
  • Hyper stress: Peak effects leading to dysfunctional changes in behavior and cognitive impairment.
  • Traumatic stress: Significant, long-lasting effects on psychological processes, potentially leading to PTSD.

Acute stress can initially boost performance by triggering the “fight or flight” response, enhancing focus and concentration. However, excessive or prolonged stress can have negative impacts on physical and mental functions. Individual responses to stress vary, but the general progression of effects is often similar.

Future articles will explore the physiological reactions to crises and the acute stress response in more detail. Check back on the HUB over the coming weeks for the next seven installments in this series.

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References

De Soir, E. L. (2003). The CRASH 1 –Model for Psychosocial Crisis Intervention: from Peer Driven Early Intervention to Professional Care and Therapeutic Action with Military and Emergency Services Personnel. Research Report on The Prevention of Psychological Trauma in Fire, Rescue, Police & Military Personnel. Royal Military Academy, Department of Behavioural Sciences, STRESS & TRAUMA RESEARCH CENTRE, Brussels, Belgium.

LeBlanc, V. R. (2009). The Effects of Acute Stress on Performance: Implications for Health Professions Education. Academic Medicine 84(10): p S25-S33, October 2009. DOI: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e3181b37b8f

National Research Council Report: Facing Hazards and Disasters: Understanding Human Dimensions (2006). NRC Division on Earth and Life Studies, Committee on Disaster Research in the Social Sciences: Future Challenges and Opportunities.

McEwen BS. (2017). Neurobiological and Systemic Effects of Chronic Stress. Chronic Stress. 2017; 1. doi:10.1177/2470547017692328

McFarlane, A.C. (1995). Stress and Disaster. In: Hobfoll, S.E., de Vries, M.W. (eds) (1995) Extreme Stress and Communities: Impact and Intervention. NATO ASI Series, vol 80. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8486-9_11

Paton, D. and Flin, R. (1999), “Disaster stress: an emergency management perspective”, Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 8 No. 4, pp. 261-267. https://doi.org/10.1108/09653569910283897

Shields, G. S., Sazma, M.A., and Yonelina, A.P. (2016). The effects of acute stress on core executive functions: A meta-analysis and comparison with cortisol, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 68, (September 2016), 651-668. DOI https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2016.06.038

Yang, Y., Yunfend, S., Zhang, Y., Jiang. J., Tang, J., Zhu, X., and Miao, D. (2013). Bifactor Item Response Theory Model of Acute Stress Response, PLOS One, 10.1371. DOI https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0065291

Yeager, K.R. and Roberts, A.R. (2003). Differentiating Among Stress, Acute Stress Disorder, Crisis Episodes, Trauma, and PTSD: Paradigm and Treatment Goals. Brief Treatment & Crisis Intervention, 2003, Vol 3, Issue 1, 3:3–25.

Zhao, Y. (2023). The Effects of Acute Stress Reaction on Trauma-Related Symptoms and Relevant Factors, VOL. 8 (2023): Proceedings of the 2022 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION, PSYCHOLOGY, HUMANITIES AND HISTORICAL RESEARCH (EPHHR 2022). DOI: https://doi.org/10.54097/ehss.v8i.4243