Mr. X is immediately in the acute stage of healthy stress.
Which neurochemicals are released in that response?
During an acute stage of the healthy stress response, Mr. X’s autonomic nervous system might have activated. In response, his body has experienced increased levels of neurotransmitters such as adrenaline, endorphin, cortisol, epinephrine, and many others, which, on the one hand, have increased his stress level and, on the other hand, helped him cope with the severity of the situation.
Describe how each of those neurochemicals helps him to address the issue at hand.
When Mr X experiences stress while watching his son falling from the treehouse, his brain releases epinephrine, which gives him the courage to ‘fight’ the situation. While doing so to save his child, adrenaline and cortisol have increased his heart and breathing rate, responding to the immediate stress situation and his blood pressure elevated. As a result, blood is averted from the external organs or extremities so that the body can prepare itself to move. Meanwhile, endorphins secreted from the brain have inhibited the pain signals in his heart and also prevented headache duration, frequency, and intensity so that his mind could effectively think about what to do immediately on the spot (Banasik, 2021).
How might this acute stress response alter his acid-base balance?
The acute stress response, while he watched his son falling from the treehouse, altered his acid-base balance, leading to hyperventilating his body. Within seconds of the traumatic experience he went through, his body developed an acute acid-base imbalance as a stress reaction. That imbalance was a transient condition involving Mr. X’s body and an extensive array of signs, including fear, anxiety, exhaling more carbon dioxide than normal, and symptoms of mild depression. In the resulting situation, CO2 concentration is minimized in the blood, and his body has experienced a shift of carbonic or bicarbonate acid equilibrium, majorly on the left side of the body. The drop in H3O and CO2 concentration would result in an increase in Mr. X’s PH.
His son is severely injured and requires extended hospitalization.
As he moves into the adaptation stage, what physical symptoms are Mr. X at risk for?
Mr X has experienced severe body aches and pain, rising blood pressure due to increased stress levels, digestive problems, emotional distress, and loss of sleep. His heart had been pounding, and he was constantly sweating until his son was admitted to the hospital and treated. He has been having difficulty breathing due to chest pain.
Name two interventions needed by both parents to avoid fluid and electrolyte imbalance while at the son’s bedside for long hours.
Both parents should be given enough electrolytes to avoid fluid and electrolyte imbalance. These can only be acquired through a balanced diet, so Mr X should be recommended excellent sources of electrolytes such as fruits, yoghurt, milk, bananas, nuts, etc., to prevent imbalances. In addition, another intervention, namely an oral rehydration solution, can be recommended to Mr X and his wife, such as glucose, to correct the deficit while they are at the bedside of their son for long hours.
How might you, as a future healthcare professional, use Romans 15:13 to additionally minister to Mr. and Mrs. X?
As a future healthcare professional, I feel it is my responsibility to keep my patients and their attendees, whether they are patients’ parents, siblings, or friends, calm, stress-free, hopeful, and a firm believer in the healing hands of the Holy Spirit. I would love to give them courage and hope so that they can mediate nervousness, tension, and depression. As the Holy Spirit in Romans 15:13 states, “As you trust in Him, so may you overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (ESV, Romans 15:13, 2009) to heal the wounded and the depressed so that this hope can help them fight their acute stress and its impacts and they feel peace and joy in their believing.
References
Banasik, J. L. (2021). Pathophysiology. (7th ed.). Elsevier Health Sciences. US.
The English Standard Version Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments with Apocrypha. (2009). Oxford University Press.
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