Psychological and Endocrinological Correlates of Chronic Stress at Three Mile Island

This chapter discusses the research that has considered endocrinological responses to chronic stress experienced by people living near the damaged Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMI) near Middletown, Pennsylvania.

Abstract

This chapter discusses the research that has considered endocrinological responses to chronic stress experienced by people living near the damaged Three Mile Island Nuclear Station (TMI) near Middletown, Pennsylvania. Stress is a process that links environmental events with psychological analysis and interpretation of them, and a whole-body response to those events interpreted as threatening, challenging, or harmful. It may involve a single powerful event, such as a change of jobs or a natural disaster that is encountered against an otherwise benign background. Stress may involve a summation of several sources of threat or harm experienced on a day-to-day basis. The duration of the event, its power, suddenness, predictability, and the number of people affected by it may influence interpretation of, and response to, these events. Adrenocortical activity during stress requires some central appraisal of stimuli. Higher brain centers transmit signals to the hypothalamus, which secretes corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF). This stimulates pituitary activity and secretion of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which results in releases of corticosteroids, including cortisol, increasing the availability of energy in cells and heightening overall metabolism. Studies of stress have examined all of the levels of response, allowing evaluation of the degree of interdependence among them.