alarm reaction

noun

, Physiology.

1. the first stage of the general adaptation syndrome, in which the body responds to stress by exhibiting shock.

Word History and Origins

Origin of alarm reaction¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

“Grief – in its most basic form – represents an alarm reaction set off by a deficit signal in the behavioural system underlying attachment,” writes psychology professor John Archer of the University of Central Lancashire in his book The Nature of Grief.

From Scientific American

Having mobilized the defense forces of the body, the alarm reaction is followed by a stage of increased resistance to whatever stress caused the alarm.

From Time Magazine Archive

It begins, he holds, with an alarm reaction.

From Time Magazine Archive

Interference with goal-directed behavior of an individual gives rise to the alarm reaction.

From Time Magazine Archive

If the interference can be successfully disposed of or avoided altogether, the alarm reaction will recede.

From Time Magazine Archive