What is stress?
What is stress?
To put it generally, stress is a physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. These factors or experiences are perceived as threats or challenges to the individual and can be either physical or psychological.
Stress can occur from acute events like seeing a bear in front of you or seeing a speeding car approach you. Stress can also be chronic like worrying about losing a job or getting unfortunate news about a friend or family member.
References:
Harvard Health Publishing. (2011, March). Understanding the stress response. Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
How does stress affect the body?
Acute stress occurs when someone is in a frightening or fearful situation. When a person feels fear adrenaline triggers a response in the body which activates the sympathetic nervous system. This causes the heart and lungs to work faster, the pupils dilate, muscles tense and the senses become heightened to enable the body to get out of the dangerous or fearful situation. While this response from the body is helpful in a dangerous situation, no one really wants to live in this state of fear/stress all the time. It is important to have coping mechanisms that can help to alleviate and work through challenging times.
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