Stress is the body's quick emergency response to real or imagined danger.

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A stress reaction prepares the body for a burst of action to fight or flee a threat. The heart speeds up, hands get cold and sweaty, muscles tense and the stomach feels jitteery.

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Stress that lasts a long time can exhaust the body and frazzle the mind with worry.

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A stressor is any event, thought, or situation that causes stress.

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Stress aids in survival by preparing the body for fight, or escape, better known as the fight-or-flight response. 

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Mild stress can provide a sense of excitement and help people perform at their peak. But severe stress can cause worry, disrupt sleep, and interfere with efficiency. 

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Modern life can be particularly stressful because we are exposed to stressors like natural disasters, ilnesses, test taking, traffic, school,  jobs, and noise. Certain life expeirences such as the death of a lovesd on are major stressors.

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Stress doesn't have to directly happen to you in order for you to feel stressed. TV, radio, newspapers, and the internet flood people with information about crime, disasters, terrorism, and other upsetting occurences throught the world. 

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Hans Seyle used the term General Adaptation syndrome to describe the body's reaction to stress. There are three stages to General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS)

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The alarm reaction begins in the brain when a frightning experience activates the hypothalamus, which send a nerve signal to the adrenal gland, located above the kidney. These nerve signals stimulate the medulla (core) of the adrenals to relase hormones called epinephrine, also know as adrenaline. 

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Epinephrine raises the heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and the amount of sugar in the blood. these effects increase alertness and deliver more blood, oxygen. and food to active muscles.

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2nd stage of GAS is called resistance. The body attempts to return to a state of balance. Breathing and hear rate decrease to normal levels. but the hypothalamus still sends a hormone signal to a nearby gland then releases adrenocorticotropic hormone, called ACTH

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ACTH travels to the cortex (outer layer) of the adrenal glands, and the cortex responds by releasing hormones called glucocorticoids. These hormones keep blood sugar high to provide extra engery. 

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Stage three of GAS is exhaustion. ..."In exhaustion, energy reserves are used up, leading to extreme fatigue and inability to resist new stressors."

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Women and men respond differently. Women may react to a stressor with a nurturing and protecting response, where they tend to seek support of others. This response may be due in part to the release of oxytocin, a hormone that also prompts childbirth and milk production in females. 

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"There are numerous emotional and physical disorders that have been linked to stress including depression, anxiety, heart attacks, stroke, hypertension, immune system disturbances that increase susceptibility to infections, a host of viral linked disorders ranging from the common cold and herpes to AIDS and certain cancers, as well as autoimmune diseases like rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis." 

Signs of stress 

In addition stress can have direct effects on the skin and can contribute to insomnia and degenerative neurological disorders like Parkinson’s disease. In fact, it’s hard to think of any disease in which stress cannot play an aggravating role or any part of the body that is not affected or. This list will undoubtedly grow as the extensive ramifications of stress are increasingly being appreciated.

Signs of Stress

The top five symptoms are

1. Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain
2. Gritting, grinding teeth
3. Stuttering or stammering
4. Tremors, trembling of lips, hands
5. Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms

Symptoms of Sttress

Stress can have wide ranging effects on emotions, mood and behavior. Equally important but often less appreciated are effects on various systems, organs and tissues all over the body, as illustrated by the following diagram.

Signs of Stress

Under stress, muscles tense up. The contraction of muscles for extended periods can trigger tension headaches, migrances and various musculoskeletal condtions.

Signs of stress

Stress can make you breathe harder and cause rapid breathing or hyperventilation, which can bring on panic attacks in some people. 

Signs of Stress

Acute stress is momentary stress. It can cause an increase in heart rate and stronger contractions of the heart muscle. Blood vessels that direct blood to the large muscles and to the heart dilate, increasing the amount of blood pumped to these parts of the body. Repreated epidsodes of acute stress can cause inflamation in the coronary arteries, thought to lead to heart attack.

Signs of stress

Stress can also cause you to eat much more/ess than you usually do. If you eat mor or different foods or increase your use of tobacco or alcohol, you may experience heartburn, or acid reflux. 

Signs of Stress

Your stomach can react with butterflies of even nausea of pain. You may vomit if the stress is severe enough. 

Signs of Stress

Stress is not a useful term for scientists because it is such a highly subjective phenomenon that it defies definition.  The term “stress”, as it is currently used was coined by Hans Selye in 1936, who defined it as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change”. 

What is stress

Selye had noted in numerous experiments that laboratory animals subjected to acute but different noxious physical and emotional stimuli all exhibited the same pathologic changes of stomach ulcerations, shrinkage of lymphoid tissue and enlargement of the adrenals. He later demonstrated that persistent stress could cause these animals to develop various diseases similar to those seen in humans, such as heart attacks, stroke, kidney disease and rheumatoid arthritis.

What is stress

For example, winning a race or election can be just as stressful as losing, or more so. A passionate kiss and contemplating what might follow is stressful, but hardly the same as having a root canal procedure.

What is stress

Stress is difficult to define because it is so different for each of us. A good example is afforded by observing passengers on a steep roller coaster ride. Some are hunched down in the back seats, eyes shut, jaws clenched and white knuckled with an iron grip on the retaining bar. They can’t wait for the ride in the torture chamber to end so they can get back on solid ground and scamper away. But up front are the wide-eyed thrill seekers, yelling and relishing each steep plunge who race to get on the very next ride. And in between you may find a few with an air of nonchalance that borders on boredom.

What is stress

You may feel like the stress in your life is out of your control, but you can always control the way you respond. Managing stress is all about taking charge: taking charge of your thoughts, your emotions, your schedule, your environment, and the way you deal with problems. Stress management involves changing the stressful situation when you can, changing your reaction when you can’t, taking care of yourself, and making time for rest and relaxation.

Symptoms causes and effects

Avoid unnecessary stress. Not all stress can be avoided, but by learning how to say no, distinguishing between “shoulds” and “musts” on your to-do list, and steering clear of people or situations that stress you out, you can eliminate many daily stressors.

Causes and effects

Alter the situation. If you can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Be more assertive and deal with problems head on. Instead of bottling up your feelings and increasing your stress, respectfully let others know about your concerns. Or be more willing to compromise and try meeting others halfway on an issue.

Causes and affects

Adapt to the stressor. When you can’t change the stressor, try changing yourself. Reframe problems or focus on the positive things in your life. If a task at work has you stressed, focus on the aspects of your job you do enjoy. And always look at the big picture: is this really something worth getting upset about?

Causes and effects

Accept the things you can’t change. There will always be stressors in life that you can’t do anything about. Learn to accept the inevitable rather than rail against a situation and making it even more stressful. Look for the upside in a situation—even the most stressful circumstances can be an opportunity for learning or personal growth. Learn to accept that no one, including you, is ever perfect

Causes and effects

“Stress, in addition to being itself, was also the cause of itself, and the result of itself.”

Management tips

Stress can be defined as the brain's response to any demand. Many things can trigger this response, including change. Changes can be positive or negative, as well as real or perceived. They may be recurring, short-term, or long-term and may include things like commuting to and from school or work every day, traveling for a yearly vacation, or moving to another home.

NIMH