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Stress And Its Effects On The Mind, Body, And Environment

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Stress can be defined in a number of ways and is experienced differently by each individual. Stress is natural, a physiological response involving a complex interaction between the mind, body, and environment. Stress is not fundamentally negative, people need a certain amount in their everyday lives to maintain function. An optimal level of stress stimulates an individual to stay alert and perform at a desired level. Ideally, stress enables us to take action by stimulating our sympathetic nervous system and improving our mental focus. If we become too relaxed or subjected to too little stress, we can become less motivated and less prepared for physical action. This type of situation also impedes our ability to respond appropriately to any given situations. Opposite of too little stress, when we encounter too much stress our body becomes overwhelmed and we lose our superior mental stance (The American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, 2009). There are three kinds of stress-producing factors affecting the way humans cognitively perform. Objective factors refer to those naturally stressful situations, to include both negative and positive events. It is imperative to understand that the degree in which a person experiences stress becomes individualized over time, primarily caused by an array of subjective factors. Subjective factors are indicated by our own personal thoughts and how we determine whether or not something is stressful and to what extent we experience that

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