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Stress : Causes, Effects, And Treatments

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Stress: Causes, Effects, and Treatments

INTRODUCTION Stress is a major component of people’s lives at some point or another. Stress is a state of mental and/or emotional tension as a result of demanding circumstances and events. Stress has an impact on humans physically and psychologically. There are different types of stress including: acute, episodic acute, and chronic. Acute is the most common form of stress and it only has temporary effects, episodic is a more frequent form of acute stress, and chronic is the most destructive. Individuals react to these forms of stress in many different ways. There are techniques for dealing with stress, however, not all are positive and healthy treatments. The brain and body follow a complex pathway in order for a person to respond to and feel stress. UNDERSTANDING THE STRESS RESPONSE Mental health experts from Harvard University conducted a study to understand the stress response better. Stressful situations can cause hormones to produce physiological changes. The heart-beat may increase, breathe may quicken, muscles may tense up, and sweat may appear. When a combination of these common reactions occur, one may be experiencing the “flight-or-fight” response because “it evolved as a survival mechanism, enabling people and other mammals to react quickly to life-threatening situations” (Understand Stress, 2011). The initial reaction to stress begins in the brain. “When someone confronts an oncoming car or other danger, the eyes

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