Taking a Look at Stress

The Science of Stress is an informative video by National Geographic detailing the body response to stress. Stress is the body’s way of getting itself prepared to face a challenge. It is constant problem that everyone has to deal with. It was originally meant to aid our survival, but over time it has become dangerous and lethal to our well being. National Geographic’s video gives us a scientific view of what goes on in our bodies when experiencing stress and its effects on it.

There are many different broad definitions of stress and how to cope with it, known as stress management.

Stress is defined as an automatic physical response to any stimulus that requires you to adjust to change.¹

Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand; it can be caused by both good and bad experiences.

Our book describes stress as “any circumstances that threaten or are perceived to threaten one’s well-being and tax one’s coping ability” (Weiten, 2014). Stress is not necessarily a traumatic, life destroying event. It can be as simple a small change in one’s daily schedule. People will have multiple stresses throughout their lifetime. Some will be little and daily, but overtime these add up and can affect you in many ways. Stress can be positive or negative and can take many forms; a few being frustration, internal conflict, change, and pressure. All of which make almost a daily appearance in my life (Weiten, 2014).

     Burnout is a direct effect of too much stress. People know if they’re stressed. Stress hormones, like adrenaline, help us react to extreme situations, but if those hormones don’t turn off, they can wear the body down. Symptoms of stress can cause nervousness, fatigue, insomnia, heartburn, headaches, stomach aches, and constipation. Lasting stress increases the risk of heart disease, impairs memory, weakens the immune system, and can accelerate the aging processes.

Cooper & Marshall (1976). A response based definition; this comes in three stages, first being the body is alerted and responds with a reaction. Moving on to the next stage being autonomic activity is activated so the body prepares to deal with the stress, but if the stress becomes overbearing the body cannot handle this and begins to breakdown and become damaged Selye (1956) And lastly stress as a dynamic process; this definition of stress which has contributing factors to the other two definitions of stress. This suggests stress is a dynamic process including internal and external factors, the characteristics of an individual and also the interactions between them. Cognitive factors are more focussed upon in this definition; the amount of stress experienced by a person is determined by demands. This definition suggests there is a link between emotional and environmental factors Sulsky and Smith (2005). The definition of stress is subjective to an individual and each have their own perceptions of what stress is. Stress is the concept how well a person can deal with lifestyle factors but in fact there are many ways stress can impact in anyway, it depends on the individual’s tolerance and view of a situation. In addition to Butler.G., the researchers Kranner, I., Minibayeva, F. V., Beckett, R. P., and Seal, C. E. (2010) definitions of stress were largely

Hans Selye started to use the term “stress” when he discovered that all of his patients looked sick and worn out. He concluded that all of them had something in common: they were all under physical stress. Selye did not stop when he provided convincing arguments that stress impacted health. Could it be psychological? Could it be stressful? John Mason, a physician, designed an experiment to test if psychological stress was equivalent physical stress. Either way hormone levels increased when put in a stressful situation. There was also a debate about whether people react the same way or react different. Eventually it came to be that there are common element that cause stress, however, people will react differently to the stressors. In my research,

Stress is a very popular concept about which there is still a lot of controversy. '' Stress as an adaptive response, moderated by individual differences, that is a consequence of any action, situation, or event that places special demands on a person '' (Ivancevich, page 214). We say that a person is subjected to a stress situation when he has to face environmental demands that exceed his resources, so that the subject perceives that he cannot give them an effective response, which causes an increase in the activation of the organism. However, stress is not always a bad thing, since in many cases the stress response puts a number of exceptional resources at the disposal of the person, fostering a better perception of the situation, a better search for solutions and a better selection of answers to deal with the situation that has caused it.

Stress cannot have detrimental effects not only to our mental health, but also our overall physical wellbeing as well, as discussed in “Mastering the World of Psychology: Fifth Edition” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2014). This textbook defines stress as “the physiological and psychological response to a condition that threatens or challenges an individual and requires some form of adaptation or adjustment” (Wood, Wood, & Boyd, 2014). And so, anything that causes individuals to change to keep mental or physical balance in life, is defined as a stressor.

Chrousos and Gold (1992) define stress as “a state of disharmony, or threatened homeostasis. The adaptive response can be specific or can be generalized and non specific.”

Stress, stressor and stress response might all seem to mean the same thing, but are all defined differently. Most people express or explain stress as pressure or that they feel pressure when they try to accomplish something (Rice, 1999). On the other hand, a stressor is the situation itself from which individuals feel stress and a stress response is the way in which our body acts due to stress, which includes changes in the mental, emotional and physiological well-being (Anisman, 2014). These concepts are important to understand since they can help to determine how and in which ways to reduce stress effectively. However, not all situations of stress are unhealthy or unwanted. Eustress is viewed as positive stress and can benefit mental performance

The word “stress” has become an essential part of our vocabulary today. The American Psychological Association defines stress as “a feeling of being overwhelmed, worried or run-down. Stress can affect people of all ages, genders and circumstances and can lead to both physical and psychological health issues.” There are external and internal factor that causes stress every day. For example in an internal level can be the inability to accept uncertainty, rigid thinking, and lack of flexibility, negative self-talk, and unrealistic expectations or perfectionism.

Stress is something that affects many people each and every day. Life is full of hassles, deadlines, frustrations, and demands. For some people stress is so common it is a way of life. Stress can be very harmful and or helpful. It could help motivate you to meet a deadline and perform a task under pressure. Stress can also be very harmful, such as memory problems, moodiness, aches and pains, and eating more or less.

Stress is something that we all experience on a daily basic in many different forms. There are stressors in our jobs, in our relationships, in our interactions with the unknown-- really in every aspect of our lives. For some the stress is great and for others it’s far more manageable.