What Is Stress?
Stress is your body's way of reacting to the emotional and physical strain caused by particular events. Many different things can cause stress, you could be stressing over family or a job, good or bad.
Many of us face Stress sometime in our lives, occasionally even on a daily basis. Some stresses you can’t live without but maybe you wouldn’t want to because of the thrill of it. Not forgetting that stress could also be harmful to your health and life’s satisfaction.
We need to learn about managing stress, how stress affects our mind and body, identifying the warning signs of stress, how to develop good stress-management techniques and when we need to, try to find professional help.
Good Stress and Bad Stress
Good stress can make you feel excited and eager. Bad stresses can cause nervousness and a feeling of being uneasy. Either way you can be distracted from what you are doing or need to do. Some people are totally oblivious to the stress going on around them and can cope with it quite well whereas for most of us managing stress is vital for a high quality performance.
The first step to learning how to better deal with your stress is to identify what is causing it. It is quite important to learn to detect the symptoms of the stress before it gets out of hand.
Chemicals are released in the blood when people feel stressed by current events and your body floods with adrenaline and other hormones. You start to sweat, your blood pressure will increase and possible nausea or butterfly feeling in the stomach.
The good news is that if you understand your own stress responses, you can manage them. A heightened state of arousal and awareness can be a big help in a high-pressure situation. With a little practice, you can redirect your bodily response before it escalates into a crisis. Through a combination of cognitive and physical techniques, you can learn to enter a test situation with a cool head, in the relaxed and positive frame of mind where you’re most likely to succeed.
What is stress caused by?
There are plenty of explanations that cause stress, such as physical and emotional stress which affects both your body and your mind. Not all stresses are caused by work related issues. If you are suffering from a great amount of stress you can become tired, sick, and unable to concentrate or think clearly. Some people may even suffer from a mental breakdown.
Causes of stress are known as stressors which come in two categories: external stressors and internal stressors:
Internal Stress
This is an important kind of stress to be aware of and control, also when people make themselves stressed by worrying about things they can’t control or place themselves in a stressful situation. Some people enjoy a vigorous, fast-paced lifestyle.
External Stress
Is a physical condition with regards to working conditions, bullying and abusive relationships for example.
Stressors can also be described as either acute or chronic in other words short term or long term:
Acute Stress
Is also known as fight or flight response or in simple terms shock.
Acute Stress is when a psychological condition arises in response to an immediate perceived threat, physically and emotionally. During an acute stress response, the nervous system is automatically activated and the body experiences increased levels of cortisol, adrenalin and other hormones that produce an increased heart rate, quickened breathing rate, and higher blood pressure. Blood is shunted from the extremities to the big muscles, preparing the body to fight or run away.
Chronic Stress
This is an ongoing state of stress, for example relationship issues, being in isolation, financial worries and ongoing pressure at work. These ongoing occurrences make possible for people believe they have no control which could cause damage to the individual’s physical and metal state.