What is Stress?

Stress is constantly in the news, every day the newspapers and media carry more facts and figures regarding the amount of people suffering from stress, work days lost through stress and diseases caused by stress. Stress is an abstract concept and may exist for one person but not for another, so the things that cause one person to experience stress will have no affect on someone else. What is clear is that, the more effective we are at dealing with stress the happier our lives will be.

Here are some definitions

"Stress is an imbalance between perceived demands and perceived coping ability". This definition says that we will be anxious and worried if we feel that a situation or an event will need skills and abilities that we may not have, therefore, we may not be able to cope.

"Stress is caused by change and fear of change". It is suggested that we may have difficulty handling any changes to our situation, these changes are clearly perceived as threats to our comfort and well-being.

"Stress is the gap between where we are now, and want to be". Again the issue is change from our existing comfort zone to another comfort zone. It's the bit in the middle that is the problem.

So stress involves change and our perceived capabilities for handling it. This is clearly an issue, as we all know that modern life involves constant never-ending change. We are always reminded that change is the norm rather than the exception, "lucky us".

Is Stress All Bad?

Stress is considered to be either good stress called "eustress" or bad stress, referred to as "distress". Good stress is enjoyable and helps us perform well at work, sports and leisure. Good stress gives us the right amount of pressure and motivates us to change and develop ourselves. Bad stress or distress is the type that we often refer to and has negative consequences for our physical and mental health. Curiously, our physical reactions to good and bad stress are the same.

Taking Control

The key aspect is whether we feel that we are in control or not. The less we feel that we are in control of our lives, the more stressful our lives become. Confidence and control are absolutely key.

Fight or Flight

Our nervous stress responses are the same as they were during the Stone Age and were developed to preserve our lives against danger - to fight or flee. Our stress responses mobilised our bodies for extreme physical exertion. However, the same stress responses that we once used to avoid getting trampled to death by stampeding animals are not as useful for modern stresses such as paying the bills, meeting deadlines, taking exams, giving presentations and crowded commuting. These modern frustrations still mobilise us for physical action, however it is no longer appropriate as our lives are not in immediate danger. We are all fired up physically, but without an appropriate means of release. Long term this over-stimulation can have damaging effects on our health.

Physiological Responses to Stress

Psychological & Emotional Responses to Stress

Behavioural Responses to Stress