Stress is said to be any kind of change that results in an emotional, physical or psychological strain. Not all kinds of stress are negative and harmful. There are many stress factors that really hit us quite in an unknown way.
Eusterss is a kind of stress that is exciting and fun, and keeps our health in good condition. So there is the simple pleasure that you get out of skiing down a slope or racing to meet a target which causes a kind of stress which is called Eustress.
Acute stress is another kind of stress that is a positive kind of stress is called eustress and when stress is very distressing then it is actual stress. This is the type of stress that we have in everyday life and cause ourselves a l
ot of distress.
Then there is episodic acute stress where acute stress is very rampant and is a way of living for many. This is creates a lot of chaos and disorganization. This is the type of stress that got the terms “absent minded professor “,” drama queen” etc.
Chronic Stress is a kind of stress that never seems to end and is something that you cannot escape. This is the stress that one faces after a bad marriage and this becomes an extremely taxing and stressful thing to do. This is a stress that can also lead to conditions like a burnout. Many people who undergo stress never seem to understand that they are undergoing stress and believe that they are just living a fast life. Unfortunately all this and more leads to stress and stressful conditions.
Then there is the fight or flight response which creates a lot of reaction and leads to release of lot of cortisol and adrenalin. The slowing digestion and the speeding heart rate alongwith the shunting blood flow to many muscle groups along with changing autonomic nervous functions leads to giving the body a lot of strength and energy. Initially fight of flight response was used for situations where we have to physically retaliated or run away when we are faced with dancer. T today it is more for situation where neither fight nor flight is right . For example there is a lot of stress in traffic and after a stressful day at work. When the threat is gone, the system is designed such that it would return to functioning normally. This normally doesn’t happen as much as is required and causes a lot of damage to the entire body.
When there is an over activated autonomic nervous system and chronic stress, people get a lot of physical symptoms. The initial symptoms are mild like an increased susceptibility to cold and chronic headaches. With more exposure to stress, the health suffers and results in conditions like hair loss, diabetes, hyperthyroidism, obesity, and anxiety disorder. It also results in sexual dysfunction, ulcers, tooth and gum disease and many times cancer.
Stress is an everyday feature in our daily life and it is in our hands how best we could deal with it. Stress is that part of health which should be pampered well and taken care of otherwise causes lot of side reactions.
