Stress is a biological response to a perceived threat. It’s caused by chemicals and hormones surging throughout your body. It can help you respond to a particular problem, but too much can harm your health.
Stress triggers your fight-or-flight response in order to fight the stressor or run away from it. Typically, after the response occurs, your body should relax. Too much constant stress can have negative effects.
Is all stress bad?
Stress isn’t necessarily a bad thing. It’s what helped our hunter-gatherer ancestors survive, and it’s just as important in today’s world. It can be healthy when it helps you avoid an accident, meet a tight deadline, or keep your wits about you amid chaos.
We all feel stressed at times, but what one person finds stressful may be very different from what another finds stressful. An example of this would be public speaking. Some love the thrill of it and others become paralyzed at the very thought.
Stress isn’t always a bad thing, either. Your wedding day, for example, may be considered a good form of stress.
But stress should be temporary. Once you’ve passed the fight-or-flight moment, your heart rate and breathing should slow down and your muscles should relax. In a short time, your body should return to its natural state without any lasting negative effects.
On the other hand, severe, frequent, or prolonged stress can be mentally and physically harmful.
And it’s fairly common. When asked, 80 percent of Americans reported they’d had at least one symptom of stress in the past month. Twenty percent reported being under extreme stress.
Life being what it is, it’s not possible to eliminate stress completely. But we can learn to avoid it when possible and manage it when it’s unavoidable.
Defining stress
Stress is a normal biological reaction to a potentially dangerous situation. When you encounter sudden stress, your brain floods your body with chemicals and hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol.
That gets your heart beating faster and sends blood to muscles and important organs. You feel energized and have heightened awareness so you can focus on your immediate needs. These are the different stages of stress and how people adapt.
Stress and cortisol
As the main stress hormone, cortisol plays an essential role in stressful situations. Among its functions are:
- raising the amount of glucose in your bloodstream
- helping the brain use glucose more effectively
- raising the accessibility of substances that help with tissue repair
- restraining functions that are nonessential in a life-threatening situation
- altering immune system response
- dampening the reproductive system and growth process
- affecting parts of the brain that control fear, motivation, and mood
All this helps you deal more effectively with a high-stress situation. It’s a normal process and crucial to human survival.
But if your cortisol levels stay high for too long, it has a negative impact on your health. It can contribute to:
- weight gain
- high blood pressure
- sleep problems
- lack of energy
- type 2 diabetes
- osteoporosis
- mental cloudiness (brain fog) and memory problems
- a weakened immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to infections
It can also have a negative impact on your mood. You can lower your cortisol levels naturally: Here’s how.
Types of stress
There are several types of stress, including:
- acute stress
- episodic acute stress
- chronic stress
Acute stress
Acute stress happens to everyone. It’s the body’s immediate reaction to a new and challenging situation. It’s the kind of stress you might feel when you narrowly escape a car accident.
Acute stress can also come out of something that you actually enjoy. It’s the somewhat-frightening, yet thrilling feeling you get on a roller coaster or when skiing down a steep mountain slope.
These incidents of acute stress don’t normally do you any harm. They might even be good for you. Stressful situations give your body and brain practice in developing the best response to future stressful situations.
Once the danger passes, your body systems should return to normal.
Severe acute stress is a different story. This kind of stress, such as when you’ve faced a life-threatening situation, can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other mental health problems.
Episodic acute stress
Episodic acute stress is when you have frequent episodes of acute stress.
This might happen if you’re often anxious and worried about things you suspect may happen. You might feel that your life is chaotic and you seemingly go from one crisis to the next.
Certain professions, such as law enforcement or firefighters, might also lead to frequent high-stress situations.
As with severe acute stress, episodic acute stress can affect your physical health and mental well-being.
Chronic stress
When you have high-stress levels for an extended period of time, you have chronic stress. Long-term stress like this can have a negative impact on your health. It may contribute to:
- anxiety
- cardiovascular disease
- depression
- high blood pressure
- a weakened immune system
Chronic stress can also lead to frequent ailments such as headaches, an upset stomach, and sleep difficulties. Gaining insights into the different types of stress and how to recognize them may help.
Stress headache
Stress headaches, also known as tension headaches, are due to tense muscles in the head, face, and neck. Some of the symptoms of a stress headache are:
- mild to moderate dull head pain
- a band of pressure around your forehead
- tenderness of the scalp and forehead
Many things can trigger a tension headache. But those tight muscles could be due to emotional stress or anxiety. Learn more about the triggers and remedies for stress headaches.
Stress at work
Work can be a source of great stress for any number of reasons. This kind of stress can be occasional or chronic.
Stress at work can come in the form of:
- feeling you lack power or control over what happens
- feeling stuck in a job you dislike and seeing no alternatives
- being made to do things you don’t think you should do
- experiencing a conflict with a co-worker
- having too much asked of you, or being overworked
If you’re in a job you hate or are always responding to others’ demands without any control, stress seems unavoidable. Sometimes, quitting or fighting for more work-life balance is the right thing to do. This is how to know you’re headed for burnout at work.
Of course, some jobs are just more dangerous than others. Some, such as emergency first-responders, call for you to put your life on the line. Then, there are professions — such as ones in the medical field, like a doctor or nurse — where you hold someone else’s life in your hands. Finding balance and managing your stress is important to maintain your mental health.
Stress and anxiety
Stress and anxiety often go hand in hand. Stress comes from the demands placed on your brain and body. Anxiety is when you feel high levels of worry, unease, or fear.
Anxiety can certainly be an offshoot of episodic or chronic stress.
Having both stress and anxiety can have a severe negative impact on your health, making you more likely to develop:
- high blood pressure
- heart disease
- diabetes
- panic disorder
- depression
Stress and anxiety can be treated. In fact, there are many strategies and resources that can help for both.
Start by seeing your primary doctor, who can check your overall health and refer you for counseling. If you’ve thought about harming yourself or others, get help immediately.
Takeaway
While stress is a normal part of life, too much stress is clearly harmful to your physical and mental well-being.
Fortunately, there are many ways to manage stress, and there are effective treatments for both anxiety and depression that may be connected with it. See more ways stress can affect your body.
1. Acute StressThis is the most severe form of stress which demands the body’s immediate reaction to a new challenge, event or demand. Acute stress is not always negative. It can even be experienced while on a roller-coaster in the form of fear. Stress suffered as the victim of a crime or life-threatening situation can cause mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder.2. Episodic Acute StressFrequent occurrence of acute stress is called episodic acute stress. People who are often anxious, irritable or short tempered experience this kind of stress. Victims carry a persistent negative outlook to everything and worry over every small issue. Negative health effects occur in people with episodic acute stress. These people accept stress as a part of their life and it is difficult for them to alter their lifestyle.(Also read: 
3. Chronic StressIf acute stress prolongs for a longer period of time it becomes chronic stress. This kind of stress is constant and doesn’t easily go away. It results from financial troubles, an unhappy marriage, a bad job or a dysfunctional family. Chronic stress is harmful for your health and can lead to diseases such as heart ailments and depression.4. Physical StressPhysical stress can occur from trauma due to injury, infection or any kind of surgery, intense physical labor, environmental pollution, inadequate oxygen supply, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, dehydration, substance abuse, dental problems among others. (Also read:
5. Psychological StressThis includes emotional stress from fears, frustration, sadness, 6. Psychosocial StressThis stress comes from relationship or marriage difficulties. It could be a relationship of an employee-employer, siblings or family. Lack of social support, loss of employment, loss of loved ones and isolation can lead to this kind of stress.
Disclaimer:
In our ever tedious and preoccupied lives where we seem to be chasing one thing after the other, feeling stressed has become fairly common. It could be stress from work or personal life, acute or chronic. Even when our body is at rest, our mind never stops thinking which ultimately leads to stress and the feeling of being burdened. Stress is very subjective. It may be temporary in nature due to a certain phase you’re going through and your body returns to the normal state once it passes. But if it prolongs, stress can lead to some serious ailments like depression , heart trouble or even high blood pressure . Here’s a quick lowdown on the various types of stress you should know about.This is the most severe form of stress which demands the body’s immediate reaction to a new challenge, event or demand. Acute stress is not always negative. It can even be experienced while on a roller-coaster in the form of fear. Stress suffered as the victim of a crime or life-threatening situation can cause mental health problems like post-traumatic stress disorder or acute stress disorder.Frequent occurrence of acute stress is called episodic acute stress. People who are often anxious, irritable or short tempered experience this kind of stress. Victims carry a persistent negative outlook to everything and worry over every small issue. Negative health effects occur in people with episodic acute stress. These people accept stress as a part of their life and it is difficult for them to alter their lifestyle.(Also read: 6 Expert Tips to Overcome Mental Stress at Work If acute stress prolongs for a longer period of time it becomes chronic stress. This kind of stress is constant and doesn’t easily go away. It results from financial troubles, an unhappy marriage, a bad job or a dysfunctional family. Chronic stress is harmful for your health and can lead to diseases such as heart ailments and depression.Physical stress can occur from trauma due to injury, infection or any kind of surgery, intense physical labor, environmental pollution, inadequate oxygen supply, fatigue, hormonal imbalance, dehydration, substance abuse, dental problems among others. (Also read: Why Yoga is a Great Stress Buster This includes emotional stress from fears, frustration, sadness, anger and grief and cognitive stress from jealousy, attachments, anxiety , panic attacks or self-criticism. It basically refers to the emotional and physiological reactions experienced when an individual comes across a situation. (Also read: Exam Time? 6 Helpful Ways to Prevent Stress and Score High This stress comes from relationship or marriage difficulties. It could be a relationship of an employee-employer, siblings or family. Lack of social support, loss of employment, loss of loved ones and isolation can lead to this kind of stress.
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