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Stress is the disruption of homeostasis and physical or psychological stimuli. Stress is a feeling that’s created when we react to particular events. Stress is simply a fact of nature — forces from the outside world affecting the individual. Stress is the “wear and tear” our bodies experience as we adjust to our continually changing environment. it has physical and emotional effects on us and can create positive or negative feelings. As a positive influence, stress can help compel us to action; it can result in a new awareness and an exciting new perspective. As a negative influence, it can result in feelings of distrust, rejection, anger, and depression, which in turn can lead to health problems such as headaches, upset stomach, rashes, insomnia, ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and stroke. With the death of a loved one, the birth of a child, a job promotion, or a new relationship, we experience stress as we readjust our lives. In so adjusting to different circumstances, stress will help or hinder us depending on how we react to it. The human body responds to stressors by activating the nervous system and specific hormones. The hypothalamus signals the adrenal glands to produce more of the hormones adrenaline and cortisol and release them into the bloodstream. These hormones speed up heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and metabolism.

Stress can also be triggered by alarming experiences, either real or imaginary. A little of this stress can help keep you on your toes, ready to rise to a challenge. Stress has driven evolutionary change (the development and natural selection of species over time). And the nervous system quickly returns to its normal state, standing by to respond again when needed. Sometimes stress is helpful – it can encourage you to meet a deadline or get things done. But long-term stress can increase the risk of diseases like depression, heart disease and a variety of other problems. When the threat or stressor is identified or realised, the body’s stress response is a state of alarm. During this stage adrenaline will be produced in order to bring about the fight or flight response. There is also some activation of the HPA axis, producing cortisol. Stress also activates the neurally mediated discharge of adrenaline from the adrenal medulla and of hypothalamic hormones that initiate the neuroendocrine cascade, culminating in glucocorticoid release from the adrenal cortex. If the stressor persists, it becomes necessary to attempt some means of coping with the stress. Although the body begins to try to adapt to the strains or demands of the environment, the body cannot keep this up indefinitely, so its resources are gradually depleted. Term of stress in serious and recognized cases, such as those of post-traumatic stress disorder and psychosomatic illness, has scarcely helped clear analysis of the generalized “stress” phenomenon. Read the rest of this entry »