Info about Stress
What is Stress?
To be alive and to interact with other people in the world, you must have stress. You need stress in order to survive. However, if stress is too strong or lasts too long, it can harm your body. It can even lead to exhaustion and death. You can live a healthier life if you understand what stress is and if you learn to control it and cope with it.
The meaning of stress:
The meaning of stress Scientists tell us that stress is the general physical changes produced by any stimulus. The stimulus may be pleasant or unpleasant. That means that the stress produced by a hug is the same as the stress produced by a kick. In either event, the following changes may occur.
• The hormone adrenaline is secreted from the adrenal glands.
• Heart rate increases.
• Pupils of the eyes enlarge.
• Body temperature rises.
• Blood pressure rises.
•The liver releases stored sugar into the blood.
•Breathing rate increases.
• Blood supplies to the brain, heart, and large muscles increase.
• Muscular strength increases.
A stimulus that results in these changes is called the stressor. A stressor may be a physical injury, an infection, a test, a football game, or the demands of your best friend. No matter what the stressor, the body responds.
Usually, when people use the word stress, they are referring to the feelings associated with these physical changes. You probably have special expressions that describe fear, anger, and other emotions associated with stress. Some of these expressions are jittery, uptight, butterflies in my stomach, bent out of shape, blew my top, upset, and tense. The expressions may differ among your friends, but the feelings are familiar to everyone. Everyone experiences a pounding heart, shaky legs, sweaty palms, an unwanted blush, and other signs of stress at one time or another.
Fight or flight:
The stress response can be a protective device. Imagine walking alone in a forest. Suddenly you find yourself face to face with a snarling tiger. The message— TIGER!!!—races to the brain from the eyes. Immediately the stress response occurs. Physical changes, such as the release of adrenalin and an increased heart and breathing rate, give you more strength. You are ready either to fight or to run away fast. Either way, you attempt to protect yourself. Seeing the tiger is the stressor, and the physical changes are stress.
The stressor could also be the fear some people experience while giving a speech rather than meeting a tiger. You usually do not fight or run away from such stressors. Instead you stand there and give the speech. Your body still uses that quick surge of energy. This is the reason you may find yourself perspiring and shaking with “stage fright.” In most stressful situations, the choice is not as simple as “fight or flight,” even though that is what the body prepares for. Instead, people learn to cope with stress in a variety of other ways.