An Overview of Stress and Its Effects on Your Body

The dictionary defines stress as "the failure of a person to respond appropriately to a situation that develops in his/her life." This stress can be a real situation or could just exist in the person’s mind. Whether or not it is real, the brain reacts in the same way and produces a state of alarm in the body by producing more hormones than are necessary to prepare the body for "fight or flight."

There are three stages of stress in the way the body reacts when it feels threatened in some way. The first stage is alarm, which results in the release of adrenaline, as well as the activation of the HPA axis, which produces cortisol. The second stage is resistance if the stressor exists for a period of time.

This is the body’s way of coping with stress. When it has to keep this up for a long time, the result is exhaustion, which is the third stage. At this point the body has depleted its resources for dealing with stress. This is when we are most aware of the symptoms of stress as it manifests itself in other ways, such as headache, stomach problems, mood changes, or depression, to list some examples.

Negative and positive experiences can cause stress. There are facets of the environment that can place the body in a state of stress as well, such as exposure to sounds and scents that cause unpleasant sensations, and situations such as lack of food and proper housing.

Everyone experiences stress at some time or another in their lives. It may be a one-time event or something that continues for a prolonged period. The effect that stress has on your life and the severity of the symptoms depend to a great extent on the ways in which you manage the stress or reduce it.

We commonly think of stress in our lives as being harmful and of having negative effects. However stress can be beneficial when you develop ways of managing stress properly. When you have a problem to solve, you can benefit from the stress because it encourages you to seek solutions and redirect your thinking. You need to have a healthy attitude towards stress in order to face new situations with an open mind.

For many people, past experiences have a direct bearing on how well they are at managing stress in their lives. Those who have been rejected many times will no doubt have low self-confidence and their way of managing stress will be to shy away from any situation that they perceive as being stressful for them.

This type of behavior, when it persists over a long period of time, can lead to more serious psychological problems and phobias. Chronic stress can lead to a breakdown in relationships, leading to divorce and addiction to drugs and alcohol, overeating/weight gain, or extreme weight loss.

When you recognize the symptoms of stress in your life, you should begin to look for ways in which you can cope with stress. If this is not possible, then you need to look for ways of managing it or for solutions to help you get relief. Taking up a new hobby that will get your mind off the situation, going for a walk, having a laugh with friends - all of these are great ways of managing your stress so that you stay healthy.