Stress (psychology)
Overview
Stress, in psychological terms, refers to a feeling of emotional or physical tension. It can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous. Stress is your body's reaction to a challenge or demand. In short bursts, stress can be positive, such as when it helps you avoid danger or meet a deadline. But when stress lasts for a long time, it may harm your health read more.
Types of Stress
There are primarily three types of stress: acute stress, episodic acute stress, and chronic stress. Each has its own characteristics, symptoms, duration, and treatment approaches.
Acute Stress
Acute stress is the most common type of stress. It's your body's immediate reaction to a new challenge, event, or demand, and it triggers your fight-or-flight response. As the most common form of stress, acute stress can come from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future.
Episodic Acute Stress
People who frequently experience acute stress, or whose lives present frequent triggers of stress, have episodic acute stress. A person with episodic acute stress often lives a life of chaos and crisis. They are always in a rush, but always late. If something can go wrong, it does. They take on too much, have too many irons in the fire, and can't organize the slew of self-inflicted demands and pressures clamoring for their attention.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is the stress that wears people away day after day, year after year. Chronic stress destroys bodies, minds, and lives. It wreaks havoc through long-term attrition. It's the stress of poverty, of dysfunctional families, of being trapped in an unhappy marriage or in a despised job or career. Chronic stress comes when a person never sees a way out of a miserable situation. It's the stress of unrelenting demands and pressures for seemingly interminable periods of time.
Causes of Stress
Stress can be caused by any type of physical or emotional stimulus or situation. Often, people speak of different types of stress such as work stress, relationship stress, or parenting stress. Some common causes of stress include:
- Major life changes
- Work or school
- Relationship difficulties
- Financial problems
- Being too busy
- Children and family
Effects of Stress
Stress can affect all aspects of your life, including your emotions, behaviors, thinking ability, and physical health. No part of the body is immune. But, because people handle stress differently, symptoms of stress can vary. Symptoms can be vague and may be the same as those caused by medical conditions. So it is important to discuss them with your doctor. You may experience any of the following symptoms of stress.
Emotional symptoms of stress include:
- Becoming easily agitated, frustrated, and moody
- Feeling overwhelmed, like you are losing control or need to take control
- Having difficulty relaxing and quieting your mind
- Feeling bad about yourself (low self-esteem), lonely, worthless, and depressed
- Avoiding others
Physical symptoms of stress include:
- Low energy
- Headaches
- Upset stomach, including diarrhea, constipation, and nausea
- Aches, pains, and tense muscles
- Chest pain and rapid heartbeat
- Insomnia
- Frequent colds and infections
- Loss of sexual desire and/or ability
Coping with Stress
Coping with stress requires the identification and management of stressors in your life. You can manage stress by using relaxation techniques, physical activity, and other lifestyle changes.
Relaxation Techniques
Relaxation techniques are an essential part of stress management. Because of the damaging effects of stress on the mind and body, it's important to equip ourselves with the tools necessary to maintain and restore a state of relaxation in the body. Some techniques include meditation, deep breathing exercises, and progressive muscle relaxation.
Physical Activity
Physical activity plays a key role in reducing and preventing the effects of stress. Make time for at least 30 minutes of exercise, three times per week. Aerobic exercise does wonders for releasing pent-up stress and tension.
Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes are a simple but powerful tool in treating stress and anxiety. These are general strategies that help most people with stress and anxiety. They can include getting enough sleep, eating a healthy diet, avoiding alcohol and caffeine, and quitting smoking.