What is Stress?

What is Stress?

The word stress is derived from the Latin word "stringi", which means, "to be drawn tight".

Definition: Stress is the body's reaction to a change that requires a physical, mental or emotional adjustment or response to events that causes bodily or mental tension.

The word "stress" is generally used when a person feels that everything seems to have become too much – the individual feels overloaded and wonders whether he really can cope with the pressures placed upon him. . Anything that poses a challenge or a threat to our well-being is a stress.

What causes stress?

Stress can be thought of as resulting from an “imbalance between demands and resources” or as occurring when “pressure exceeds one's perceived ability to cope”.

Stress is a normal physical response to events that make one feel threatened or upset ones balance in some way. When a person senses danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defenses kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response.

Positive effects of stress

Some stresses get you going and they are good for you. Positive and negative stress is a constant influence on all of our lives. The trick is to maximize the positive stress and to minimize the negative stress.

High performance and achievement, and increased satisfaction are most often experienced under conditions of stress. The challenge before us is therefore to control stress within reasonable and productive bounds, rather than to eliminate it all together.