STRESS AND ITS EFFECTS

Stress and its Effects

Stress and its Effects

Introduction

Stress seems to be a common word in today's society, and the fact is we are under more stress today than we were just a few years ago, and this stress we are under can lead to serious health problems.

Stress is defined as: the non-specific response of the body, to any demand made on it. From this definition we can see that we are always in some sort of stress, eustress is stress that is beneficial to us, such as moderate exercise. (Judith 2005) Eustress is not what we need to be concerned about, it is the stress that is objectionable to us that is cause for concern, this type of stress is called distress. When people talk about stress it is distress that they are usually talking about and it is distress that I will be concerned with here.

Related Work

The major sources of stress are: life changes, chronic stressors, hassles, burnout, frustration and conflict. Each of these stressors has a specific definition; life changes are basically anything that disrupts our lives, chronic stressors are things such as bad marriages, living under an airport with the noise of aircraft, and the biggest one of all, work. Hassles are the little problems of daily living that seem to stack up. Chronically stressful and emotionally draining situations can lead to burnout, frustration is typically blocked goals, and conflict is being forced to decide between two incompatible choices. Exposure to numerous stressful events within a short period of time could have a detrimental effect on health. (Debra 2005)

This is the main difference between natural reactions, it is necessary to survive, and our own perception, the things we think are necessary for survival. Constant stress is very harmful, because it makes the sympathetic system at work, which eventually leads to exhaustion, the third stage of general adaptation syndrome (GAS) Canadian scientist described by Selye.This is the stage when the body cannot withstand shock and depletion. (Zimmer,2005)

As biochemical reactions became clearer, is important to know what events may cause permanent stress. There are mainly three types of stressors, catastrophes, major life changes and daily concerns. All agree that the disaster is something that cannot take control, so it is partly a natural reaction to the loss of our security. (Jennifer 2005)

Terrorism may also be classified as a disaster. Remember that the events of 11 September. "The findings ...