What is Stress?

According to Baum (1990), stress is any uncomfortable emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological and behavioral changes. What does this mean?
In simpler terms, stress is basically the psychological perception of pressure and how our body responds to it, when we believe that we don`t have the ability to cope with the issue at hand.  Stress can be physical, mental or emotional, caused by the environment or internal factors.  According to Lazarus (1998), stress arises less from events themselves than from how we appraise them.
According to the American Psychological Association, the main causes of stress provided from surveys are employment and money. 

 

We`ve ALL experienced stress before, but do you know that stress can be positive as well? There are three types of stress which include Acute Stress, episodic stress and chronic stress. (to read about what these are, click on the following link <: https://www.healthline.com/health/whats-your-stress-type#types-of-stress> . There is also Post-traumatic stress which occurs ongoing. Most times this is caused by a traumatic event, whereby the victim represses the unwanted experience such as rape, murder, etc.  

However, here are some of the positive effects of stress: 

ü  It can help the body to learn how to prepare for and face danger

ü  It can teach us various self-management techniques

ü  Fosters creativity – it has been proven that when under pressure, the body is forced to think more, as the body will be trying to find ways of dealing with the stress. This sometimes leads to persons introspecting and recognizing talents/ abilities they never thought they had or could’ve performed.

ü  Exercise- some persons when stressed tend to exercise or go running to relax the mind. Exercise is clinically proven to improve health. A healthier lifestyle thus leads to a longer life-span.