Stress is any reaction of the human body when a demand that is likely to cause pressure to it is made usually it results in tension and conflict of the mind and body as a whole. This is especially when the body is required to have some changes so as to adapt to the change.
According to Donatelle, stress is best defined as the experience by the body when faced with a challenging situation whether it exists or may not be real, hence physiological reactions in an attempt to cope with the situation (2009). The challenges that lead to the bodily reactions are also referred to as stressors and they vary from physical, emotional or psychological, intellectual or anything that is likely to affect the human body. The bodily reaction is that which is looked at as stress.
The difference is that Donatelle doesn’t look at stress as creating tension for the victim. She however admits that it brings about both positive and negative results depending on how it is handled and the nature of the stressor. Sometimes the stress is a result of a direct cause or may result from the invisible things or things that do not directly affect us but may affect our lives. She also looks at stress as something that we can all manage through positive thinking and understanding the nature of the stress since it mostly results from the way we perceive our daily experiences.
Stress is usually caused by a number of stressors ranging from economic, biological especially when they have to do with the way we are affected by the bodily changes such as diseases, there other times when the social influence cause stress such as societal expectation from us, loss of a person or something valuable, anxiety to have some achievement on something. In most cases, stress affects an individual depending on their personality, their genetic combinations and how well they are influenced by outside forces (Donatelle, 2009). There are no two people who are affected by stress the same way hence there is a need to understand their bodies to be able to manage stress. At the same time, there is no single person who can say they have never suffered from stress.
When a certain stressor comes to the surface the immediate reaction by the body is to prepare the body to cope with the experience. It does this through the release of a certain hormone known as adrenaline which is secreted by adrenal glands situated just above the kidneys. The hormone is released to the bloodstream causing the heart rate to increase, blood pressure, rises, breathing rate increases and more blood sugars are released into the blood thus giving a victim more energy to cope with difficulty especially if it comes as a shock. It is usually a reflex action that warns a person to get away from the danger or fight it. This reaction, however, may be harmful to the body if repeated severally or done for a prolonged period of time.
It is important to understand that once a body is exposed to stressors especially for a prolonged period of time the body system may be affected negatively. When one has stressed bodies move from a balance commonly known as homeostasis to enable the body to cope with the situation. When the stress is prolonged the body develops General Adaptation syndrome where if it is overworked it gets exhausted and the body tears away also called allostatic load reducing the ability of the body to immunity.
In conclusion, stress is a disorder that is experienced by all living beings. It is important to learn how to manage it to avoid it getting out of hand and affecting the individual’s general performance and ensure a healthy life.
Reference
Donatelle, R. (2009). Health: The basics. 8th Ed. San Francisco: Pearson Benjamin Cummings.