What is Stress?

If you have ever been betrayed by a close friend you don’t have to ask, What is stress. It might have been a gut wrenching experience, or not, depending on how you reacted to the betrayal. The way you react to stress is not the same for everyone.

What is stress?

Stress is the effect of your reaction to a stressor on your central nervous system. It is the intensity of your reaction that determines how much damage is done to your system.

The key to maintaining a healthy central nervous system is to reduce stress that has accumulated over the years, and protect it from stressors. But let’s not put the cart before the horse.

What is stress according to the experts?

From Wikipedia.com, Dr. Hans Selye, a Hungarian-Canadian endocrinologist (1907-1982) who coined the word “stress”, said that "every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older". He called negative stress "distress" and positive stress "eustress."

Dr. Istvan Berczi of the Department of Immunology at the University of Manitoba, was a loyal and devoted student of Dr. Selye while attending McGill University. He said that the world renowned medical scientist was never able to define stress to his satisfaction even after his remarkable research and numerous published studies.

Dr. Walter Cannon (1871-1945) while in his capacity of Chair of the physiology department at Harvard University, focused much of his research on the sympathetic nervous system, a branch of the central nervous system. Dr. Cannon coined the term “fight or flight” to describe an animal’s response to threats. It was later found that human beings are also equipped with the fight or flight response to life threatening stressors.

Dr. Cannon’s work with the sympathetic nervous system greatly influenced Dr. Selye’s research.

Overtaxed fight or flight response system…

The fight or flight response works in humans something like this. When the sympathetic nervous system detects a life threatening stressor it alerts the body which then prepares itself for a fight or quick escape.

Blood changes its direction and flows from the internal organs into the limbs. Adrenalin production is accelerated to increase strength and endurance in the body. In its transformed capacity as a supernatural fighting machine, the body performs extraordinary feats of power over its enemy. When the fight or the escape is over, and the energy has been depleted by the highly demanding activity, the body returns to its normal functions.

The problem these days is that the sympathetic nervous system response hardly ever shuts down because of our fast-paced highly stressed lives, resulting in harmful stress to the central nervous system.

What is stress from a psychological perspective?

Mental stress can be every bit as harmful to the central nervous system as external forces. Negative thoughts can turn your insides upside down which is a sign of stress. The trouble with negative thoughts is that while they are busy creating havoc in your mind and body, you are unconscious. It is only when you come out of an ego’s downward spiraling trip that you may notice residual pain or body sensations.

You are unique…

Not all stressors affect all people in the same way. Each of us is unique in the way we receive them. For example, what really bothers me may go entirely unnoticed by you.

What is common among human beings is the negative effect of prolonged, repetitive stressors on the central nervous system. If you continue for a long period time to hold on to the feelings from the initial impact, then you are straining your system. You are overloading your system past its normal tolerance level.

There are several ways to relieve stress and to prevent stress from entering your nervous system.

Before learning about the best ways to relieve stress, it would be helpful to understand the symptoms of stress and causes of stress.

Also in this series of articles you will be introduced to the art of coping with stress.

Return from What is Stress to Stress Tips