Stress Homepage
What is stress?
The stress response can be evoked by anything we perceive as threatening, whether it is real or imagined. Our nervous system becomes aroused and directs the body to pump out stress hormones. These hormones instantly make us alert and ready to jump out of the way of danger or to stand up and fight it. Hans Selye, the grandfather of stress research, called this the "fight or flight" response.
Stress can be experienced as short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Acute stress is the reaction you have to an immediate threat (ex. Being cut-off in traffic). Once the stressful event has passed, the body returns to a normal, more relaxed state. Chronic stress, on the other hand, refers to the ongoing or repeated experience of stress (ex. living in a hostile environment). In this case, the body is geared in "fight or flight" mode for prolonged amounts of time.
Is stress bad for me?
Stress becomes a problem when it is ongoing and poorly managed. Poorly managed chronic stress is harmful because your body cannot recover and return to its normal state. In modern day life we often deal with traffic, crowded cities, job stress, pollution, and chronic illness, which are all sources of stress that our stress-response system was not intended to handle. Because we can not immediately "fight" or "fly" from these large-scale, continuous problems, we frequently experience large amounts of ongoing stress without much relief.
Too much stress can seriously impact physical and mental well-being. Stress can limit your enjoyment and quality of life.It can increase your risk of various illnesses and disorders, and impair your ability to recover from disease. When stress runs rampant in our lives, every bit of our mind and body can be negatively affected.
What can I do to manage my stress?
The good news is that you can avoid the negative effects of stress by learning positive ways to cope.
When stress does occur, it is important to recognize it and learn ways to manage it. This website has been designed to provide you with important resources and tools that can help you to better cope with and reduce the stress in your life, and improve your overall well-being and health.
*A healthcare professional should be consulted for unmanageable stress. It is important to seek help if stress is causing insomnia, depression, severe anxiety, or affecting your ability to function.
