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RECOGNIZING STRESS: What is Stress?
There is no simple definition of stress: The term has been used by researchers and the public alike to refer to both the effects of stress and to stressors, which are events and conditions that produce. In general, though, stress can be thought of as the perception that events or circumstances have challenged, or exceeded, a person’s ability to cope. This emphasis the lesson that stress researchers have learned repeatedly, which is that stress occurs with in each individual and is determined by his or her particular characteristics. This helps explain why some events – a deadline at work, for example – can almost paralyze one person but inspire another.
Since the responses to stressors vary so greatly, researchers often classify them according to the time span in which they occur. Thus stressors can be immediate and short term, such as waiting for a job interview; they can be protracted and chronic, like a family conflict or a noisy environment; or they can be events that trigger a series of major life changes, like being fired or getting a divorce.
Our reactions to stressors can be divided into two broad categories:
Psychological Physiological On the psychological level, we often respond to stressors unpredictably, as variations in our moods and emotions trigger changes in our behavior, ranging from expressions of anger to patterns of alcohol or drug use. Your psychological reactions to a stressors is depend on many factors, including your emotional state at the time and how troublesome you perceive to stressor to be.
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