What is stress?
Stress is a physiological reaction in the body to a stressor.
A stressor is something your brain perceives as a potential threat.
The stressor can be external, in the environment around you; or it can be internal, such as troubling thoughts, worries, concerns or difficult emotions.
The stressor causes your brain to triggers the stress reaction – which means an increased volume of the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol are released into your system. The stress hormones induce change in both the body and brain. They put you into a state of readiness, meaning you will react more quickly if needed.
Is stress normal?
A stress reaction is a normal physiological response to stressors. Human beings have evolved to have a stress reaction and it is an important response, designed to help you deal with situations to give you the best chance of thriving as well as surviving.
The intensity of a stress reaction varies with each situation; like a dimmer switch that turns the lighting level up and down in a room, so the intensity of the stress response will depend on what the brain determines is needed at any particular moment, to deal with a stressor.
A low-level stress response only slight increased how alert and responses you are. Low level responses do not use up much energy and we can sustain this for long periods of time and still feel healthy.
A moderate-level stress response causes a stronger and more noticeable change in how alert or reactive you are. This type of response we can often sustain for quite a long period of time but we will begin to feel fatigued and need to rest the longer it continues.
A high-level stress response causes a very strong and often uncomfortable change in how alert or reactive you are. The physical sensations in the body, such as a pounding heart and tense muscles, and racing thoughts and either heightened or numbed emotions can feel disturbing. A threat to your life is an example of a situation that can cause this type of high-level stress response.
If you work in a demanding environment, the stress response can be crucial. It can help you to be more responsive and deal with challenges more effectively. A controlled stress response can help you be more effective, focused and productive. In these types of situations, a moderate stress response is often beneficial. However, to maintain this over the longer term and avoid the negative impact of excessive stress, proactively managing your wellbeing; learning how to raise and lower stress in a controlled manner is essential, to avoid fatigue and burnout.
Can you manage your stress response?
The short answer is yes.
Key actions to help you manage the stress response are:
- Becoming aware of situations that trigger your stress response.
- Understanding what type of stress you are experiencing, and the most frequent stress signs and symptoms you encounter.
- Knowing what wellbeing activities are most effective in lowering your stress response.
- Being proactive in using helpful activities.
Using the information provided in this app will help you to build these skills, enabling you to better manage the impact on stress on your wellbeing.
Can stress get out of control?
Stress can become overwhelming and both your mental and physical health can deteriorate. With uncontrolled stress your ability to concentrate and perform tasks diminishes, and relationships often become more distant or challenging. Longer term prolonged, uncontrolled stress can also cause depression and thinking may become excessively pessimistic, to the point where people can feel there is no point in living and may begin to have suicidal thoughts.
There is increased risk of stress becoming out of control if people are exposed to either very threatening or extreme situations, or if people experience moderate to high levels of stress for a prolonged period of time. More information is provided on all this in the sections that follow and in the resilience area.
Remember no one else can appreciate the level of stress you may be experiencing or the number of stressors causing stress you have in your life. Therefore, every person must participate in monitoring and managing their own level of stress in order to remain healthy.
When your own stress-management plan becomes insufficient, that is the time to reach out to others for help. That can be friends and family or to a mental health professional. The important thing is the reaching out – as every person goes through periods when they cannot do enough on their own. Check out your what services your organisations provides and you can also find information on accessing help in the recovery hub.
The following sections will explore the different types of stress as well as common signs and symptoms, to help you identify how stress impacts you the most.
To try out different wellbeing activities for managing your stress response, simply go to the skills area in this Wellbeing Hub and try out some of the stress strategies in there.