Everybody is stressed these days! But what exactly is stress?

Stress is not just an emotion you feel. It is a natural response to anything that your brain perceives as a threat or a challenge. This response is physical, emotional as well as biological. It is a state of pressure/worry/conflict and can be classified into 2 types:

Eustress: This is a positive type of stress which you feel before a job interview, an exam, a running race, before going on the stage, etc.

Distress: This is the actual stress we feel when we get worried or tensed about something and this is also where the real problem lies. It can be further classified into:

• Acute stress: One that lasts for a short period like an argument or a fight
• Episodic acute stress: When events triggering acute stress occur frequently in daily life
• Chronic stress: When the stress or worry remains long term (marital issues, financial problems, etc)

In both these cases, the fight or flight response gets triggered in your body which signals the adrenal glands to produce cortisol. Cortisol actually helps with regulating the stress response in your body. You thought cortisol is a bad hormone that causes problems, didn’t you? We’ll get to that part of the story later.

But what happens during phases of chronic stress?

In the long term, stress causes physical wear and tear of the body and is experienced as headaches, fatigue, body pain, sexual dysfunction and poor immune system.

Why does this happen, how cortisol plays a role, and what can you do about it? Wait up for my next post!