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Stress is the feeling of being under too much mental or emotional pressure.
Pressure turns into stress when you feel unable to cope. People have different ways of reacting to stress, so a situation that feels stressful to one person may in fact be motivating to another. Many of life’s demands can cause stress, particularly work, relationships and money problems. And, when you feel stressed, it can affect everything you do. Stress can affect how you feel, how you think, how you behave and how your body works. Sleeping problems, sweating, loss of appetite and difficulty concentrating are all common signs of stress.
Stress is not an illness itself, but it can cause serious illness if it is not addressed. It is important to recognise the symptoms of stress early. Recognising the signs and symptoms of stress will help you figure out ways of coping and save you from adopting unhealthy coping methods, such as drinking or smoking.
Spotting the early signs of stress will also help prevent it getting worse and potentially causing serious complications, such as high blood pressure (hypertension), anxiety and depression. There is little you can do to prevent stress, but there are many things you can do to manage stress more effectively, such as learning how to relax, taking regular exercise and adopting good time management techniques.
Stress is simply a fact of nature -- forces from the inside or outside world affecting the individual. The individual responds to stress in ways that affect the individual as well as their environment. Because of the overabundance of stress in our modern lives, we usually think of stress as a negative experience, but from a biological point of view, stress can be a neutral, negative, or positive experience.
In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include the physical environment, including your job, your relationships with others, your home, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations you're confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine your body's ability to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Internal factors which influence your ability to handle stress include your nutritional status, overall health and fitness levels, emotional well-being, and the amount of sleep and rest you get.
When you perceive a threat, your nervous system responds by releasing a flood of stress hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol. These hormones rouse the body for emergency action.
Your heart pounds faster, muscles tighten, blood pressure rises, breath quickens, and your senses become sharper. These physical changes increase your strength and stamina, speed your reaction time, and enhance your focus – preparing you to either fight or flight from the danger at hand.
Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defences kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” reaction, or the stress response.
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. In emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.
The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning free throw, or drives you to study for an exam when you'd rather be watching TV.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.
It’s important to learn how to recognize when your stress levels are out of control. The most dangerous thing about stress is how easily it can creep up on you. You get used to it. It starts to feels familiar even normal. You don’t notice how much it’s affecting you, even as it takes a heavy toll.
We cover the bodies response to stress in our Stressbusters course, so if you would like to learn more about how to manage stress why not sign up (hyperlink) or take our Stress Test(hyperlink)?
Burnout Helpguide’s free toolkit
Stressbusters
Find out more about our Stressbusters course.
Mind
The Mind website also has lots of great information on how manage stress.
Books Can Help
This is the Kent Libraries & Archives' books on prescription scheme. This scheme aims to assist people with mild to moderate mental health issues, such as anxiety, depression, phobias and eating disorders.
Mental Health Matters Helpline
Confidential emotional support and guidance – Tel. 0800 107 0160
Mental Health Matters Helpline is a confidential service staffed by highly trained and experienced Telephone Helpline Workers, offering emotional support to anyone calling. We provide information on local and national services specific to Mental Health. You do not need a diagnosed illness to call, people contact us about many different issues's such as bereavement, relationship problems, loneliness/isolation and stress. Ongoing support is available, we are also here for carers in need of support.
Live it Well
The Live It Well website provides information on mental wellbeing, and provides more information about support groups and services in your area.
Signpost UK
The Signpost UK website provides information on mental health problems, information for carers and links to local services.
Kent County Council
If you have been trying to manage your symptoms by using alcohol or drugs please visit the Kent County Council website which provides a list of services that are availiable across Kent.
Glasgow Steps
The Glasgow Steps website will tell you all about common stress problems and give you some ideas on how best to tackle them.