What is stress?

Stress is a physical, mental, or emotional response to events that causes bodily or mental tension. Stress is the reaction to anything that is new, threatening, frightening, or exciting. Stress can be good and can help a person focus on a task or perform at a higher level. It can give a person the impetus to keep going. Positive stress results from people, events, or situations that are exciting to us. Negative stress though can harm a person’s health and can cause the person to feel overwhelmed, frustrated, angry, distracted, or impatient. Too much stress or stress that goes unnoticed is what can be harmful. 

Stress is a natural part of life. It affects everyone in distinct ways. Everyone’s cause of stress is different as is their reaction to it. Each person reacts to and addresses it differently. It is important to find what strategy works to manage stress levels.