“I am so stressed, right now.”
“Ugh, this is stressing me out.”
How often have these responses come out of your mouth? How often do you hear these responses from other people? Maybe you didn’t actually say this out loud but you were thinking it.
Stress is the one of the main unresolved issues that most of the population deals with on a daily basis. It is responsible for most doctor visits; it causes a lot of the illnesses and diseases that people are struggling with.
What is Stress?
Stress is how our mind and body reacts and responds to stimuli, change, challenges and threats; it is tension we feel when faced with a new or difficult situation. It is also a survival mechanism. When we are faced with a threat or a challenge; adrenaline is being pumped into our system and preparing our body for the fight, freeze or flight response.
Negative and Positive
Not all stimuli, changes, and challenges are negative, some are positive. Since, stress is how our mind and body react to stimuli, changes and challenges; it also means that stress is not always negative. There is negative/bad stress, which is what most people refer to; and there is positive/good stress.
| Negative/Bad | Positive/Good |
| Bad grades Diagnosed with an illness Job loss Divorce Death of a loved one | Graduated with honors Accomplishing a Goal Getting your dream career Marriage Starting a family |
A Motivator
Sometimes stress is a motivator (positive or negative), it helps us gets things done, accomplish tasks and goals because it creates a sense of urgency. Stress, whether it is good or bad should be a temporary response; if it is prolonged it can cause problems and health issues down the line. So, we must monitor our stress in order to maintain our health.