Physiological Responses To Stress Essay

The aim of the paper is to discuss stress, explain different types of stressors, and describe physiological responses to stress and illness related to stress and at the same time explaining the different stress management techniques. Stress has been defined as a stimulus, a response or the result of an interaction between the two, with the interaction described in terms of some imbalance between the persons and the environment (Copper, 2001). Copper indicates the signs of being too much stressed are: feeling exhausted, being sick from time to time, being absent minded, chronic headaches and being over emotionally, irritability, mental fatigue and self-neglect. Copper categorizes the stress into three groups: acute stress, episode acute stress and chronic stress.

Acute stress this is a brief stress caused by the demands and

With sudden onset stress, the muscles tense up all at once, and then release their tension when the stress passes. Chronic stress causes the muscles in the body to be in a more or less constant state of guardedness. When muscles are taut and tense for long periods of time, this may trigger other reactions of the body and even promote stress-related disorders. For example, both tension-type headache and migraine headache are associated with chronic muscle tension in the area of the shoulders, neck and head. Stress can make you breathe harder. That's not a problem for most people, but for those with asthma or a lung disease such as emphysema, getting the oxygen you need to breathe easier can be difficult. Chronic stress, or a constant stress experienced over a prolonged period of time, can contribute to long-term problems for heart and blood vessels. The consistent and ongoing increase in heart rate, and the elevated levels of stress hormones and of blood pressure, can take a toll on the body. This long-term ongoing stress can increase the risk for hypertension, heart attack or