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Stress
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What is…
Stress in itself isn’t really harmful and is the feeling of being under pressure. Most of us tend to perform better when being exposed to a short period of pressure – as long as we still feel in control and there is an end in sight. Prolonged stress, on the other hand, especially when the sufferer feels or believes they have no control, tends to become a vicious cycle that feeds itself, progressively increasing perceived stress.
Stress is a well-known trigger for depression and can also affect your physical health.
Stress can be divided into three categories:
- Eustress is a positive form of stress. Eustress situations are normally enjoyable and not psychologically or physiologically harmful. They might include falling in love, watching a football match, or meeting a role model or famous person.
- Neustress is considered neither good nor bad. Certain situations are stressful, but the impact on someone removed from that situation tends to be neutral.
- Distress is the most common type of stress with negative implications. Distress is normally called stress and can be divided into two sub-categories:
Acute stress appears and disappears over short periods of times and can be intense
Chronic stress appears not to be intense but lingers on for a much longer period of time.
Causes
Stress can be caused by various aspects of our lives. Here are the top ten stressful things in life:
- Divorce / breakup
- Bereavement
- Losing job
- Wedding planning
- Work
- kids/family
- Debt
- Commuting
- Studying for exams
- Pregnancy
Symptoms
Signs of stress may be cognitive, emotional, physical or behavioural:
- Signs of tension – such as nail biting
- A general negative outlook, depression
- Excessive worrying
- Moodiness, irritability, agitation
- Inability to relax
- Aches and pains
- Nausea, dizziness
- Insomnia
- Loss of concentration
