Stress

            
             One can hardly pick up a newspaper or magazine or watch TV without seeing or hearing some reference to Stress. Why all the sudden fuss and fascination? Is it because there is much more stress today? Is it because the nature of stress is different and more dangerous? Or is it because research has confirmed the crucial role stress can play in causing and aggravating different disorders?.
             Stress is an unavoidable part of life, and don't use the term negative for a reason. This is because just as distress can cause disease, it seems probable that there are good stresses that promote wellness. Stress is not always necessarily harmful. Winning a race or the lottery can be just as stressful as losing, or even more, but this type of stress may trigger very different biological responses. Increased stress results in increased productivity to a certain extent. However, this level differs for each of us. This is very similar to the stress put on a guitar string or rope. Not enough stress will produce a dull, raspy sound. Too much stress makes a shrill, annoying noise or will break the string. But, just the right degree of stress can create an incredible sound. This means that we all need to find the proper level of stress that allows us to perform optimally and make us happy as we go through life.
             One very common type of stress is acute stress. Acute stress is the reaction to an immediate threat, sometimes we refer to it as the flight or fight response. The threat can be any situation that is experienced as a danger.
             In earlier times, the physical changes in response to stress were an essential adaptation for meeting natural threats. Even in today's society, the stress response can be a of vital importance for raising levels of performance during critical events such as a sports activity, an important meeting, or in a situation of actual danger or crisis. If stress becomes persistent and low-level, however, all parts of the body that deal with stress, such as the brain, heart, lungs, vessels, and muscles, will become chronically over- or under-activated.