Stress management — Understanding your stress triggers is essential to stress relief.
The kids are screaming, the bills are due and there's a pile of work on your desk that's growing at an absurdly swift pace. It's undeniable — life often seems full of stress. But understanding the types and sources of stress — big and small, short-term and long-term, internal and external — is an important part of stress management. So where does your stress come from?
Two main types of stress
Stress is your body's reaction to the demands of the world, and stressors are events or conditions in your surroundings that may trigger stress. Two main types of stress you face are:
- Acute stress. Also known as the fight-or-flight response, acute stress is your body's immediate reaction to a significant threat, challenge or scare. The acute-stress response is immediate, it's intense, and in certain circumstances, it can be thrilling. Examples of stressors that may cause an acute-stress response are a job interview, a fender bender or an exhilarating ski run.
- Chronic stress. This results from long-term exposure to acute stress. The chronic-stress response is much more subtle than is the acute-stress response, but the effects may be longer lasting and more problematic. The stressors that may lead to chronic stress are the nagging, day-to-day life situations that often seem unrelenting. This includes relationship problems, work difficulties and financial woes.
Effective stress management involves identifying and managing both acute and chronic stress.
Stress is here to stay
Not a day in your life goes by without encountering a situation or event that may trigger stress. And that's OK. By identifying and understanding the sources of your stress, you learn to better manage it. So what stresses you out?
Last Updated: 07/23/2008
