North Star Coaching

Defining Stress

What is Stress?

The word 'stress' is derived from the Latin stringere (to draw tight). Stress is not an emotion but rather a bodily response to real or imagined danger. Stress is your body's response to certain situations.

 

Stress is subjective. Something that may be stressful for one person may not be stressful for someone else. Not all stress is bad. There can be good stress eg. sport. In response to stressful stimuli, your body turns on its biological response: chemicals and hormones are released that are meant to help your body meet the challenge it is facing. Your heart rate increases, your brain works faster and becomes sharper, you have energy. This response is natural and basic. In fact, stress can be healthy because it helps us avoid accidents, work through tough deadlines, or help us to stay clear minded and focused in hectic situations.

 

However stress is meant to be temporary, your body should return to a natural state once the moment has passed, but due to the pressures and demands of our modern lives our bodies are frequently in a heightened state with our heart pumping hard and our blood vessels constricted. Over time, these physiological demands begin to take a toll on the body. Stress is not an illness itself, but it can cause serious illness if it is not addressed. Although it is not possible to eliminate bad stress from our lives, it is possible to manage it. 

A key part of managing stress is the early recognition of the symptoms of stress. Spotting the early signs of stress will help prevent it getting worse and potentially causing serious complications. 

 

When someone says they are stressed we generally know what they mean, but people define stress differently. Some define it in emotional terms, some in physical terms, others in terms of thoughts or through their behaviour.