What is stress?

WHAT IS STRESS? Stress is a combination of responses in the body. Stress can be short-term (acute) or chronic. Acute stress is the "fight or flight" response. If a car is careening toward you at a high rate of speed, you will (or should!) experience acute stress. It is when you experience so many common stressors, such as heavy traffic, noise, money worries, illnesses, relationship problems, rising crime rates, or work frustrations, that stress takes …

…weight problems, diabetes, pain, and skin disorders. "Extensive multidisciplinary studies have presented unequivocal evidence that our psychological responses to stress and our perceptions of stress to a considerable extent affect our susceptibility to disease. In active relationship, the immune, neuroendocrine, and nervous systems respond to the brain and psyche. Virtually all illnesses, from the flu to cancer, are influenced for good or bad by our thoughts and feelings." R. Lloyd, 1990 Healing Brain: A Scientific Reader