Annukka Huotari

What is Stress

This is an article about stress. It's not easy to defind stress. We think we all have experienced stress at some point in our life so the definition for stress should be obvious. Usually we talk about stress when we mean a feeling of mental overload which we have experienced.

It's not easy to defind stress. We think we all have experienced stress at some point in our life so the definition for stress should be obvious. Usually we talk about stress when we mean a feeling of mental overload which we have experienced.

There are many definitions for stress - depending on the field of science of the researchers.
Stress is a feeling which is caused by events or circumstances that makes us feel angry, frustrated, unhappy or excited. Stress is also defined as a feeling or experience where individual's needs, goals and abilities are not in balance and there is a conflict between these elements.

Stress has physical and emotional effects on us. Stress creates positive or negative feelings.
Positive stress can make us action - to thrive to complete a work or a project. Negative stress can make us feel anger, depression and rejection. There feelings can also result in physical health problems such as high blood pressure, insomnia or heart disesase.

Stress can also make changes in our behaviour - usually these changes in our behaviour make us feel even more stressed. For example, we start to consume more alcohol, we increase smoking, we start to leave out hobbies etc, we skip physical work out sessions etc.
Positive stress adds excitement to our life and we all thrive under a certain amount of stress. Insufficient stress can make us feel deperessed and bored while excessive stress can make us feel overwhelmed. We need to find the optimal level of stress which motivates us but does not make us feel overwhelmed.

So how can we tell what is the optimal level of stress which we can take? We are all individual human beings and we all have our unique requirements. So there is no single level of stress which is optimal for all of us. We all tolerate different amounts of stress. Our optimal stress level also changes with our ages.

People can be devided into three different groups according to how they react to stress.
Some people react to stress mentally; they experience for example insomnia and fatigue which are symptoms of stress. Usually the lifestyle for these people weakens but these people can recognize stress and understand the reasons for these mental symptoms.
Some of us react to stress physically - these people experience for example physical pain. It's not easy to recognise the relation between stress and the physical symptoms. Usually the physical symptom is treated by healthcare specialist but the reason for the symptom remains untreated.
Some people don't react to stress in any specific way. Their ability to perform may weaken a little but these people don't experience any physical or mental symptoms of stress.
We all tolerate different amount of stress. It's important we find our individual level of stress which makes us feel motivated - not overwhelmed.

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