Stress

Published by BUPA's Health Information Team
July 2003

Stress affects virtually everyone at some time in their life. As well as the emotional and psychological disruption it causes, stress-related medical problems are becoming increasingly common. In the modern world, we all need to learn how to cope with stress.

What is stress?

The body has an inbuilt physical response to stressful situations. Faced with pressure, challenge or danger, we need to react quickly, and our bodies release hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline to help us do this. These hormones are part of the "fight or flight" response and affect the metabolic rate, heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in a heightened - or stressed - state that prepares the body for optimum performance in dealing with a stressful situation.

Very often, modern stresses do not call for either fight or flight. Nevertheless, the same stressing hormones are released as part of the reaction and this natural reaction to challenge or danger, instead of helping, can damage health and reduce the ability to cope.

What causes stress?

Many things (or the anticipation of them) can lead to stress:

• pressure to perform at work, at school or in sports
• threats of physical violence
• money worries
• arguments
• family conflicts
• divorce
• bereavement
• unemployment
• moving house
• alcohol or drug abuse.

Sometimes, there is no particular reason for developing stress, or it arises out of a series of minor irritations.

Who gets stressed?

The list above shows that everyone is at risk of being stressed, since it can be caused by a range of commonplace situations. However, people have very different mental responses to the body's natural reaction to a stressful situation. For some it can be an essential stimulus, helping motivate them to achieve more. In others it causes an adverse reaction, causing a sense of not being able to cope and demotivation.

It is important to differentiate between temporary stress that you know will go away when a situation is resolved, and long-term or chronic stress. Most people can cope with short periods of stress, and it can often be relieved by relaxing, taking a walk, chatting through issues with friends, or having a good night's sleep. Chronic (long-term, continuous) stress is much harder to deal with, and can be psychologically and emotionally damaging, both for an individual and for friends and family.

The symptoms of stress

Everyone reacts to stress differently, but there are some common effects that help us recognise it. In times of extreme stress, people may shake uncontrollably, hyperventilate (breathe faster and deeper than normal) or even vomit. For people with asthma, stress can trigger an attack. People who are chronically stressed are also susceptible to any of the following:

• periods of irritability or anger
• apathy or depression
• constant anxiety
• irrational behaviour
• loss of appetite
• comfort eating
• lack of concentration
• loss of sex-drive
• increased smoking, drinking or recreational drug-taking.

There can also be physical effects, which may include the following:

• excessive tiredness
• skin problems
• aches and pains resulting from tense muscles, including neckache, backache and tension headaches
• increased pain from arthritis and other conditions
• heart palpitations
• for women, missed periods.