Different Types of Stress and Its Effects on the Body
There are different types of stress -- eustress, acute and chronic stress disorders. All of these types have effects on your body. Some types of effects of stress on your health are helpful while some are harmful. The acute and chronic types can weaken your immune system. But the chronic type makes you more vulnerable to cancer.
The various types are not always bad. After all, your body is equipped with a natural survival mechanism to protect itself. Being exposed to chronic or acute stressors is a daily part of our everyday life. So you need protection against the effects of the chronic type.
1. Eustress - is a positive type of short-term stress.
Do you remember how you feel when your creative juices are flowing? You feel enthusiastic and inspired. That is eustress you are are faced with.
The motivation a stage performer who is about to act in a play feels is also eustress. It prepares your heart, mind and body for what you are about to face. It is actually a beneficial form of stress.
2. Acute stress response - is a negative kind and the most common form of stressor.
The acute type is brought about by a disturbance in your routine that results to unfamiliarity or disorder. Although the acute type is intense, it is also temporary and short-lived.
An example is when you lose something important such as car keys that you need right now but can’t find. Another example of the acute type is being pressured to meet a deadline at work. Because of its fleeting nature, it does not cause wide-spread damage on your health.
There are 2 acute types of stressor. The first one is the harmful type of acute stressor which is . . .
3. Episodic acute stress - is a type of acute stressor that occurs frequently and comes from . . .
Having a type A personality, or
Non-stop needless worrying.
The definition of a type A personality is having traits like aggressiveness, intense competitiveness and impatience. Prevention of episodic acute types of stress is quite impossible in people who have the type A personality.
The kind of episodic acute stressor a type A personality creates is characterized by anger, irritability and hostility.
Being exposed to and unable to manage the episodic acute type can often lead to hypertension, migraines and even heart disease.
Non-stop useless worry also leads to the episodic acute type of which anxiety and depression are its typical features.
When you are a worrier, you always see only the negative in people and in every situation. You always expect and wait for a disaster to happen.
These two acute types of stress are also known as distress.
4. Chronic stress disorder - is the chronic type that bombards you frequently and for long periods of time.
Examples of chronic stressors are poverty and having a dysfunctional family. If you have too much responsibilities and worries, your "flight-or-fight" response is turned on most of the time.
Long-term exposure to the chronic types of stressors can lead to serious health problems such as cancer. Prevention of many diseases becomes difficult because the chronic type of stressor disturbs almost all the systems in your body. Thus, you need to know how to remove stress!
Some of the harmful effects of the chronic type on your body are . . .
Raised blood pressure,
Suppressed immune system,
When you're overstressed, your immune system must be healthy. A healthy immune system is impossible when stressors surround you. Thus, your immune system needs help through supplementation.