Types Of Stress

What are the different types of stress? Stress is never a good thing. It is defined as a response to a certain negative stimulus. In other words, stress is a feeling of being overloaded with emotions like feeling that everything is just too much. This is why it is important that we are able to handle it properly. You see, stress can affect how we function very negatively. It can even come to a point where it stops productivity. Therefore, always make sure that you know how to handle yourself when you are stressed. But before you will be able to do so, you should first know the different types of stress. The different types of stress are acute stress, chronic stress and episodic acute stress.

Acute Stress is the most common of the three types of stress. These types of stress come from the everyday demands and pressure that we experience. Many studies show that acute stress, when in small doses, can be exciting. But a little more than a small dose of these types of stress and it will be exhausting. Some symptoms of these types of stress are tension headaches, psychological distress, and upset stomach among others. There are other more severe cases of these symptoms. These include anger or irritability, depression, and anxiety. There can also be muscle problems. These include back pain, ligament problems, jaw pain, pulled muscles and even torn tendons. Aside from these, one may also experience bowel and gut problems, stomach problems, flatulence, heartburn, constipation, and even irritable bowel syndrome. But in the most severe cases, people may experience blood pressure elevation, sweaty palms, dizziness, heart palpitations, and other chest pains.

Chronic stress, on the other hand, is a very severe case of stress. These types of stress are what can wear people away from days to years. These are the types of stress that destroy minds, bodies, and lives of the people experiencing it. Examples of causes of these types of stress include poverty, unhappy marriage, dysfunctional families, and many others. This is the stress brought about by never ending problems and troubles. Some of the chronic stress episodes can come from childhood, when a person goes through a traumatic experience. These experiences may end up affecting one’s personality. Chronic stress then follows. The worst part about chronic stress is that there are people who get used to it. They end up ignoring the symptoms of these types of stress because they have ‘been there’ a long time.

Episodic acute stress, lastly, is stress that is characterized by aggressiveness, excessive competitive drive, impatience, and urgency. Some studies have shown that these types of stress can manifest as some insecurities that are deep seated. The bad part about the episodic acute stress is that it can lead to coronary heart disease. It’s like they are experiencing a never ending pit of worrying. The symptoms of episodic acute stress include migraines, headaches, extended over arousal, chest pain, heart diseases, and hypertension to name a few. And in the worst cases, people experiencing this may be resistant to change.