In medical terms,
stress is a physical or psychological stimulus that can produce
mental or physiological reactions that may lead to illness. Technically
speaking, stress is a disruption of homeostasis, which may be
triggered by alarming experiences, either real or imaginary. The
definition and much of the initial research on stress was
completed by Austro-Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye.
Mental responses to stress
include adaptive stress (eustress), anxiety, and
depression. Where stress enhances function (physical
or mental) it may be considered good stress. However,
if stress persists and is of excessive degree, it
eventually leads to a need for resolution, which may lead
either to anxious (escape) or depressive (withdrawal)
behavior.
One may further appreciate from that definition that
stress may derive from imagined experiences such as
frightening movies. Further, the fulcrum of stress
response is the presence of disparity between experience
(real or imagined) and personal expectations. A person
living in a fashion consistent with personally-accepted
expectations has no stress even if the conditions
might be interpreted as adverse from some outside
perspective — rural people may live in comparative poverty,
and yet be unstressed if there is a sufficiency according to
their expectations. Finally, when there is chronic disparity
between experience and expectations, stress may be
relieved by acceptance. However, since acceptance is rarely
complete except in children, stress resolution by
this approach is also rarely complete. It has been said that
stress is often a reaction to a crisis of
predictability, that the mind is solely an instrument of
prediction, and that the body may be divided into a
vegetative process and an integrative process.
