Stress and Stress Management. Key vocabulary

Key Vocabulary

Stress is an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or threatening to their well-being. The word stress means different things to different people.

Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to feel tension, pressure, or negative emotions such as anxiety and anger. Others view stress as the response to these situations.

This response includes physiological changes -such as increased heart rate and muscle tension- as well as emotional and behavioural changes.

However, most psychologists regard stress as a process involving a person's interpretation and response to a threatening event.

Stress is a common experience. We may feel stress when we are very busy, have important deadlines to meet, or have too little time to finish all of our tasks.

Often people experience stress because of problems at work or in social relationships, such as a poor evaluation by a supervisor or an argument with a friend.

Some people may be particularly vulnerable to stress in situations involving the threat of failure or personal humiliation. Others have extreme fears of objects or things associated with physical threats -such as snakes, illness, storms, or flying in an airplane- and become stressed when they encounter or think about these perceived threats.

Major life events, such as the death of a loved one, can cause severe stress.

A person who is stressed typically has anxious thoughts and difficulty concentrating or remembering. Stress can also change outward behaviour. Teeth clenching, hand wringing, pacing, nail biting, and heavy breathing are common signs of stress.

People also feel physically different when they are stressed. Butterflies in the stomach, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, and increased heart rate are all physiological effects of stress that we associate with the emotion of anxiety.

If not managed appropriately, stress can lead to serious problems. Exposure to chronic stress can contribute to both physical illnesses, such as heart disease, and mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders.

Questions

After reading the text, answer the following questions.