Different Types of Stress and Stress Effects on the Body
There are different types of stress -- eustress, acute stress reaction and chronic stress disorder. All of these stress types have effects on your body. Some effects are helpful while some are harmful on your health.
Stress is not always bad...after all, it is your body's natural survival mechanism to protect itself.
Being exposed to stress is a daily part of our everyday life that its total prevention is something nobody can achieve.
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 a beneficial form of stress.
2. Acute stress response is a negative kind and the most common form of stress.
It is brought about by a disturbance in your routine that results to unfamiliarity or disorder.
Although acute stress is intense, it is also temporary and short-lived.
An example is when you lose something – such as car keys - that you need right now but can’t find or being pressured to meet a deadline at work. Because of its fleeting nature, it does not cause wide-spread damage on your health.
But there are 2 acute types of stress -- one is the harmful type of acute stress response which is...
3. Episodic acute stress is a type of acute stress 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 kind of stress is quite impossible in people who have the type A personality.
The kind of episodic acute stress a type A personality creates is characterized by anger, irritability and hostility.
Being exposed to and unable to manage episodic acute stress can often lead to hypertension, migraines and even heart disease. (See Side Effects of Stress on Health.)
Non-stop useless worry also leads to episodic acute stress 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 disaster to happen.
These two acute types of stress are also known as distress.
4. Chronic stress disorder is the kind that bombards you frequently and for long periods of time.
Examples of chronic stress disorder are poverty and having a dysfunctional family.
If you have too much responsibilities and worries, your stress response is turned on most of the time.
Long-term exposure to chronic stress can lead to serious health problems such as cancer. Prevention of many diseases becomes difficult because chronic stress disturbs almost all the systems in your body.
Some of its harmful effects on your body are...
Raised blood pressure,
Suppressed immune system,
Increased risk of heart attack and stroke,
Increased incidence of infertility, and
Faster aging process caused by chronic inflammation.
Guess what is worse? It can even affect your brain, making you more susceptible and defenseless to anxiety and depression.
Which should you try to avoid or manage? You should aim to overcome the episodic acute and chronic stress reaction disorder among the different types of stress.
