A state or response that occurs when a person perceives that demands, challenges, or threats exceed or strain their available resources to cope.
Stress can trigger coordinated physical and psychological responses involving the nervous, endocrine, and immune systems. Short-term stress can help a person respond to challenges, while persistent or excessive stress can contribute to adverse effects on health.
Stress is influenced not only by the event itself but also by how the person perceives and responds to it.
QUICK FACT
Stress is not always harmful. Short-term stress can be adaptive and help the body respond to immediate challenges.
COMMONLY CONFUSED WITH
Stress Response: the body’s coordinated physiological and psychological reaction to a stressor; stress refers more broadly to the state or experience involving perceived demands and challenges.
SEE ALSO
