![]() Stress is a feeling that's created when we react to particular events. It's the body's way of rising to a challenge and preparing to meet a tough situation with focus, strength, stamina, and heightened alertness. The events that provoke stress are called stressors, and they cover a whole range of situations - everything from outright physical danger to making a class presentation or taking a semester's worth of your toughest subject. Stress and the way we think: Particularly in normal working life, much of our stress is subtle and occurs without obvious threat to survival. Most comes from things like work overload, conflicting priorities, inconsistent values, over-challenging deadlines, conflict with co-workers, unpleasant environments and so on. Not only do these reduce our performance as we divert mental effort into handling them, they can also cause a great deal of unhappiness. What is the effect of acute stress? The best way to envision the effect of acute stress is to imagine oneself in a primitive situation, such as being chased by a bear. The Brain's Response to Acute Stress In response to seeing the bear, a part of the brain called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) system is activated. Release of Steroid Hormones. The HPA systems trigger the production and release of steroid hormones ( glucocorticoids), including the primary stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol is very important in marshaling systems throughout the body (including the heart, lungs, circulation, metabolism, immune systems, and skin) to deal quickly with the bear. Release of Catecholamines. The HPA system also releases certain neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) called catecholamines, particularly those known as known as dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (also called adrenaline). KEYWORDS: stress, tension, stress management, heart attack, Body, heart, palpitation, blood pressure
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Frank Sterle Jr.
8/26/2020 03:15:56 pm
A passage from the book Childhood Disrupted (Donna Jackson Nakazawa, page 24), about the devastating effects of chronic adverse childhood experiences, in part reads: “Well-meaning and loving parents can unintentionally do harm to a child if they are not well informed about human development …”
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Frank Sterle Jr.
8/26/2020 03:22:46 pm
“The way a society functions is a reflection of the childrearing practices of that society. Today we reap what we have sown. Despite the well-documented critical nature of early life experiences, we dedicate few resources to this time of life. We do not educate our children about child development, parenting, or the impact of neglect and trauma on children.”
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