What is stress, anyway?

Published: May 8, 2008

Nathan Prabhu
Casady School
Freshman

Teens deal with stress from a variety of sources, such as school, work, family and friends. But not all stress is bad.

“Stress is defined as anything that causes a prolonged heightened arousal, which is mediated by the autonomic nervous system,” said Jim Scott, director of the Pediatric Neurological Assessment Laboratory at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

In other words, anything that stimulates a lengthy emotion can be considered as stress.

If stress is an emotion, then there is some good stress.

A stress research and management consulting firm known as The Stress and Emotional Intelligence Experts, or Essi Systems, notes that the commonly known negative stress can conceal positive stress.

Side effects such as creativity, passion and excitement spawn from stress.

Stress is like blood pressure, according to Essi Systems.

High blood pressure and low blood pressure can both be detrimental.

If stress is absent, people would be apathetic and full of fatigue.

Nevertheless, there is a reason for the pain and grief that are associated with it.

If stress lasts long enough, bad effects can be seen.

“It can become problematic when our perceived demands exceed our perceived resources for coping,” said E. Michael Smith, the director of the Human Behavior I Medical Student Education Program at OU Health Sciences Center. “It throws our bodies out of balance when overwhelming. It affects cardiovascular, immune, nervous, gastrointestinal, metabolic, reproductive and muscle body systems.”

Even though these warnings made by scientists are known today, millions of teenagers still lead their lives so full of tension that they make themselves like a taut piece of string on the verge of snapping. But does this mean everyone will forever be tormented by stress?

“Stress cannot be avoided,” Smith said, “but how we deal with stressful situations and take care of ourselves certainly decreases the harmful effects it can cause.”

Improving time management, expressing emotions rather than bottling them up, setting aside time for relaxation and asking for help when needed are good ways to cope with stress, according to Helpguide, a Web site dedicated to resolving life’s challenges.

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