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The 10-Part Stress Series
Previously in this Series: What Causes Stress?
In What is stress?, we learned that stress is our body’s automatic reaction to a change that our brain evaluates as a threat. Stress is perceived by many animals in much the same way and has been part of the human story for as long as there have been humans. Stress can result in enormous challenges for us, including some challenges that are very long-lasting.
But, because of who we humans are, life without stress would be boring.
Consider this story:
The wicked witch put an evil curse upon the land. She sent a message to the king: “Give me all of your gold within seven days or everyone in the kingdom will die.”
The king called his bravest knights together. He ordered Sir Strong to take some knights and kill the witch. Sir Strong and five brave knights rode across a grassy meadow for 30 minutes. They entered the witch’s house and cut off her head. The curse was ended. They rode back home to a dinner of roast mutton with the king at the castle.
And now consider this version:
The wicked witch put an evil curse upon the land. She sent a message to the king: “Give me all of your gold within seven days or everyone in the kingdom will die.”
Almost all the king’s knights were desperately sick because of the curse. Only one was left. The king ordered Sir Weak to find the witch and lift the curse by killing her.
Everyone knew that they were doomed because Sir Weak would never be able to complete the task. Sir Weak’s best friend Tom offered to go with him. Tom wasn’t very smart, but he was brave and loyal. Just before they rode out, Princess Beautiful, who Sir Weak secretly loved, ran out and gave him a scarf to wear for good luck.
As they rode out of the castle, they stopped to see Sir Weak’s uncle. The old man gave them a map and warned them of the many dangers on their journey. He told them that the road was dangerous and the going hard. It was unlikely they’d make it in time so they must hurry no matter what challenges they faced.
On the journey up and down treacherous roads, one threat after another exhausted them. They almost died at the hands of evil men and horrible monsters. Finally, struggling up the mountain to the witch’s house, they find that there is still one more, even taller mountain that they must climb.
They have only one day left to save the lives of everyone in the kingdom. Exhausted, hungry, half-blind from blood in their eyes, they struggle up the last mountain, with Tom telling Sir Weak over and over “We’ll make it. We just need to keep putting one foot in front of the other.”
We’ve all heard this story before and likely many times. It’s the basic outline for some of our most famous tales of adventure and the never-ending fight between good and evil. But it’s also a story about stress.
In the first version, there was no challenge, no threat to the knights, and no stress. The job was easy and they went home to dinner. But in the second version, a man who was perceived as being weak and not up to the task is nevertheless tasked with completing a terribly hard challenge against all odds. The price of failing is terrible.
He is stressed by the perceptions of others that he is not up to the task and by self-doubt. He is stressed by the physical challenges of a hard journey and by an almost-impossible time limit after which horrible things will happen. He is stressed by attacks from evil men, by worse attacks from horrible monsters, and by mounting injuries that make it even more unlikely that he and Tom can save the kingdom. Of course, we all know that in the end he succeeds, because these stories are allegories and good always triumphs over evil in the end.
The nature of these stories proves conclusively that ancient authors were very aware of the many different forms of stress that humans can encounter and how they can affect us physically and mentally.
Further, it’s clear that their readers, too, understood stress and its impact on human life. Overcoming challenges – which are often just a small step away from threats – has always been seen as a good and noble thing. To the person who is encountering stress, though, the picture can look quite different.
When Sir Weak was struggling up the mountain, it’s unlikely that he was thinking heroic thoughts. Instead, he was most likely struggling to keep the blood out of his eyes and concentrating entirely on putting one foot in front of the other.
Understanding stress is the first step to relief
When we face stress, we are more likely to be able to deal with it effectively if we understand the nature of the stress we are facing. While there are many types of stress, they tend to share some common characteristics. Looking at some broad categories of stress can offer us a window into the nature of stress and how it varies.
The Duration of Stress
The duration of a stress is an extremely important characteristic, as is the likelihood that it will recur.
Acute Stress
Most of the examples of stress that we have seen in this series so far are examples of acute stress. Acute stress is the result of a sudden change that the brain sees as a threat. Acute stress usually doesn’t last long. When the stress has been dealt with, our brains will reverse the stress response.
Even though acute stress often doesn’t last for long, it can leave lingering problems behind.
Episodic Acute Stress
Episodic acute stress is exactly what it sounds like: acute stress that keeps recurring. As such, it can be more detrimental to our health and welfare than a single instance of acute stress.
Episodic acute stress can be identified by stressors that keep coming back. For example, we’ve all experienced important deadlines at work and these can easily be stressful. But some people face critical deadlines every day. Even though these may be self-imposed, the stress associated with meeting these daily critical deadlines can allow for little relief between each episode of stress.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is like episodic acute stress in that it continues on for a period of time – often months or years. It differs from episodic stress in that it is not related to a series of stress episodes. Instead, the stress just doesn’t go away. It can be related to traumatic episodes, such as PTSD or child abuse. It can also stem from stressors that continue because they are not dealt with effectively. Over time, episodic acute stress can turn into chronic stress.
Chronic stress is strongly associated with inflammation and with almost all the leading causes of death.
Good or Bad Stress
Not all stress is bad. Some stress is positive and some stress is needed. For example, stress can be extremely helpful when it helps us accomplish our objectives by providing motivation.
Distress
The dictionary defines ‘distress’ as ‘extreme anxiety, sorrow, or pain.’ This is the kind of stress we’ve been discussing so far.
Eustress
Eustress (pronounced you-stress) is positive stress. We’re familiar with eulogies, which are good words said about someone who has died. We know that euthanize means to give a pet a good death and that euphemisms are good words or phrases that are substituted for less pleasant versions.
In the same vein, eustress refers to good stress. If two skiers find themselves looking down a steep trail on a mountain, one might view the trail with distress, worried that they might not be up to the challenge and might be injured. The other, however, might be eager to take on the challenge and the joy of skiing down a difficult trail. That is eustress.
The Intensity of Stress
The intensity of stress can vary greatly from one stress to another. Getting to the door with an armload of groceries only to discover that you left your housekey in your car is likely a minor stress, easily relieved. Opening the door and finding that the ceiling has collapsed and there is water damage everywhere would likely be a much greater source of stress. Walking into the mess and finding that a stranger is dead and lying face-down in the water would likely be the cause of extreme stress.
Responses to stress will likely vary significantly based upon the intensity of the stress at hand.
The Source of Stress
Physical Stress
Physical stress results from stressors that put a stress on our body. Scalding hot water would be a stressor, as would be a broken bone or being hit in the head with a baseball. Other physical stressors might not be so quickly identified as such: the smell of smoke, the sound of a crash, a ringing telephone in the middle of the night. Chronic stress can result from the chronic use of substances that stress our bodies, such as cigarettes or alcohol.
Emotional Stress
Emotional stress stems from changes in highly emotional relationships with people, pets, places or things. A tense relationship can easily be the source of emotional stress, as could be the abrupt ending of a positive relationship or the loss of something important to us.
Psychological Stress
Psychological stress stems from things that we interpret as being threatening or negative. Psychological stress does not stem from a physical stressor or an emotional attachment. Instead, it originates in our thoughts.
A red light that prevents us from making a meeting might be a source of psychological stress, as might negative comments online, a friend’s criticism or a meeting that we simply don’t want to go to.
Karl Albrecht’s 4 Types of Stress
Karl Albrecht is a well-known executive management consultant who started out as a physicist. He is considered a thought leader on the topic of leadership. He has identified a different way of classifying stress that’s worth thinking about.
Time Stress
We experience time stress when we feel trapped and unable to complete our tasks in the time remaining to do so. In time stress, individuals can focus so much on deadlines and how much work is left to do that they are less able to accomplish work than they might otherwise be able to.
Anticipatory Stress
We experience anticipatory stress when we are stressed about a future event or activity. Usually, the events we are stressed about are ones that we anticipate might go wrong and have negative impacts on us or others we care about.
Examples of anticipatory stress might be worrying about an upcoming surgery, a presentation that we have to make, or a family wedding that includes unpleasant family members.
Situational Stress
We experience situational stress in the moment. Something comes up that we can’t control, that conflicts with other important things, that can have negative effects on us or represents a real emergency. Situational stress is similar to acute stress.
Encounter Stress
We experience encounter stress when we are worried about interacting with a person or a group of people. Not looking forward to interacting with unpleasant people online would be an example of encounter stress. So would not looking forward to meeting with an unpleasant customer or a professor who is not happy with our progress.
Suggested Reading:
The 10-Part Stress Series
Next in this Series: Symptoms of Stress