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Stress Term Paper

The Effects of Stress
Stress is an ongoing dilemma which occurs in everyone's life. It is a factor that is without a question apart of daily living. Due to the minor problems that occur in people's daily lives, massive amounts of stress can arise. Stress means different things to people and effects people in different ways. Some people think stress is something that happens to them such as an injury or a birthday. And others think that stress is what happens to our mind, body, and behaviors in a response to an event. While stress does involve events and how one responds to them, these are not the critical factors, but our thoughts about the situation in which we are involved are the critical factors. Essentially, stress exists whenever homeostasis is disturbed or cannot be maintained (Stress and the Social System Course Guide, 1993). Homeostasis refers to the body's ability to keep the internal chemical and physical environments constant.(Saladin, 2004) One will learn from this paper, that stress can sometimes cause our body's to react with serious consequences. One will also learn some tips to manage stress efficiently, so that stress doesn't overwhelm them and cause serious problems.
There are different ways in which one can experience stress and it is important to remember that stress is an essential part of life. Not all stressful situations are negative. Receiving a promotion at work, the birth of a child or taking a trip can all be stressful, but are not always threatening. The reason why one may see these situations as stressful is because they may feel unprepared to deal with them. To eliminate confusion and misuse of words, Hans describes stress as being damaging or unpleasant experiences as distress, unpleasurable, or unsatisfying experiences which are called eustress (Rice, 1999).
There are many chronic illnesses that are associated with stress. As your body begins to react to stress, several changes occur. These changes include...