CLASSIFICATION OF STRESS

1.Depending upon the type of reaction on the body and its effects stress can be classified as healthy or harmful stress, with corresponding positive and negative effects.

(a) Healthy Stress. Stress is valuable under certain circumstances, e.g. sports, making speeches and taking exams. The stress response puts people on their mettle, increases alertness, improves sight, strengthens muscles and reduces reaction time. The stress response increases our ability to stand and fight or turn and flee; and to moblise all our resources to achieve whatever we decide to do.

(b) Harmful Stress. More often that not, stress is always harmful. It includes distress and strain and has no advantages what so ever. It is this kind of stress which would be discussed in today’s lecture. Harmful stress leads to certain negative effects. The negative effects show particularly when a person allows harmful stress to remain in the body, usually when there is no chance to take necessary steps to release a stress response that is too strong or lasts too long. The negative effects of stress show up in three ways in particular :-

(i) Unsuitable Behaviour.

(ii) Lower Energy and Performance Levels.

(iii) Poor Health.

2. The key difference between healthy and harmful stress is that in healthy stress there is rapid adjustment to change while in harmful stress, there is little or no adjustment. A person is surrounded by changes, but has no trouble in adjusting to most of them. It is only those changes for which he has no answer that leads a person to harmful stress. This is the stress which people complain about and is the cause of physical and mental sufferings.