15/04/2026
April is , so let's review the physiology behind stress! It's the body's physical, mental, and emotional response to a stressor, or a change, requiring adaptation.
A stressor can be an external stimuli like a loud noise, a daily event like losing your keys, an academic or work event like an important assignment, a social event like a party, exposure to drugs or alcohol, and last but not least, a psychological stressor like a conflict.
There are two types of stress. Positive stress, or eustress, makes a person motivated and alert, but there's also negative stress, or distress, which makes a person overly anxious, leading to poor performance.
How someone responds to a stressor depends on the personl's skills, abilities, and coping mechanisms. An individual may feel irritable, tense, or helpless. Concentration and memory may also be affected. In terms of physiology, there are three stages of stress response: the alarm, resistance, and exhaustion stages.
The alarm stage refers to the body's initial reaction where there's activation of the sympathetic nervous system to maintain body functions, enabling response.
During the resistance stage, there is continuous release of hormones like cortisol and epinephrine stimulate the sympathetic nervous system to continue engaging the body.
Finally, there's the exhaustion stage, where the body is no longer able to maintain increased sympathetic nervous system activity. Persistent stress may lead an individual to social withdrawal, substance abuse, aggressive behavior, suicidal ideation, or other mental health disorders.
Read our full High-Yield Notes on stress and other higher-order brain functions here: http://spkl.io/6180ANzVg
