Faced with pressure, challenge or danger, our bodies release hormones such as cortisol and adrenaline. These affect our metabolic rate, heart rate and blood pressure to prepare us for optimum performance. Unless we can compensate with physical activity, this natural reaction to stress reduces our ability to cope. It is important to differentiate between temporary stress that you know will soon go away and long-term or chronic stress. Temporary stress can often be relieved by relaxing, by taking a walk or by a good night s sleep, but chronic stress is harder to deal with.
Chronic stress can be damaging, both psychologically and emotionally.
If you suffer from asthma, stress can trigger an asthma attack. If you are suffering from post-traumatic stress you may suffer from the symptoms listed above. In addition, you may feel a mixture of emotions such as fear, shame, melancholy, guilt or anger, and recurrent memories or images may haunt you or give you nightmares. These feelings can last for weeks, months or even years after the traumatic event that triggered them. There is no diagnostic test for stress and everyone reacts to it differently.