Furthermore, the body is thought to be under stress when the demands become threatening to the overall homeostasis or equilibrium of the body. Stress has also been described as the physiological and psychological responses of the body to a situation that is perceived as harmful. This alone can tell us that age is not relevant to stress reactions, since the body is able to respond to threatening situations from the time the nervous system begins to function. It is in fact part of the human s survival mechanism that the body is able to detect and respond to such stimuli. Another key point concerning defining stress is in the way the body perceives the threat.
Stress responses involve both body and mind.
The body responds according to how the mind interprets the stimulus and not to the stimulus itself. Hence the result that some people seem to deal with potentially stressful situations better than others. Or one person may have an indifferent attitude to a situation whereas another may be highly stimulated by that same situation. The perception and interpretation of incoming information depends on each person s prior knowledge, experiences, culture and up-bringing. The older one gets the more information and experience one has.