Strong emotional reactions can come from or cause stress. These differences include our age, sex, physical fitness, places where tension may build or react in our bodies, illness and health habits. We all have attitudes, beliefs and personalities. Each person interprets and responds to stressors distinctly. This is in part due to what we have learned in the past.
Stress triggers the fight or flight response within the body.
Originally the stress response helped us survive by increasing the ability to fight, or the ability to flee from an enemy. Over time, chronic stress can lead to disease, a worsening of health problems and even death. Dr. Hans Selye describes this in his three stages of the stress response, the general adaptation syndrome. The heart rate increases, blood vessels constrict, blood clots easier, muscles tense, breathing rate increases, pupils dilate, the nerves are stimulated, and perspiration increases. Cortisone causes the blood pressure to increase, blood cholesterol to rise, slows Vitamin D, can weaken the immune system, increases the production of glucose, and slows digestion.