Everyone is designed with an inborn ability to handle stress. However, not everyone has the same tolerance levels : some can only cope with low levels and short durations of stress, while others adapt and can accommodate higher levels stress for more prolonged periods.
In 1935, Dr. Hans Selye devised the term stress as a factor that induced behavioural changes in mammals. He then extended this statement to include higher level organisms (i.e. humans) as also being effected by stress in a harmful way.
According to Dr. Selye, there are three states the body faces when dealing with stress.
1) First there is the “Alarm state”: where the body has to adapt to acute stress; this is where the “fight-or-flight” response kicks in.
2) Second is the “Resistance state”: this occurs when there is an emergence of consequences of prolonged stress response activation (i.e. insulin resistance).
3) The Third state is the “Exhaustion state”: here there is a decline in responsiveness and sensitivity of primary relays of the HPA axis (i.e. hypothalamic deterioration / dysfunction leading to erratic or insufficient stress hormone and catecholamine production and subsequent mood disorders and fatigue).These same imbalances in the HPA axis and stress response mechanisms that contribute to these signs and symptoms also contribute to the deadly sequel of more serious stress-related illness.
It becomes clear why you have to recognize that you are experiencing some, or all, of the symptoms as an important initial step towards achieving better overall health and mitigating your risk for various diseases.