Stress is simply a reaction to stimulus that disturbs our physical and mental equilibrium. In psychology stress is a feeling of strain and pressure. Small amounts of stress maybe desired, beneficial, and even healthy. Positive stress improves athletic performance. It also plays a factor in motivation, adaptation, and reaction to the environment. Excessive amounts of stress, however, may lead to bodily harm. Stress will increase the rest of strokes, heart attacks, ulcers, dwarfism, and mental illnesses such depression. People can counter the effects of stress by changing their lifestyle such as diet, excise, meditation, and social support. Stress is the combination of psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions that people have in response to events that threaten or challenge them. Stress can be good or bad. Sometimes, stress is helpful, providing people with the extra energy or alertness they need. Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon, for example. This good kind of stress is called eustress. Unfortunately, stress is often not helpful and can even be harmful when not managed effectively. Stress could make a salesperson buckle under the pressure while trying to make a sales pitch at an important business meeting, for example. Moreover, stress can increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders. This bad kind of stress is called distress, the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress.
A convenient way to think about stress is in terms of stressors and stress responses. Stressors are events that threaten or challenge people. They are the sources of stress, such as having to make decisions, getting married and natural disasters. Stress responses are psychological, physiological, and behavioral reactions to stressors. Anxiety,