Good and bad stress: What are the differences?

From a medical standpoint, experiencing stress, a physical and psychological response to demand, is not all bad, but people must develop the ability to recognize when they are in danger of being overwhelmed.

There is good and bad stress, healthy levels of this reaction, which can be produced by anything, help develop resilience and even create a sense of well-being.

Safia Debar, a stress management specialist at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London, explained that, for example, getting married can cause or types of stresswhich is the opposite of trouble.

“It’s about how we perceive that stress and how the body actually deals with it… Chronic stress will affect all organ systems: you may feel anxiety, depression and digestive problems“, the expert commented, via Zoom.

Stress causes a cascade of reactions in the mind and body, and in under normal conditionsthis reaction begins in ua reference value of relaxationencounters a stressor, initiates a stress response, reaches a maximum, and then returns to baseline.

When faced with a threat, sympathetic nervous systemthe production of cortisol (the main stress hormone) increases, thoughts become negative (because of something that happened or expected), heart rate, breathing and blood pressure increase, muscles are tense, the digestive and reproductive systems slow down and immune system stop fighting the invaders.

When the threat passes, the body begins to repair and organize itself. “In terms of physical, breathing and heart rate slows down, blood pressure normalizes, you breathe more deeply, muscle tension decreases, your digestive and reproductive systems resume normal activity, and you can begin to connect with others to share the experience you just had,” Debar said.

“If the stress rises and then falls again, our cycle is complete. There is no natural wear or damage,” he added.

In this sense, if a person has overcome a stressful event in his life, processed it and completed the cycle, then it is very likely that experience can similarly prevail.

However, Debar emphasizes that “when a person is constantly under a lot of stress, the ability to return to the initial value begins to slowly decrease… Stress can appear and stay there for a while. extended answer. “This is when you’re hypervigilant: you’re wired but tired, you’re anxious.”

If stress seems unrelenting and constant, you feel like you can’t control it, you have trouble regulating your emotions, you start hiding from life or emotions, and you experience physical symptoms You may be at risk of stress overload, so it is recommended consult your doctor.