Is stress today different than stress faced in the past?
Every age has its stressors. Stress is your body’s physical, chemical, or emotional reaction to something that threatens, excites, irritates or endangers you. The Life Events Stress Rating Scale was revised and shows that people in the 1990’s rated the same life events 45 percent more stressful than people did in the 1960’s. • What’s the difference between good stress and bad stress? Stress is like a rubber band. With no tension on the band, it doesn’t function at all. With too much tension, it breaks. When taut for a long time, it loses its elasticity. With the right amount of tension and it does just what it was designed to do. Stress is based on an individual’s perception. When our stress reactions help us get things done with a sense accomplishment, it’s good stress. When those reactions immobilize us, it’s bad stress. • How can one recognize the symptoms of stress? Again, we are all individuals and have our own particular reactions. For some people they are physiological, like a r
