Good and Bad Stress, What Are These? | Merge Medical Center

Stress: The Good, Bad and Ugly

By Dr. Patrick Lovegrove Medically Reviewed by Lindsay Langley, BSN, RN, CHT

Stress is a condition that many (if not all) people encounter at least once in their life. Whether it’s because of school, work, or relationships, stress can take a toll on your emotional health, and even physical health. Although it can be tempting to simply ignore the tension and go on with your life like it’s no big deal, there’s more to strain than just an expression of exhaustion. Stress can take a toll on the body in many ways.

Stress is the body’s normal biological response to the stimulus. It gives your system a burst of energy that triggers the natural “fight or flight” response, enabling your body to react to situations accordingly. This condition can be classified into two types: good stress and bad stress.

What is Good Stress?

Good stress, also known as short-lived stress or acute stress, may provide benefits that can help you perform better. Below are some of the benefits that good anxiety delivers:

• Increases Energy
  Acute stress results in a few physiological, neurological, and behavioral changes. For instance, it activates the body’s hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which releases glucocorticoids — a chemical that promotes energy replenishment and cardiovascular function.
• Strengthens the Immune System
  In small to moderate doses, tension can also strengthen one’s immune system. Although it has a bad reputation, stress is actually one of the body’s fundamental survival mechanisms. Short-term stress (one that lasts for a few minutes to a few hours) can, in fact, enhance one’s innate and adaptive immune responses.
• Increases Stress Immunity — Acute stress may help improve a person’s resilience, enabling him or her to respond to other stressful situations that may come his or her way, better.

What is Bad Stress?

When tension becomes chronic (one that lasts for weeks and even months), like a failing marriage or problems at work, it may develop into a health hazard. Unfortunately, this type of condition is often ignored and thus goes on for a long period — to a point where the person becomes used to it and thinks of it as “normal” — not realizing that it’s slowly damaging his or her health.

When you’re chronically stressed, your body constantly stays alert, and over time, this can lead to a number of physical and mental issues.

• Increases High Blood Pressure
  Exposure to long-term stress is one of the causes of hypertension. Stressful situations — both physical and mental — can cause blood pressure levels to spike.
• Weakens the Immune System
  Long-term stress suppresses an individual’s immune responses, inducing chronic inflammation and suppressing the function of immunoprotective cells, as a result. This makes one vulnerable to a number of diseases.
• Causes Skin Problems
  Notice those breakouts whenever you’re cramming before an exam or when there’s an upcoming project deadline and you’re pressed for time? Anxierty may cause skin problems like acne.
• Leads to Depression
  Being constantly exposed to stressful environments and situations can cause problems like anxiety and depression.
• May Cause Drug or Alcohol Abuse
  Exposure to long-term stress can make one more prone to using alcohol or drugs. This is primarily because the effects of these substances can be enticing to a person suffering from depression, looking for a reprieve (albeit temporarily) from their problems. Unfortunately, many of these substances, when consumed even just once, can lead to addiction.

7 Ways to Manage Stress

Stress oftentimes cannot be avoided, which is why it’s vital to be able to manage it. Here are a few ways that you can better manage tension.

Originally published at https://mergemedicalcenter.com.