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| are known as stressors. There are many potential stressors, such as: changes (vacation, marriage, divorce, a new job and so on); any intense emotion, such as fear or anger; fatigue, physical injury, surgery, temperature extremes, noise, crowding, illness. |
| Change is one of the most powerful stressors. Any kind of change in our lives, even one perceived as positive, requires an adaptation to a new set of circumstances. Getting married, getting divorced, entering college and graduating from college all require adaptation and thus are all stressors. The effects of stressors are cumulative. The more stressors in one's life at any given time, the higher the stress levels will be. |
| No two people are exactly alike as to which aspects of daily life will increase their stress levels. The identical life situation might be quite pleasant to one person while extremely stressful to another. In a general sense, a situation will be a stressor if it is perceived as threatening to well-being or requiring adjustment in any way. It is the perception of each situation that makes it either stressful or not, so almost any event or situation can be a stressor. |
| How Stress Contributes to Illness |
| There is a definite relationship between stress and illness. Although the exact nature of that relationship is not yet understood, a number of ideas have been suggested. Early theories tried to connect different illnesses with specific types of emotional conflict or personality and body types. |
| Hans Selye maintains that the biological reactions accompanying adaptation to stress result in both short- and long-term adverse physical changes. He calls these changes diseases of adaptation, since they are the outcome of a system of defenses against threatening stimuli. The |
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