What exactly is stress?
The stress reaction (you might have heard it call the fight flight response) occurs when the body perceives it is under threat e.g. if you came across a sabre tooth tiger or, more likely, if you had a near-miss in the car or prior to giving an important presentation at work. On these occasions your body may respond by:
- Breathing speeding up/becoming shallow
- Heart rate increasing
- Liver releasing fats and glucose for energy
- Blood flow diverting from non-essential areas to muscles and brain
In addition, the body releases hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol) so that it is prepared to deal with the threat. In the case of the sabre tooth tiger the hormones would prepare you to either fight the tiger or run away. In the same way, before doing your important presentation, you are prepared to focus mentally.
This response is a natural reaction and once the threat is over your body will go back to its normal state. But imagine if the response doesn’t go away and you feel like that for an extended period of time – not only is this not good for your body but it’s also unpleasant to experience.
Help and information
- Student counselling is available through Student Services.
- The Employee Assistance Program
- Beyond Blue
- Consider attending/completing a course Workshops and development at UTS