Is There More Than One Definition of Stress?

This page covers a definition of stress, signs of stress, stress related illnesses, and ways to reduce stress. It also includes a stress joke, to end on a lighter note.

When searching for a definition of stress, one thing becomes clear: There are many, many types of stress! Sometimes your stress is obvious, other times it stays hidden until you hit a crisis, and stress affect your overall health.

In this way, stress affects your aura, as what affects your physical body will impact your aura.

What stresses one person doesn’t necessarily stress another.Because there is no one single definition of stress, this page is broken into several sub-headings:

Types of stress

You have probably read articles that tell you that there are good types of stress as well as bad. This page is only focusing on the negative types of stress, as that is most likely why you are searching the internet for a definition of stress!

Stress caused by someone or something: Otherwise known as ‘distress’, is extremely common. Examples are financial stress, health stress and relationship stress.

Stress from over work: Working without a break – a constant stressful situation is physically exhausting and fatigues a person’s nerves and spirit.

Boredom: From a lack of stimulation. Boredom is actually very stressful and frustrating! According to the old saying “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop”.

Signs of stress

Signs of stress can be emotional, mental, and physical.

Emotional signs of stress:Crying, angry reactions or outbursts, laughing (I frequently laugh when stressed), feeling “jumpy”, feeling restless in your own skin.

Mental signs of stress:Inability to make a decision, confusion, unable to organize thoughts, obsessing over tiny details, negative thinking

Physical signs of stress:Loss of appetite, inability to sleep, nausea and vomiting, nightmares, constant fear/adrenalin/fear cycle that could lead to an anxiety or panic disorder.

Stress related illnesses

Stress related illnesses can be grouped into two types – illness that affect a stressed person in the moment (short-term illness) or longer-term illness, which usually affects people who have been in a stressful situation for an extended period.

Short-term illnessHeadache and migraine, colds and flu, anxiety and panic attack

Longer-term illnessPost-traumatic stress disorder, repeat migraines, anxiety and panic disorder, stroke.

Ways to reduce stress

If you know that the stress is a short term issue, there isn't really any need to take immediate steps. We are all human, and we all experience stress from time to time as part of the human condition.

However, the likely reality is that you have either been affected by stress for a long time, or you know that you face a potentially stressful period ahead. Admitting the stress is the first step in learning how to deal with it. You need to identify the source of your stress and assess what you can do to reduce it. Talk with your boss or teacher about your work load, for example. Or talk with a counselor about a relationship problem if it is out of your control.

There are also many ways you can take a short-term break from stress. I wrote a page of 101 ways to reduce stress.

Stress jokes

I wanted to end this page on a happy note, so here is a joke about stress for you - it's an oldie but a goodie:

STRESS

A man was having an affair with his secretary, and she fell pregnant. Not wanting his wife to know, he paid for the secretary to go to Italy until she had the baby.

To ensure that his wife didn’t find out about his affair, the man instructed his secretary to write him a postcard with simply the word “spaghetti” when the baby was born.

Nine months later, the man is checking the mail over breakfast with his wife. He picked up a postcard, became very stressed when he read it, and fainted.

His wife picked up the card to see what it said. It read: “Spaghetti, spaghetti, spaghetti. Two with meatballs and one without.”

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