1. Stress is a combination of a person's psychological, physiological, and behavioral response to his environment, which he/she perceives as threatening or challenging. Stress is measured in terms of arousal or stimulation. As such, stress must be present for any person to function. Stress can be either good or bad . What is Stress ?
2. Low: This is distress leading to boredom, fatigue, frustration, or dissatisfaction. Optimum: This is eustress . Stress sometimes provides people with the extra energy or alertness they need. For example, Stress could give a runner the edge he or she needs to persevere in a marathon. Eustress can also lead to creativity, problem solving, progress, change, learning, and energetic satisfaction. High: This bad kind of stress is called distress , the kind of stress that people usually are referring to when they use the word stress. High levels of stress can be harmful if not managed effectively. It can also increase the risk of developing health problems, such as cardiovascular disease and anxiety disorders . Three Degrees of Stress
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10. STRESS RESPONSE DYSFUNCTION Burnout is an increasingly intense pattern of psychological, physiological, and behavioral dysfunction in response to a continuous flow of stressors or chronic stress. It is commonly found among employees and professionals who have a high degree of personal investment in work and high performance expectations. In the initial stages, people often have a variety of physiological and behavioral symptoms and lose interest and confidence in their work. The following physiological symptoms may occur: · Shortness of breath · Loss of appetite or weight · Headache · Fatigue and exhaustion The following behavioral symptoms may occur: · Lack of interest in fellow employees · Risky behavior · Mood swings In the later stages, people often do the following things: · Abuse alcohol and other drugs · Smoke excessively · Drink more caffeinated beverages · Become more rigid in their thinking · Lose faith in abilities of workers, the organization, and themselves · Become less productive