A reasonable level of stress can help us get things accomplished and we often perform better when there is some stress. However, we will feel uncomfortably stressed when we see demands as being beyond our ability to cope, especially when involving a situation that is unpredictable or we don’t have a lot of control. Our bodies and minds are designed to respond to sudden or short-term stress. But a lot of today’s stresses are more chronic or ongoing.
The main causes
We can feel stress in response to any demand or perceived threat we face (such as losing a job). Chronic stress is often experienced in our dayto-day modern lives, with family, financial or work stressors. Technology has added many layers of stress, including keeping up to date with developments, the ever-present texts, alerts and emails (and the expectations about responding quickly).
We react to threat with the “fight, flight or freeze” stress response. This response is there to protect us and dates to prehistoric times.
Thousands of years ago, when out
