Stress

Stress is something that we all experience at certain times in our lives, it is the body's natural response to situations that we perceive as threatening, worrying, unusual or out of control. The body responds as if it were physically  threatened by producing adrenalin and getting ready for a 'fight or flight'. Your heart beats faster, you breathe faster and sweat more, and your mouth becomes dry.

Stress can be useful as it can help you give your best performance, physically and mentally. Athletes before a race, actors before a performance and students sitting an exam all get nervous, which can help them concentrate their efforts to do well.

Stress can also work negatively, however, in response to daily pressures and major life changes such as academic pressures, discrimination, moving town/house, getting married/divorced, bereavement, breakdown of personal relationships, financial problems or work related problems.

The degree of stress people feel is determined to an extent by the pressures on them but also by the amount of support they receive from others and their own skills in dealing with stress.