The Benefits of Stress

The Benefits of Stress

Al Hady and Badran

American University of Beirut

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Eng 204,Section 2

To Ms Reem Deeb

July 16, 2017

Table of Contents

Introduction        2

I-        Reasons Behind Stress        3

A.        Origins of Stress        3

B.        The Biology of Stress        4

1.        The Stress Mechanism        4

2.        Types of Stress        4

II-        “Good Stress”        6

A.        Physical Aspect        7

B.        Mental Aspect        7

III-        Coping with Stress        8

A.        An alternation in thought        8

B.        Physical Activity        8

Conclusion        9

References        10

Thesis: This research will be will be directed to specifying the reasons people stress, finding the underlying benefits of stress as an evolutionary driver, and describing ways to cope with stress.

Introduction

The nature of stress, as a state of psychological draining or tension subsequent to adversative or challenging conditions, dates to the origin of humanity itself. Up until 1936, the concept of stress was considered to be a vague phenomenon, one that is concisely indefinable, defying all means of medical measurability. However, the term “stress”, as it is commonly used today, finds its root in Hans Selye’s Stress of Life, in which, after a series of conducted experiments, comes to the conclusion that stress is “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change” (Selye, 1976). This response, as the experiments have shown, usually includes recurrent symptoms such as stomach ulceration and agitation (Selye, 1976).