Abstract

AN UNCOMPLICATED WAY TO UNDERSTAND STRESS

Pratiksha Indulkar* and Dr. Kedar Prabhavalkar

ABSTRACT

Stress is Uncontrollable, unpredictable, and constant stress or chronic stress has far-reaching consequences on our physical and mental health. Stress can begin in the womb and reoccur throughout life. One of the potential abnormal consequences of stress is a learned helplessness that leads to the hopelessness and helplessness of clinical depression, but in addition, many illnesses, such as chronic anxiety states, hypertension, cardiovascular disorders, and addictive disorders, to name a few, also seem to be influenced by chronic or overwhelming stress. Nature, however, has provided us with efficient processes (mechanisms) to manage with stressors through the HPA axis and the locus coeruleus/ sympathetic nervous system. Moreover, research has shown us the biological processes that specify what we all intuitively know is true, which is, that too much stress, particularly when we cannot predict it or control its recurrence, is harmful to our health.

Keywords: Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS), selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).