In the previous post, we talked about separation anxiety and post traumatic reaction or stress disorder and the effects these can have on a person. Let’s continue with some other definitions of stress.

Stress as Biopsychosociological Reaction

The definition of stress as a biopsychosociological reaction is first explained by Hans Selye, an Austro-Canadian endocrinologist. In his explanation, he adopted a stress model, popularly known as General Adaptation Syndrome or GAS model during 1936. He explained that the stimuli of stress or stressors are perceived through three individual stages – alarm, resistance and exhaustion. While stress is perceived at alarm stage, the body breaks down during exhaustion stage.

Stress as Eustress and Distress

In 1974, this definition of stress was proposed by Richard Lazarus, a psychology professor and cognitive-meditational theorist from University of California. In this definition stress was explained as either of two types – eustress or distress. While the definition of eustress suggests a perception of healthy stress, distress is characterized by unhealthy one.

In the definition of eustress, all the good stress experiences are documented such as preparing for examination, meeting a goal, marriage, buying a new property, receiving the news of promotion, etc. On the other hand, the same event can be listed under distress if those incidents are perceived from a different angle, say, taking excessive pressure before examination.

There are many other definitions of stress. However, the above-mentioned definitions are widely known and perceived by many people around the world. Since the understanding of stress needs an in-depth study, so the definition of stress can be too complicated. These are only intended to give a general overview of the definition of stress.

It may not be necessary to understand all the definitions because stress has been around for decades and continues to negatively affect the lives of millions of people around the world. The focus should be on how to combat stress in everyday life at a time when people are stressing out more than ever.