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What’s stressful to one person isn’t for another. Happy events (new marriage, job promotion, new home) and unhappy events (illness, being overworked, family problems) can cause stress. Everyone feels and reacts to stress in different ways. How much stress you experience and how you react to it can lead to a wide variety of health problems — and that’s why it’s critical to know what you can do about it. Stress, Mental Health and Your HeartMental health can positively or negatively impact your physical health and risk factors for heart disease and stroke, according to “Psychological Health, Well-Being, and the Mind-Heart-Body Connection,” a scientific statement in the American Heart Association journal Circulation. Stress may contribute to poor health behaviors linked to increased risk for heart disease and stroke, such as:
Your body’s response to stress may be:
Stress can also:
A stressful situation sets off a chain of events. Your body releases adrenaline, a hormone that temporarily causes your breathing and heart rate to speed up and your blood pressure to rise. These reactions prepare you to deal with the situation — the “fight or flight” response. What is chronic stress?Chronic stress is when stress is constant and your body is in high gear off and on for days or weeks at a time. Chronic stress may lead to high blood pressure, which can increase risk for heart attack and stroke. Can managing stress reduce or prevent heart disease?Managing stress is good for your health and well-being. Negative psychological health / mental health is associated with an increased risk of heart disease and stroke. But positive psychological health is associated with a lower risk of heart disease and death. Negative mental health conditions include:
These conditions are associated with potentially harmful responses in our bodies such as:
Positive mental health characteristics include:
People with positive mental health are also more likely to have health factors linked to a lower risk of developing heart disease:
Further research is needed to determine more about how stress contributes to heart disease and stroke. What can I do about stress?Fortunately, you can manage stress in ways such as:
Figuring out how stress pushes your buttons is an important step in dealing with it. Identify sources of stress in your life and look for ways to reduce and manage them. A health care professional can help you find ways to manage your stress. Stress management or relaxation classes can also help. Look for them at community colleges, rehab programs, in hospitals or by calling a therapist in your community. Adopting serenity in the face of life’s challenges may help improve your perception of stress and result in better quality of life and heart health. What Is the Fight-or-Flight Response?The fight-or-flight response, also known as the acute stress response, refers to the physiological reaction that occurs when in the presence of something mentally or physically terrifying. This response is triggered by the release of hormones that prepare your body to either stay and deal with a threat or to run away to safety. The three stages of fight-or-flight are:
Evolution of the Fight-or-Flight ResponseThe term "fight-or-flight" represents the choices our ancient ancestors had when faced with danger in their environment: to either fight or flee. In either case, the physiological and psychological response to stress prepares the body to react to the danger. In the 1920s, American physiologist Walter Cannon was the first to describe the fight-or-flight response. Cannon realized that a chain of rapidly occurring reactions inside the body helped to mobilize the body's resources to deal with threatening circumstances. Today, the fight-or-flight response is recognized as part of the first stage of Hans Selye's general adaptation syndrome, a theory describing the stress response. What Happens During the Fight-or-Flight ResponseIn response to acute stress, the body's sympathetic nervous system is activated by the sudden release of hormones. Fight-or-flight response hormones include adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticotropin-releasing hormone. These hormones cause the sympathetic nervous system to stimulate the pituitary gland and adrenal glands. This triggers the release of catecholamines, including adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol. This chain of reactions results in an increased heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate. Your body can stay in fight-or-flight for 20 to 60 minutes after the threat is gone, which is how long it takes for the parasympathetic nervous system to return it to pre-arousal levels. The sympathetic nervous system promotes the fight-or-flight response while the parasympathetic nervous system helps calm the body once the threat is gone. Physical Signs of a Fight-or-Flight ResponsePhysical signs that can indicate that your fight-or-flight response has kicked in include:
You can probably think of a time when you experienced the fight-or-flight response. When faced with something frightening, you can feel your heartbeat quicken, you may start breathing faster, and your entire body becomes tense and ready to take action. Impact of the Fight-or-Flight Response There are both benefits and drawbacks to the fight-or-flight response. Benefits of Fight-or-FlightThe fight-or-flight response plays a critical role in how we deal with stress and danger in our environment. When we are under threat, the response prepares the body to either fight or flee. By priming your body for action, you are better prepared to perform under pressure. The stress created by the situation can actually be helpful, making it more likely that you will cope effectively with the threat. This type of stress can help you perform better in situations where you are under pressure to do well, such as at work or school. Some experts suggest that the flight-or-flight response may even provide benefits when the urge to fight others in an attempt to harm them is, instead, transformed into the urge to fight to protect them. This may be beneficial when the fight-or-flight response is triggered by negative emotions such as anger and fear. And in cases where the threat is life-threatening, the fight-or-flight response plays a critical role in your survival. By gearing you up to fight or flee, the fight-or-flight response makes it more likely that you will survive the danger. Drawbacks of Fight-or-FlightWhile the fight-or-flight response happens automatically, that doesn't mean that it is always accurate. Sometimes we respond in this way even when there is no real threat. This is because the fight-or-flight response can be triggered by both real and imaginary threats. Phobias are good examples of how the fight-or-flight response might be falsely triggered in the face of a perceived threat. Constantly being in a state of fight-or-flight, such as when facing repeated stressors, can also be harmful to your health. Chronic stress can increase your risk of:
Is Anxiety a Fight-or-Flight Response?Some research indicates that the body's desire to fight or flee can increase a person's risk of developing an anxiety disorder, making them more vulnerable to this type of mental health condition. Examples of the Fight-or-Flight ResponseThe fight-or-flight response can happen in the face of imminent physical danger, such as when encountering a growling dog during your morning jog. It can also be the result of a psychological threat, such as preparing to give a big presentation at school or work. Another example of the flight-or-fight response is if a person who is terrified of heights has to go to the top floor of a skyscraper to attend a meeting. Their body might go on high alert, with their heartbeat and respiration rate increasing. If the response is severe, it can lead to a panic attack. How to Calm a Fight-or-Flight ResponseUnderstanding the body's natural fight-or-flight response is one way to help cope with such situations. When you notice that you are becoming tense, you can start looking for ways to calm down and relax your body. Ways to calm the fight-or-flight response include:
Psychology and the Fight-or-Flight ResponseThe stress response is one of the major topics studied in the rapidly-growing field of health psychology. Health psychologists are interested in helping people find ways to combat stress and live healthier, more productive lives. By learning more about the fight-or-flight response, psychologists can help people explore new ways to deal with their natural reactions to stress. Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
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By Kendra Cherry Thanks for your feedback! What are the 3 stages of stress response?[18] This syndrome is divided into the alarm reaction stage, resistance stage, and exhaustion stage. The alarm reaction stage refers to the initial symptoms of the body under acute stress and the "fight or flight" response.
What stage in the stress response where the body functions higher?Alarm reaction stage
The adrenaline gives a person a boost of energy. Their heart rate increases and their blood pressure rises. Meanwhile, blood sugar levels also go up. These physiological changes are governed by a part of a person's autonomic nervous system (ANS) called the sympathetic branch.
What happens in the resistance stage of stress?Resistance Stage
It typically occurs when whatever was triggering your stress has stopped. If you remain stressed, the reaction stage will persist. In the resistance stage, your body begins to lower your blood pressure and heart rate. It also reduces the amount of adrenaline and cortisol being produced.
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