Since the dawn of time, all living organisms have been subjected to evolutionary pressure from the environment (stress). Their ability to respond effectively to threats from the environment, predation, or other stressors ultimately determined their ability to survive and reproduce (Segerstrom & Miller, 2004).
Stress remains an integral part of life for every individual. While it may not be the same types of stressors as in earlier times, everyone has stressors in their lives as they try to juggle the demands of work, family, personal responsibilities, and environmental stressors (such as natural disasters or political upheavals). However, what may be stressful to one individual is not necessarily perceived as stressful to another individual, and that is what makes stress so difficult to define. For example, when riding a roller coaster, some people are hunched down in the back seats with their eyes shut and jaws clenched, stomach tense, skin pale, and grabbing onto the retaining bar with such fear that their knuckles are literally white. Other individuals choose to sit right up front, yelling and screaming and relishing every steep plunge and high-speed twist and turn of their wild ride. These wide-eyed thrill seekers find the ride exhilarating, and they find the “adrenaline rush” and physical sensations so enjoyable they may even choose to go on the ride again. So was the roller coaster ride a stressful event (American Institute of Stress, 2013)? It depends on which of the riders you ask.
Stress research has surged in the last 50 years as interest in the topic has increased. Today the word stress has many different definitions and connotations. According to Seaward (2012), in Eastern philosophies, stress is considered to be the absence of inner peace; in Western culture, it is considered the loss of control. Serge Kahili King, a noted healer, describes stress as any change experienced by the individual. Researcher Richard Lazarus calls stress a state of anxiety produced when events and responsibilities exceed one’s ability to cope with them. Hans Selye added to this definition, stating “stress is the nonspecific response of the body to any demand placed upon it to adapt, whether that demand produces pleasure or pain” (Seaward, 2012, p. 6).
Seaward (2012) states that a more current definition of stress is “the inability to cope with a perceived (real or imagined) threat to one’s mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being, which results in a series of physiological responses and adaptations” (p. 4).
According to Trivieri & Anderson (2002), stress is a reaction to any stimulus or challenge that upsets the body’s normal function and disturbs mental or physical health. Stress can be brought on by internal circumstances (such as illness, pain, or emotional upset) or by external circumstances (such as death, family or financial problems, or job challenges). Attitudes, beliefs, and emotional states ranging from love to anger can trigger chain reactions that affect blood chemistry, heart rate, and the activity of every cell and organ in the body (Seaward, 2012).
A situation, circumstance, or any stimulus that is perceived to be a threat is referred to as a stressor, or that which causes or promotes stress (Seaward, 2012). While the definitions of stress vary, most experts agree that stress is not what happens to someone—those outside forces are the stressors. What matters is how a person reacts to the stressor.