Stress Definitions 101: Glossary of Terms to Know

When learning about stress, it’s beneficial to know various relevant terms to help understand the topic thoroughly. Here are some key terms and their definitions that you might find useful:

• Acute Stress: Short-term stress that goes away quickly. It helps you manage dangerous situations. It also occurs when you do something new or exciting.
• Adaptation Syndrome: The body’s response to stress involves three stages: alarm, resistance, and exhaustion.
• Adrenaline is a hormone released into the body in response to stress or fear. It is often called the “fight-or-flight” hormone. It prepares the body to respond to a threat.
• Allostatic Load: The long-term negative impact of stress on the body, including wear and tear on bodily systems.
• Allostasis: The process of achieving stability through physiological or behavioral change.
• Anxiety: A feeling of worry, nervousness, or unease, typically about an imminent event or something with an uncertain outcome.
• Autonomic Nervous System: The part of the nervous system responsible for control of the bodily functions not consciously directed, such as breathing, the heartbeat, and digestive processes.
• Avoidance Coping: A strategy of ignoring or avoiding stressors rather than confronting or addressing them directly.
• Behavioral Activation: Engaging in positive activities to combat stress and improve mood.
• Biopsychosocial Model: An approach to understanding health and illness that considers biological, psychological, and social factors.
• Burnout: A state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands.
• Chronic Stress: Long-term stress that occurs for a prolonged period. It can have a negative impact on your health if it goes untreated.
• Cognitive Distortions: Irrational or exaggerated thoughts that contribute to stress and negative emotions.
• Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): A psycho-social intervention that aims to improve mental health by challenging and changing unhelped cognitive distortions and behaviors.
• Coping Mechanisms: Strategies or behaviors that individuals use to manage the stressors in their lives and the emotions associated with them. Coping mechanisms can be healthy or unhealthy.
• Cortisol: A steroid hormone, often called the “stress hormone,” produced by the adrenal glands. It regulates a wide range of processes throughout the body, including metabolism and the immune response, and has a very important role in helping the body respond to stress.
• Distress: Negative stress that can cause anxiety or concern and can be short or long-term. It is often perceived as outside of our coping abilities.
• Emotion-Focused Coping: Coping strategies aimed at regulating emotions rather than solving the underlying problem.
• Emotional Intelligence: The ability to understand and manage your own emotions, and those of the people around you.
• Eustress: Positive stress which has a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being.
• Expressive Writing: A therapeutic technique involving writing about emotions and experiences to reduce stress and improve well-being.
• Fight-or-Flight Response: A physiological reaction that occurs in response to a perceived harmful event, attack, or threat to survival.
• General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): A model describing the body’s short-term and long-term reactions to stress.
• Homeostasis: The body’s ability to maintain a stable internal environment despite changes in external conditions.
• Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) Axis: A complex set of direct influences and feedback interactions among three endocrine glands: the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal (or suprarenal) glands.
• Mind-Body Connection: The theory that the mind and body are not separate entities and that psychological well-being can affect physical health.
• Mindfulness: A mental state achieved by focusing one’s awareness on the present moment, while calmly acknowledging and accepting one’s feelings, thoughts, and bodily sensations.
• Neuroendocrine System: The mechanism by which the hypothalamus maintains homeostasis, regulating metabolism, energy levels, and the immune system.
• Perceived Stress Scale: A self-report questionnaire used to measure the perception of stress in individuals.
• Positive Psychology: The study of factors that contribute to human flourishing and well-being, including resilience and coping skills.
• Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD): A psychiatric disorder that may occur in people who have experienced or witnessed a traumatic event.
• Problem-Focused Coping: Coping strategies aimed at directly addressing and solving the source of stress.
• Psychoneuroimmunology: The study of the interaction between psychological processes, the nervous system, and the immune system.
• Psychosomatic: A term describing a physical illness or other condition caused or aggravated by a mental factor such as internal conflict or stress.
• Relaxation Techniques: Methods used to decrease stress and anxiety, including deep breathing, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation.
• Resilience: The ability of a person to withstand or recover quickly from difficult conditions. It’s often referred to as the ability to “bounce back” from adverse situations.
• Resiliency Training: Programs designed to strengthen individuals’ ability to recover from stress.
• Self-Efficacy: The belief in one’s abilities to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task, which can play a significant role in how one approaches goals, tasks, and challenges.
• Social Support: The perception and actuality that one is cared for, has assistance available from other people, and that one is part of a supportive social network.
• Stress: A physical, mental, or emotional factor that causes bodily or mental tension. Stress can come from any event or thought that makes you feel frustrated, angry, or nervous.
• Stress Management: Techniques and psychotherapies aimed at controlling a person’s levels of stress, especially chronic stress, usually to improve everyday functioning.
• Stressor: Any event or situation that triggers stress. Stressors can be external (from the environment, psychological, or social situations) or internal (illness, or from a medical procedure).
• Subjective Well-being: An individual’s personal assessment of their overall happiness and life satisfaction.
• Time Management: The process of organizing and planning how to divide your time between specific activities to reduce stress.
• Wellness: The active pursuit of activities, choices, and lifestyles that lead to a state of holistic health.
• Work-Life Balance: The equilibrium between personal life and career work, contributing to less stress and a higher quality of life.
• Yoga: A mind and body practice with historical origins in ancient Indian philosophy, which includes breath control, meditation, and the adoption of specific bodily postures.