What is Stress and How Does it Relate to Illness?

Technically, stress involves an individual's physical and emotional reaction to pressure from his environment or from within himself. A job promotion is stressful because, although generally positive, it may make one feel that harder work is expected. Thus while stress is often thought to be negative, it may actually help in achieving goals as well as avoiding unpleasant situations. Stress is an avoidable part of life and causes one to be constantly agitated. When this happens, it is possible to become overloaded and suffer physically or emotionally or both.

Some of the stress-related illnesses include:

peptic ulcers

migraine headaches,

depression

ulcerative colitis

high blood pressure

stroke and heart attacks

This doesnt mean that stress is the direct or principal cause of these illnesses; rather, researchers believe that some people may inherit a biological predisposition to developing a particular disease. And on-going stress in such a persons life may increase the chances that that illness will develop. Illness itself is a source of stress. In addition, continuous stress can weaken the bodys immune system, and as a result the system may become less effective in battling infections. And some authorities suggest that chronic and excessive stress may contribute to the development and progression of cancer.

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What is stress?

Stress (roughly the opposite of relaxation) is a medical term for a wide range of strong external stimuli, both physiological and psychological, which can cause a physiological response called the general adaptation syndrome, first described in 1936 by Hans Selye in the journal Nature.
An emotionally disruptive or upsetting condition occurring in response to adverse external influences and capable of affecting physical health which can be characterized by increased heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, muscular tension, irritability and depression. Stress does not cause migraine but can be a migraine "trigger".
A condition in which the organism is subjected to unfavourable or unfamiliar environmental conditions, resulting in some alteration in normal physical functioning. Short-term stress can often be overcome. Long-term stress can reduce resistance to disease and parasites, inhibit self-healing processes, and reduce life-span.