Stress: America's #1 Health Problem
How different types of stress can affect your well-being.
from -Reader's Digest.com

Types of Stress

Acute stress
This is the most common form, stemming from the demands and pressures of the recent past and the anticipated demands and pressures of the near future, such as a fast-approaching deadline. Acute stress is the kind you encounter when you first find out you or someone you love has cancer; when you have a brand new baby; or when you first read a notice from the IRS asking about last year's taxes. It's what happens to your body when you swerve to avoid hitting a car or rush across town because you're late to an appointment.

Episodic acute stress
People in this category move from one episode of acute stress to another. Typically they live lives filled with chaos and crisis. They take on too much, they're always running late, and their homes are filled with clutter. They never seem to slow down, are quick to anger and, not coincidentally, have higher rates of heart disease. Some are worrywarts, who see disaster around every corner and who live their lives in a constant state of high anxiety.

Chronic stress
This is the subtler, prolonged stress -- often linked to large life issues -- that wears you down every day. It exists in the background of your daily routine. You become so used to it, you don't even know it's there anymore. It's caring for an aging parent or disabled child, working a job in which you have little control, trying to support your family on a salary that never seems to stretch far enough, or coping with a chronic illness like diabetes or heart disease. It's being trapped in a bad marriage, living in a war zone, or coping with a dysfunctional family.

Genetically, we're relatively well equipped to deal with acute stress. When we're confronted with a stressor -- such as when someone suddenly shouts at you, or you're driving in the car and you have to swerve to avoid a collision -- the body kicks into gear, releasing a flood of hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, known as stress hormones. These, in turn, direct a well-orchestrated response throughout the body. Blood sugar level rises and metabolism speeds up to make more energy readily available. Breathing rate and oxygen consumption also increase, and blood flow changes, with blood being pulled from nonessential areas (like the digestive tract and the small muscles in the fingers and toes) and sent to the brain and major muscle groups that you use to fight or flee, primarily the arms, legs, and chest. Even the blood itself is affected, with clotting time decreasing so you're less likely to bleed to death if you're wounded. Meanwhile, the immune system goes dormant because it's not immediately critical to survival.

This fight-or-flight response enabled our ancestors to deal with a more hostile, physically demanding world of hunting, fighting, and surviving. All well and good for those instances when quick thinking and quick feet are necessary. But when stress hormones are continually released, when your body is continually in fight-or-flight mode, and yet you have no physical release for these surges of energy and hormones, then damage can occur.