Stress is defined as the ”response to change“. Every living organism needs stress to survive. Our cell membranes function because they are under stress and stress responses, such as higher blood pressure, a faster heart rate and rapid breathing help us in demanding situations.
It‘s well known that the Fight or Flight mechanism was extremely important to our ancestors. It definitely came in handy when hunting prehistoric creatures which we depended on for food millennia ago.
Of course, the need for stress responses remains today, but stress is a double-edged sword in modern life. Whether you‘re climbing the corporate ladder or sitting stuck in traffic when running late for a dentist‘s appointment, having higher blood pressure and a faster pulse really just works against you in the long-run.
And too much stress can be dangerous. We all have a “stress threshold” that we should not cross. Crossing our stress threshold can cause burnout, ”stress exhaustion“ and can even have acute and life-threatening consequenses.