There are two types of stress that can affect your health and sense of well-being. It is important to understand the distinction between the different types of stress so that you can better recognize how stress is hurting you.

Acute Stress

Acute stress is the most common form of stress the you will encounter. When faced with an outside threat, whether that threat is real or simply something that is perceived as a threat, the body goes triggers a fight or flight response, otherwise known as a stress response. Your heartbeat and breathing increase. The blood is diverted from digestion, so that you can either fight the threat, or run. Your mental processes sharpen. For our ancient ancestors, this worked well when they faced large wild animals such as bears, or other dangers to their lives. It helped them survive.

But today, we simply don’t have the same types of life or death encounters that require the stress response. Now the threats that tend to trigger the stress response are primarily psychological in nature. These are the perceived threats.

Anything that creates change in your life will cause some level of this type of stress, whether that change is physical, mental, chemical or emotional. A small amount can be somewhat exciting or exhilarating, but too much can leave you drained and exhausted and begin to effect your health and well being.

Some examples of this are:

*Change in diet or exercise
*Staying awake too late/not getting enough sleep
*Working too hard
*Having to meet a deadline at work
*Argue with a friend or family member
*Have a cold or the flu
*Find a winning lottery ticket
*Lose your wallet or purse
*Get too hot or too cold
*Have a minor car accident
*Always being late for work
*Having a messy house
*And the list goes on….and on…..and on

Literally anything that brings about change can leave you feeling frazzled.

Unfortunately, if you experience acute stress for an extended period, or if you have many instances of this type of stress occurring at the same time, it can become episodic stress.

Episodic Stress

Episodic stress occurs when you have many instances of acute stress going on for a more extended period of time. For instance, if you are single and you meet someone, have a whirlwind courtship, get engaged and married within six months of meeting, move to a new town to live with your new spouse and then find out you are having a baby…….well that would be a good example of this type of stress in a nutshell.

Some people who are suffering from episodic stress always seem to be in a hurry, but are usually late getting to where they need to be. There is often a sense of drama…the person who would be labeled a “drama queen” experiences this type of stress regularly. Other things to look for in people suffering from this form of stress are:

*Irritability
*Anger-seem to have a short fuse
*Anxiety
*Tense
*Always on the go
*Have too many obligations
*Disorganized

Another form of episodic stress is worry. When a person worries, they focus on an event that will take place in the future, imagining the worst possible outcomes for that event. For instance, a woman’s husband is very late coming home from work, and hasn’t called. She begins creating negative scenarios in her mind such as “he’s been in an accident and is lying on the road somewhere” only to find out later that he had a flat tire and his cell phone battery was dead. The “worry-warts” tend to imagine the worst in simple events. This worrying has absolutely no benefit and solves no problems. And it is a habit….one that can be overcome with recognition of the thought pattern and a conscious effort to redirect the negative thoughts.

Some life events that can cause someone to experience episodic stress are:

*Getting married
*Having a baby
*Buying a new home
*Moving
*Marital separation
*Divorce
*Retirement
*Going on vacation
*The holidays
*Getting a new job or promotion

This type of stress can lead to serious health issues and cause illness.