Have you ever felt so stressed out that it almost feels constant and never ending? Turns out there is actually a term for this and it is called “Chronic Stress”. We can define Chronic Stress as a consistent sense of feeling overwhelmed and pressured over a long period of time. We have all experienced acute stress, where we react to a single event and eventually recover, however chronic stress occurs when we are in a heightened state of alertness over time.
To understand chronic stress we need to briefly revisit what happens to the body under any form of stress. With a flashback to high school science, you may recall that stress is actually an involuntary physical and psychological response to any threatening situation. The sympathetic nervous system engages in the fight or flight response and fires hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol throughout the body. This response causes tensed up muscles, shortness of breath, rapid breathing, an increase in heart rate, and can even alter digestion immediately.
