What is stress and what are causes of stress?
Stress can be defined as the inability to cope with a perceived threat (real or imagined) to one’s mental, physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, which results in a series of physiological responses and adaptations.
Stress can be either good or bad. Good stress positively compels people to action (e.g. to study for an exam, or a baby learning to crawl), whereas bad stress results in negative feelings such as distrust, anger and depression (e.g. the death of a loved one). Bad stress can be acute or chronic and may lead to serious health problems.