9781422272435

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Introduction to Trauma and Stressor Related Disorders Stress is something all of us have experienced. Stress is simply a part of life and is something many of us do not give much thought to. At its most basic level, stress is the body’s reaction to outside stimuli; as such, it requires an adjustment or response from the mind or the body. The body responds to these changes in stimuli and reacts with physical, mental, and emotional symptoms. A person can experience stress from several sources: environmental (noise or temperature), physical (hunger), or mental (sadness, self-criticism). “The word stress is used in different ways. It can refer to the challenges of everyday life, which do not always cause us problems. But the word is also used for the feeling inside us if we cannot respond to the challenge. The medical term for this is anxiety.” 1 Because stress can come frommany sources, it can take on many forms, so understanding stress can be a challenging undertaking. People have very different ideas with respect to the definition of stress. Probably the most common definition is physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension. Another popular definition of stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives

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