Acute stress is your shorterm response to an immediate threatTo understand about acute stress think 'fight or flight' as if a caveman, but forget bears and think of those things that you are fearful or feel threatened by in modern life! Our 'fight or flight response' served us well to protect us from real dangers of attack by bears or tigers as cave dwellers, but modern day man perceives different threats as dangers. In both cases the fear or threat results in a short-term stress response followed by a natural 'relaxation response' when the danger/ threat has passed. The perceived threat triggers the release of the hormones adrenalin and cortisol which in turn triggers a huge chain of bodily adjustments including increased alertness, raised heart rate, sharper vision, quicker reactions, restricting blood supply to stomach and intestines and increasing supply to limbs so preparing you for 'fight or flight'. Stress can be felt in response to
In all cases the normal response is stress then later relaxation to normal. This short-term response can be useful as when avoiding a sudden obstacle when driving, saving yourself or someone else from an accident, and can heighten your alertness and responses. However, mostly it is a nuisance and makes you feel anxious/ frustrated/ angry/ suffer pain or discomfort. The symptoms of acute stress are many and I'm sure you will recognise them. However, it is important to also recognise the situations they occur to begin to understand your stress reaction. Important: don't confuse this with 'acute stress disorder' which describes an extreme stress reaction characterised by intense anxiety and a sense of dissociation in response to an extremely traumatic event (fear/ threat of death, witnessed or involved in a bad accident ...) that brings anxiety and flashbacks that can last for days or weeks or more. This is normally described as PTSD or post traumatic stress disorder. For more information
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