• Question: Is physical or psychological stress more damaging for the human body?

    Asked by 432strk27 to Chris, Georgina, Kristi, Laura on 6 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Chris Tyler

      Chris Tyler answered on 6 Nov 2017:

      “Damage” can take many forms and so I think it would be impossible to say that one type of stress was more damaging than the other. We know that both forms of stress can be extremely damaging but we also know that other people subjected to the same stress don’t react as badly… it seems to depend on the stress and the person

    • Photo: Laura Ginesi

      Laura Ginesi answered on 8 Nov 2017:

      Good question! To be really well, both physical health and psychological health are equally important – you can’t have one without the other! It all depends on what you mean by damage.

      Stress is the body’s physical and emotional response to things we call stressors, which in fact are often everyday things – from busy schedules, to changing schools or starting a new job, sitting an exam, the loss of a loved one or worries about people we care about. We also know that, for some people, social media can be a cause of stress too. That’s something that didn’t exist 20 years ago.

      What seems to be important that is that what one person perceives as a stressor might not bother the next person at all. It also means that one person might have physical signs or stress – headaches or upset tummies – while another might have an emotional response – getting upset or worried or angry.

      One thing that scientists mostly agree about is that chronic stress – the kind that doesn’t go away – can make some people really unwell and that might show up as physical health problems or mental health problems,

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