So, what EXACTLY causes stress?

The short answer - it varies - from person to person. However, it may be said that, generally speaking, stress arises when we feel out of control. The baby is screaming and nothing we do can soothe it, the car is overheating, a parent is terminally ill, we have been "volunteered" to make a big presentation at work on a subject over which we feel inept. The list of "stressors" is long and varies by individual.

On a physiological level, stress is our fight or flight reaction. Way back when, when humans lived in caves and were being chased by carnivores, that response was good. We were in danger... our bodies adjusted hormonal and adrenalin levels and we were like the Six Million Dollar Man... better, stronger, faster which helped us to hotfoot it to safety. And, with that kind of scenario, once we were finally safe, all of our body’s chemicals would eventually return to normal levels.

The problem now is that our stress is mostly job related and psychological which means it’s usually ongoing, and that means our bodies are existing in this "ready to run" stage far longer than they were designed to. Such long term activation of this defense system causes an over exposure to cortisol and other stress hormones. In turn, that over exposure can disrupt almost all of the body's processes causing one to gain weight, increasing the risk of obesity, causing trouble sleeping as well as a host of other complications such as heart disease, digestive problems and other physical illnesses, memory impairment, depression and other mood related problems.