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Article: Understanding Stress: Characteristics and Caveats.
- Article from:
- Alcohol Research & Health
- Article date:
- December 22, 1999
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 U.S. Government Printing Office. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Exposure to stressful situations is among the most common human experiences. These types of situations can range from unexpected calamities to routine daily annoyances. In response to stressors, a series of behavioral, neurochemical, and immunological changes occur that ought to serve in an adaptive capacity. However, if those systems become overly taxed, the organism may become vulnerable to pathology. Likewise, the biological changes, if sufficiently sustained, may themselves adversely affect the organism's well-being. Several factors may dictate an individual's response to environmental stressors, including characteristics of the stressor (i.e., type of stressor and ...