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The world Health organization (WHO) says that health is a complete physic, mental and social wellness state, and not only the absence of illness.
In this context it can be argued that a person in a stressful situation is not healthy healthy, therefore, it may become a disease as a result of prolonged stress over time.
It does not exist a single definition about stress agreed by the scientific community, this creates uncertainties in all the research. There are some common elements in most of the applications, but each one has different characteristics which must be taken on account.
The stress terminology was introduced by the physiologist Walter Cannon to make reference to the physiological reaction caused by the perception of a threatening situation (Carlson, 1996). As Humber said, all parts of science agree in underline the stress term which was originally taken from physics as a technical or abstract concept in where it refers to the action of natural forces on mechanical structures (Humber, 1986).
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Hans Sleve Austrian endocrine, established the stress concept in 1936 being considered as the father of this term. Sleve discovered that his patients had some biological constants regardless of the type of illness they suffered. All had common signs of fatigue, weakness and exhaustion. Therefore, he defined stress as the sum up of agency-specific changes as an answer to a stimulus or situation that makes physical and mental pressure. In 1946 he defined stress as the general adaptation syndrome which include different test of alarm, resistance and exhaustion.
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The world health organization defines stress as the set of physiological reactions which the organism prepare to be able to act. Stress is considered harmful physicologycal answer are disproportionate to the situation that has caused them.
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The Royal Spanish Language Academy considers stress as the situation of an individual or any of its organs or systems that require them for higher performance than the standard, putting them in risk of disease..
It is accepted that stress is a situation that, being relevant to the body, is perceived as dangerous and demanding. If, when faced with this situation, the person cannot find the balance between the resources available to handle his body and those needed to achieve his goal, there is the stress phenomenon..
In this condition, the different types of emotional, cognitive, physiological and behavioral reactions are called stress reactions while the situation that generated the process is called stress agent..
From all the possible definitions of stress, Humber (1986) suggests three points of view from which is able to considerer stress:
Strees as a state, all environmental stimuli can act on the individual as stressful stimulus.
Stress as reaction in a short period of time, consists on muscles reactions, physiological and psychological feelings experienced subjectively displayed as a result of stimulus provoking stress.
Stress as a reaction in a long period of time, consists on alterations in the physical and psychological performance of a person as a consequence of which is a long time under the influences of the stress (Humber, 1986).
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