What category does Acute Stress belong to?

Acute Stress belongs to the "Concepts" category in personal knowledge management and productivity.

What are the key topics related to Acute Stress?

Key topics related to Acute Stress include: stresses, physiology, psychology, health, performance.

Acute Stress

Q: What are alternative names for Acute Stress?

Acute Stress is also known as: Short-term stress, Immediate stress, Situational stress.

Short-term stress response to immediate challenges or threats that resolves when the situation passes.

Also known as: Short-term stress, Immediate stress, Situational stress

Category: Concepts

Tags: stresses, physiology, psychology, health, performance

Explanation

Acute stress is the immediate, short-term stress response to a specific challenge or threat. It's the body's evolved mechanism for handling danger: heart rate increases, stress hormones release, senses sharpen, and energy mobilizes for action. Once the challenge passes, the body returns to baseline. This is stress working as designed - adaptive, time-limited, and followed by recovery. Examples include: public speaking, near-miss accidents, deadline pressure, or difficult conversations. Acute stress can even be performance-enhancing (eustress) when perceived as challenge rather than threat. The key distinction from chronic stress is resolution and recovery - acute stress has a clear end point and the body restores homeostasis. Problems occur when acute stressors pile up without recovery, or when the acute response is disproportionate to actual threat (anxiety disorders).

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