Acute Stress, Episodic Acute Stress, Chronic Stress and Post-Traumatic Stress

Stress comes in four distinct flavors, each a worse problem than the last. Stress management is complicated and confusing because there are different types of stress - acute, episodic acute, chronic , and traumatic - each with its own characteristics, symptoms, time course, and treatment approaches.

Acute Stress is the most common form of stress. It's what comes most readily to mind when we think about stress. Acute stress comes from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future. Acute stress is thrilling and exciting in small doses, but too much is exhausting. A fast run down a challenging ski slope, for example, is exhilarating early in the day. That same ski run late in the day is taxing and wearing. Skiing beyond your limits can lead to falls and broken bones. By the same token, overdoing on short-term stress can lead to psychological distress, tension headaches, upset stomach, and other symptoms. Learn more about acute stress.

Episodic Acute Stress occurs in people who suffer acute stress frequently, whose lives are so out of control they are studies in chaos and crisis. They're always in a rush, but always late. If something can go wrong, it does. They take on too much, have too many irons in the fire, and can't organize the slew of self-inflicted demands and pressures clamoring for their attention. Learn more about episodic acute stress.

Chronic Stress is the grinding stress that wears people down day after day, month after month, and year after year.  Chronic stress destroys bodies, minds, and lives. It wreaks havoc through long-term attrition. It's the stress of poverty, of dysfunctional families, of being trapped in an unhappy marriage, or in a despised job or career. It's the stress the never-ending "troubles" have brought the people of Northern Ireland, that the tensions of the Middle East have brought Arab and Jew, and the endless ethnic rivalries have brought the people of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Learn more about chronic stress.

Traumatic Stress. If not handled properly at the outset, overpowering trauma - accidents, rape, verbal, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, being in the presence of extreme violence, a brush with death, natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, landslides), death of a loved one, imprisonment - can become a special kind of chronic stress known as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Learn more about post-traumatic stress.