The powerful biology of stress

From a podcast by All in the Mind, presented by Natasha Mitchell, ABC Radio National and Radio Australia.

Neuro-endocrinologist Bruce McEwen: Well I think the best way to start is to talk about the different ways we think of stress.

There is positive stress when you rise to a challenge and generally are exhilarated because you are able to meet that challenge. And it means you have to have a good sense of yourself, a good sense of whether the risk is worth taking, good self-esteem and a good sense of control.

And then there’s tolerable stress, something really bad happens, say the loss of a job, a divorce, the loss of a loved one, but you have these internal resources and you have a social support system that can help you out, so you can weather the storm.

And then there’s toxic stress—there you don’t have the personal resources perhaps, you don’t have the social support system and the favourite definition of stress is really something where you don’t have control.

Continued in transcript and audio podcast: Stressed out! The powerful biology of stress

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