3. SHORT TERM EFFECTS

(2) Short Term Effects of Stress

Immediate effects of stress can be in response to significant feelings or thoughts, or to something or someone that has a direct bearing on our immediate goals, dreams and desires.

We respond to stress as whole people. It affects many areas of our lives and affects different people in different ways. While our stress responses vary in terms of both degree and specific effects, there is some predictability to how people respond to stress. These responses include physical, behavioral, mental, emotional, social, and spiritual effects.

The ways in which stress affects us are puzzling until we understand that they are all symptoms of arousal. The immediate effects of this arousal are various degrees of excitation, irritation, and agitation. These effects manifest themselves through our own unique stress responses.