We all experience it. The feeling of utter helplessness in the face of insurmountable pressures is a feeling not unique to any single individual, or species for the matter. Stress is an intrinsic part of our lives and it seems to follow us through all the various paths of our lives. What impact, exactly, does stress have upon our lives? Aside from the all-too-common feeling of dread and impending trial, does it have a palpable effect upon our bodies? Why? If so, are there ways that we as a species have coped with the burden? All of these questions, I believe, pose interesting queries and I took some time to browse through the internet in order to put my finger on what exactly lies at the heart of this pesky, secondary emotion.

As mentioned previously, observations into the animal kingdom has found that, invariably, animals experience very similar degrees of stress as their human counterparts. Often this stress upon the animal leads to incredibly negative effects. In the case of various species of elephants throughout India, the impact of stress can be so severe that when a mother is afflicted by it during her pregnancy, the offspring will age much faster than their unstressed counterparts. Additionally, there is even evidence that these stress-born infant elephants will also go on to produce fewer offspring themselves, which poses a much greater issue to the overall population of the species in general. It seems that in the case of these pressured animals, the reduction of stress would go a long way to creating a happier species. It is hard to imagine that stress can have such enduring consequences for a species–consequences that are unfortunately offered up for the child to shoulder.

The impacts us stress upon animals such as the elephant may be surprising, but what about us? It seems as though we all deal with it in different manners and with different tools, but what sort of impact does it have upon us? Are there foreboding consequences to such a natural and ubiquitous feeling? The most common symptoms of any sort of stress induced ailment is as follows: headaches, an upset stomach, elevated blood pressure, chest pain, and insomnia. Additionally, research suggests that stress has the ability to compound any existing ailment, which is especially alarming given the consequences and the possible chain of events that could occur from something like that. Stress also has a fiscal impact upon our economy, according to WebMD, stress ends up costing American businesses an annual expense of approximately $300 billion dollars. That is some serious cash, and goes to show the enormous amount of inefficiency such a natural reaction to trial costs us, and, by extension, our economy each year. Is there anything remotely positive about it?

Many professionals throughout the past century have taken the phenomena into great consideration. Psychologists like Hans Seley characterize the stress that imparts a beneficial impact upon a human as eustress. Eustress acts as a cognitive enhancer. When we are able to approach a situation with confidence, no matter how dire the scenario seem, we are more likely to find success in our endeavors and achieve professional, and academic success. There always seems to be a clear duality to every issue. Just as infectious diseases can be used to combat themselves through the utilization of their own potency (vaccines), so to can stress be used to augment our ability to operate and be successful.