Background: The term stress refers to the internal state of the organism (sometimes labeled as "load"), an external event ("stressor"), an experience created by the transaction of a person and the environment. Stress is an extremely used term in all areas of human activity. It is a natural phenomenon and a companion of mankind since its very existence. Although a large number of professional and scientific articles related to the concept of stress and reaction to stress have been published during the last 60 years, various authors state that not all concepts are clearly and unambiguously defined in this field. Objective: The aim of this paper is to present different theories of stress and to familiarize the reader about the consequences of everyday stress on human health. Methods: The subject of research is stress and its impact on health in today's modern world. The type of research on this topic is based on a retrospective and descriptive method based on the use of published articles in the PubMed and Scopus index databases. Results and Discussion: Therefore, different theories of stress define differently the concept of stress, reactions to stress, coping with stress and the consequences of a stressful event. Studies on stress was started by Hans Selye in the thirties of the 20th century. Understanding stress as the organism's reaction to various physical and physiological stressors, Selye also became the originator of the first, so-called of the reductionist model in the study of stress. Another theoretical approach in the concepts of stress boils down to the explanation that stress is determined by the nature of the stressor. This paradigm has been offered since the late sixties of the 20th century and is called the interactionist model of stress. At the same time as the interactionist model, a third, transactional model in the study of stress appeared, created by Richard Lazarus. According to this model, the consequences of a stressful transaction are the result of the interplay of personal and external factors that continuously affect each other. Conclusion: The stress is a state in which the psychophysical balance of the organism is disturbed and which, in order to adapt, requires additional efforts. Circumstances that cause stress are also called stressors. Among the psychological changes characteristic of stress, the most pronounced are changes in the sphere of emotional processes. Emotional reactions characteristic of stress are most often anxiety, anger and sadness, and shame, guilt, oversaturation can also occur. After a traumatic or other intense stress (related to losses or diagnosed with an incurable disease), emotional flattening can occur. Changes in psychological functioning during stress can be so intense that they take on the dimensions of a psychological crisis.
Key words: stress, stress theories, health and consequences, COVID-19 pandemic
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