NORTHERN CARIBBEAN UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND APPLIED SCIENCES
DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGY, CHEMISTRY, AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
MARCH – APRIL, 2018: MODULE 4 (ON-LINE)
MAJOR: ALL (Except nursing).
COURSE NAME: HEALTH AND PHYSICAL EDUCATION
COURSE CODE: HPED 111
NUMBER OF CREDITS: 2 Credits
NUMBER OF HOURS: 30
Topic Chosen: B “Stress– Enabling and Disabling Perspectives”
PREPARED BY: Alex Johnson
ID#: ___________________
INTRODUCTION
What cause stress? Well, the scientific study of stress began more than a century ago. Over the
years scientist have formulated various theories about the nature of stress. Some place greater
emphasis on the psychological aspect, others on the psychological and social dimensions.
According to “An Invitation to Health” sixteen edition, stress is defined as the non-specific
response of the body to any demands made upon it; may be characterized by muscle tension and
acute anxiety, or maybe a positive force. Equally, stressors or nonspecific agents of situations that
cause the stress response in a body. There are two types of stress eustress and distress, which is
the term used for positive and negative stress. Eustress are positive stress which stimulates a
person to function properly and distress is a negative stress that may result in illness.
In our daily life we often used the term “stress” to describe negative situations. This leads many
people to think that all stress is bad for you, which is not true. Eustress, or positive stress has the
following effect on the human body:
• Motivates, focused energy
