ABSTRACT
Stress may be defined as an individual’s response to threat. In everyday terms, a person may realize that a situation is likely to be stressful, feel apprehensive about it, try to find ways to avoid dealing with it, and find that his or her blood pressure, heart rate, and adrenal hormones are all higher than usual. Ambient stress is the stress experienced in dealing with the day-to-day hassles of life in the community. It is an accumulation of stresses in the household, social and leisure pursuits, and in the work environment. Life events that lead to long-term increases in ambient stress have been associated with the onset of major health problems. It seems likely that, regardless of the specific origins of stress, the longer a person’s overall stress level remains their stress threshold, the greater their chance of succumbing to the major health problems to which they are most vulnerable.
