"Stress, either physiological, biological or psychological, is an organism's response to a stressor such as an environmental condition."
Analysis of how environmental factors create stress and how individuals react to these stressors.
Environmental stressors: These are the physical, social, and cultural factors in the environment that can cause stress. Examples of environmental stressors include pollution, noise, overcrowding, and natural disasters.
Coping strategies: Coping strategies refer to the ways individuals manage environmental stressors. These could be problem-focused coping strategies (e.g. addressing the source of the stressor) or emotion-focused coping strategies (e.g. finding ways to manage your emotions related to the stressor).
Environmental psychology frameworks: Several frameworks are used in environmental psychology to understand the relationships between individuals and their environments. These include the transactional model, the ecological model, and the person-environment fit model.
Environmental attitudes and values: Environmental attitudes and values refer to people’s beliefs, values, and motivations related to the environment. Understanding the individual and cultural factors that shape environmental attitudes and values is important for addressing environmental problems.
Environmental identity: Environmental identity is the degree to which individuals identify with and are invested in natural and built environments. Understanding an individual’s environmental identity can help inform their environmental attitudes and behaviors.
Health impacts of environmental stress: Environmental stressors can have negative impacts on physical and mental health. Understanding how different environmental stressors impact health can help inform public health policy and individual behavior.
Sustainable behavior: Sustainable behavior refers to actions and behaviors that aim to reduce negative environmental impacts. Understanding the factors that influence sustainable behavior can lead to more effective environmental communication and policy.
Environmental justice: Environmental justice is the principle that all individuals should have equal access to a healthy environment. Understanding the ways in which environmental stressors disproportionately affect marginalized groups is important for achieving environmental justice.
Urbanization and green spaces: As more people move into urban areas, the importance of green spaces and natural environments in promoting health and well-being has become increasingly important. Understanding the relationship between urbanization and green spaces is important for urban planning and public health policy.
Climate change: Climate change is one of the most pressing environmental issues facing the world today. Understanding the impacts of climate change on individuals and communities, as well as strategies for mitigating its effects, is important for addressing this global issue.
Noise pollution: When excessive and unwanted noise becomes an irritant to health and daily functioning, it can cause stress and emotional exhaustion.
Air pollution: Air pollution refers to any substances or gases that contaminate the air, causing respiratory and cardiac stress when inhaled causing long term effects like asthma.
Heat stress: Heat stress is caused by exposure to high temperatures and humidity, which can lead to dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke in extreme cases.
Natural disasters: Natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, or tsunamis can cause significant disruptions, leading to displacement and trauma.
Homelessness: Homelessness can be very stressful due to lack of access to basic needs such as food or shelter.
Green spaces: Lack of exposure to nature and access to green spaces can cause stress, anxiety or depression.
Overpopulation and urbanization: Overcrowding and urbanization can lead to a lack of space and privacy which can affect people's living conditions and daily functioning.
Chemical exposure: Exposure to different chemicals or toxins, either in the workplace or in the environment, can cause health issues or toxicity which can develop into long term illnesses.
"Stress is the body's method of reacting to a condition such as a threat, challenge or physical and psychological barrier."
"There are two hormones that an individual produces during a stressful situation, well known as adrenaline and cortisol."
"Resting (basal) cortisol levels are normal everyday quantities that are essential for standard functioning. Reactive cortisol levels are increases in cortisol in response to stressors."
"Stimuli that alter an organism's environment are responded to by multiple systems in the body."
"The autonomic nervous system and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are the two major systems that respond to stress."
"The sympathoadrenal medullary (SAM) axis may activate the fight-or-flight response through the sympathetic nervous system, which dedicates energy to more relevant bodily systems to acute adaptation to stress."
"The parasympathetic nervous system returns the body to homeostasis."
"The second major physiological stress-response center, the HPA axis, regulates the release of cortisol."
"Cortisol influences many bodily functions such as metabolic, psychological and immunological functions."
"The SAM and HPA axes are regulated by several brain regions, including the limbic system, prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hypothalamus, and stria terminalis."
"Through these mechanisms, stress can alter memory functions."
"Through these mechanisms, stress can alter reward functions."
"Chronic or severe stress remains a common risk factor for several mental illnesses."
"The sympathoadrenal medullary (SAM) axis and the autonomic nervous system are involved in the acute stress response."
"Resting (basal) cortisol levels are normal everyday quantities that are essential for standard functioning."
"The parasympathetic nervous system restores the body to homeostasis."
"Cortisol influences metabolic, psychological, and immunological functions."
"The SAM axis and the HPA axis are the two major physiological stress-response centers."
"Chronic or severe stress remains a common risk factor for several mental illnesses."