{"id":92,"date":"2026-02-21T15:51:46","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T15:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/?p=92"},"modified":"2026-02-21T16:30:34","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T16:30:34","slug":"stress-what-does-this-even-mean","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/stress-management\/stress-what-does-this-even-mean\/","title":{"rendered":"Stress: What does this even mean?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wp-block-post-author-name\">Jennifer Wegmann<\/div>\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2026-02-21T15:53:32.466Z\">February 21, 2026<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image alignright size-full is-style-default\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"443\" height=\"444\" src=\"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/speaking-anxiety.jpg\" alt=\"Jennifer Wegman speaking to a group of educators about stress.\" class=\"wp-image-98\" srcset=\"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/speaking-anxiety.jpg 443w, https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/speaking-anxiety-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/speaking-anxiety-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 443px) 100vw, 443px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Stress is an inevitable part of the human experience. Nearly everyone can relate to the feeling of being \u201cstressed out,\u201d and we talk about it constantly. We say we\u2019re stressed about work, money, relationships, health, or simply not having enough time. It\u2019s such a common word that it almost feels self-explanatory. Yet if someone were to stop us and ask, <em>\u201cWhat exactly is stress?\u201d<\/em> many of us would struggle to give a clear answer. We know what stress feels like, and we know what causes it, but defining it becomes difficult. This lack of clarity becomes problematic when we attempt to manage stress without fully understanding it. Let\u2019s take a closer look.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The origins of stress were not rooted in psychology or mental health. In fact, the word <em>stress<\/em> was a mechanical term that described the amount of pressure placed on an object. Over time, researchers began using the term to describe pressure placed on people. One of the first scientists to do this was Hans Selye, a researcher whose work helped bring stress into mainstream conversations about health.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Selye described stress as the body\u2019s automatic biological response to any demand placed on it. According to him, it didn\u2019t matter whether that demand was good or bad\u2014the body reacted in the same basic way. When we are faced with a stressor, our heart rate increases, stress hormones are released, and our body prepares to act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While Selye\u2019s work helped people take stress seriously, it also painted stress in a dangerous light. According to his theory, if stress didn\u2019t go away, it could eventually make us sick. Although this view raised important awareness, it didn\u2019t fully explain why people experience stress so differently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There was a missing piece. If stress worked the same way for everyone, why do people react so differently to the same situations?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That question led psychologists to take a closer look at how our minds influence stress. Richard Lazarus, a psychologist, noticed that stress isn\u2019t just about what happens to us\u2014it\u2019s about how we interpret what happens. Two people can face the same situation, yet one feels overwhelmed while the other feels calm or even motivated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Think about it this way: imagine encountering a large dog while out for a walk. One person might immediately panic, while another thinks the dog looks friendly. The situation is the same, but the stress response is completely different. This is because stress is personal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Lazarus and his colleague Susan Folkman described stress as an interaction between a person and their environment that feels important and difficult to handle. In other words, stress happens when we believe a situation matters to us and that we may not have the resources to cope with it. This understanding shifts stress from something that simply happens to us to something shaped by our thoughts, experiences, and beliefs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This process starts with how we mentally evaluate a situation. Sometimes we decide something doesn\u2019t affect us, and no stress response occurs. Other times, we see a situation as a threat or something that could harm us. But we can also see stressors as challenges\u2014difficult situations that may help us grow or learn. How we frame a situation plays a major role in how stressful it feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the same time, we\u2019re also judging whether we have what it takes to handle the situation. Do we have enough time? Support? Skills? Energy? These quick evaluations happen almost automatically, but they strongly influence how intense our stress feels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once we decide something is stressful, we cope. Coping looks different for everyone. Some people avoid stressors, at least temporarily. Others try to solve the problem directly by planning or taking action. Many people lean on friends, family, or coworkers for support\u2014and research shows that feeling supported can significantly reduce stress. No single coping strategy works all the time, and some can actually increase stress if they\u2019re overused or don\u2019t fit the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The encouraging part of this understanding is that it gives us more control than we might expect. While we can\u2019t eliminate stress from our lives, we can change how we respond to it. By becoming more aware of how we interpret situations and how we cope, we can start to build a healthier relationship with stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stress isn\u2019t just something to get rid of. It\u2019s a signal\u2014one that tells us something important is happening. When we understand how stress works, we can stop seeing it as the enemy and start using it as information, guidance, and sometimes even a catalyst for growth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the next post, we\u2019ll take a deeper dive into the question that often gets overlooked: <strong>What is really stressing us out\u2014and why?<\/strong> Because before we can change our relationship with stress, we need to understand what&#8217;s causing it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2013 Jennifer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Stress is an inevitable part of the human experience. Nearly everyone can relate to the feeling of being \u201cstressed out,\u201d and we talk about it constantly. We say we\u2019re stressed about work, money, relationships, health, or simply not having enough time. It\u2019s such a common word that it almost feels self-explanatory. Yet if someone were [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stress-management"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":105,"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wegmannwellness.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}