Stress sensitization can be extremely harmful it can
trigger high blood pressure, diabetes, ulcers, asthma and digestive and lung
ailments among others.
We may
respond to stress as we do an allergy. That is, we can become sensitized, or
acutely sensitive, to stress. Once that happens, even the merest intimation of
stress can trigger a cascade of chemical reactions in brain and body that
assault us from within. Stress is the psychological equivalent of ragweed. Once
the body becomes sensitized to pollen or ragweed, it takes only the slightest
bloom in spring or fall to set off the biochemical alarm that results in runny
noses, watery eyes, and the general misery of hay fever. But while only some of
us are genetically programmed to be plagued with hay fever, all of us have the
capacity to become sensitized to stress.