stress
psychology and biology
Also known as: nervous tension, tension
stress, in psychology and biology, any environmental or physical pressure that elicits a response from an organism. In most cases, stress promotes survival because it forces organisms to adapt to rapidly changing environmental conditions. For example, in response to unusually hot or dry weather, plants prevent the loss of water by closing microscopic pores called stomata on their leaves. This type of adaptive stress is sometimes described as eustress. However, when an organism’s response to...
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