On the other hand, our body tends to react differently under frightening or harmful stress. The blood vessels contract, and "you may feel a little dizzy as your blood pressure rises," states Christopher Edwards, Director of the Behavioral Chronic Pain Management Program at Duke University Medical Center. Often symptoms are those like we feel in a state of anger. We may possibly converse more loudly or experience lapses in judgment or logic, Christopher adds. In such a situation our feet and hands may become cold as blood rushes to the body's core. Research demonstrates the heart often beats unsteadily, spiking repeatedly like a seismograph during an earthquake.

People under harmful stress lose the capability to reuse the parasympathetic nervous system, which manages the body's daily natural functions, together with sleep and digestion. While those vary in how long they can bear chronic stress, research reveals it harshly increases the danger of insomnia, chronic disease and untimely death.

Home builder Carl Weissensee says "I don't believe it's possible to do a good job without a certain amount of stress. It's necessary to get things done." Carl who used to lead quite a stressful life has managed to bring his stress down to a healthy level by means of relaxation techniques, including deep breathing and guided imagery—lying still and imagining stressful tasks coming out well. After seeing Dr. Rossman, reading his book and doing one of his relaxation CDs daily, Carl learned to recognize his worries instead of recycling them in his head, then practice "skipping over" them and telling himself that "everything works out in the end," he says. He has managed to calm down his heart condition without large doses of prescription.