Rethinking stress: from reduction to adaptation

“Stress can be defined as a state of threatened homeostasis that is re-established by a complex repertoire of behavioural and physiological adaptive responses.”
— McEwen & Wingfield, 2003

Stress is often framed as something to reduce — something we are exposed to, and ideally protected from. Lower cortisol, improve recovery, avoid overload. But this framing is incomplete, and in many ways misleading.

From a physiological perspective, stress is not inherently negative. It is a fundamental regulatory signal. It reflects a deviation from the body’s current state, and initiates the processes through which the body adapts.

What matters, therefore, is not the presence of stress, but how the organism responds to it over time.