Stress and Recovery
26 evidence-labeled concepts on Stress and Recovery, drawn from the Shrink Atlas. Each concept is a short lesson: what it is, why it matters, how to work with it. Explore the list, or start with the one that fits your question today.
Acute Stress
Acute stress is the quick spike that comes and goes.
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is the slow cost of staying switched on too long.
Diathesis-Stress Model
A predisposition plus stress, not either alone, tends to trigger problems.
Eustress
Eustress is pressure that lifts you rather than flattens you.
Fawn Response
Managing danger by pleasing and appeasing rather than fighting or fleeing.
Fight Flight Freeze Fawn
Four automatic responses to threat, not two.
Fight or Flight Response
This is the built in alarm that gets you ready to move.
Forest Bathing
Unhurried, present time in nature that lowers stress.
Freeze Response
When overwhelming threat makes the body freeze rather than fight or flee.
General Adaptation Syndrome
Ongoing stress moves the body from alarm to coping to depletion.
Green Exercise
Movement in natural settings that boosts mood and lowers stress.
Hormesis
Hormesis is when a manageable dose of stress makes a system stronger, provided it can recover.
Moral Injury
The wound that comes from violating or being unable to honor your morals.
Non-Sleep Deep Rest
Restful, awake practices that calm the body without sleeping.
Relaxation Response
The relaxation response is the off switch you can practice using.
Restorative Niche
Your own reliable way and place to recover energy.
Scheduled Worry
Containing worry to a set period so it stops taking over the day.
Secondary Traumatic Stress
Helping people through trauma can leave a mark on the helper.
Stress Buffering Hypothesis
Having support cushions the impact of stress on mind and body.
Stress Contagion
Stress travels between people through mood, tone, and behavior.
Stress Mindset
Stress mindset is your belief about stress, which may modestly shape how you respond to it.
Stress Recovery Curve
The stress recovery curve is how fast you come back to baseline after the stressor is gone.
Stress Response
Stress is your system preparing to meet a demand, not a flaw in your character.
Tend-and-Befriend
Under stress, we often turn toward care and connection, not only fight or flight.
Ultradian Rhythm
The body cycles through peaks and dips of alertness across the day.
Vicarious Trauma
Long exposure to others' trauma can slowly reshape how you see the world.
How this library is organized
Every concept in Stress and Recovery lives in one of six realms of the Shrink Atlas and carries an honest evidence label. This page is a navigation aid; the concept pages are where the lessons are. Follow one, or come back tomorrow for the daily concept.
See the whole Atlas · See the frameworks that use these concepts · See guided pathways