Acute stress

Acute stress is the body's short-term response to an immediate demand or threat, involving rapid changes in hormones, heart rate and attention that normally settle once the situation passes.

The response is coordinated by the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which release adrenaline and cortisol within minutes of a challenge. Typical features include a faster pulse, tense muscles, sharpened focus, sweating and a sense of urgency or unease. Common triggers range from public speaking and exams to near-miss accidents and sudden bad news.

Acute stress differs from chronic stress, which persists for weeks or months, and from acute stress disorder, a clinical diagnosis that can follow a traumatic event. Researchers assess it with self-report scales, heart-rate measures and salivary cortisol, often during standardized laboratory tasks such as simulated public speaking. Cannabidiol has been studied in experimentally induced stress paradigms in small human trials, and the evidence remains preliminary.