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Chronic Stress Health Behavior

Meaning

Health-related actions or inactions that are either directly caused by or consistently maintained in response to prolonged activation of the body’s stress response systems, particularly the HPA axis. These behaviors, such as poor dietary choices, sedentary habits, social withdrawal, or excessive substance use, are often maladaptive coping mechanisms intended to temporarily alleviate the psychological discomfort associated with chronic physiological arousal. Over time, these negative behaviors exacerbate the underlying endocrine dysfunction and allostatic load.