Glossary

Term

Definition

Term

Allostatic Load

Definition

A battery of biochemical tests that measure the effects of social stress on a person’s physiology.

Term

Allostatic Overload

Definition

The state where chronic stress has led to biochemical dysregulation in the body.

Term

Chronic Environmental Contamination (CEC)

Definition

A situation in which a hazardous substance is known or perceived to be present in air, water, or soil at elevated levels in an area. This contamination may be chemical or radiological or the result of prior/current industrial processes or a technological accident.

Term

Chronic Stress

Definition

The experience of stressors that are enduring and without a clear ending, placing ongoing demands that stretch or exceed a person’s resources. Chronic stress can sometimes co-occur with retraumatization and may lead to allostatic overload.

Term

Community Resilience

Definition

The ability to withstand and maintain community integrity in the face of stressors as well as the ability to creatively respond and reorganize.

Term

Eustress

Definition

Healthy stress that is beneficial and positively motivating. Eustress is often perceived as energizing and may lead to personal growth and greater well-being.

Term

Institutional Delegitimization

Definition

When responsible or socially protective institutions dismiss or avoid someone’s concerns in contexts such as the health effects of chronic environmental contamination. This can occur through denial or downplaying of health effects/risk, dysfunctional medical relationships, or (in)direct victim blaming.

Term

Psychosocial Stress

Definition

A combination of “psychological stress” and “social stress.” Psychological stress refers to emotional, behavioral, biochemical, and physiological reactions that people experience when confronted with a situation that strains their ability to cope. Social stress refers to feelings that can arise from a person’s relationship to others, including family, neighborhoods, and the workplace, that can lead to psychological stress. Each type of stress can influence the other.

Term

Retraumatization

Definition

Stress reactions and symptoms that occur consequent to repeated exposures to similar potentially traumatic events.

Term

Secondary Impacts

Definition

The individual, community, and societal impacts of an event such as CEC, including stigma of “contaminated” areas and conflict in local groups about how to define and respond to the problem. Public health and other interventions become part of the ongoing social construction of the situation. Secondary impacts are separate from the direct health effects of the contamination itself.

Term

Stress

Definition

The reaction people may have when presented with demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope.

Term

Trauma

Definition

Individual trauma results from an event, series of events, or set of circumstances that is experienced by an individual as physically or emotionally harmful or life threatening and that has lasting adverse effects on the individual’s functioning and mental, physical, social, emotional, or spiritual well-being.

Page last reviewed: March 23, 2021