Allostatic load

Allostatic load is the wearing effect that constant stress accumulates in the body over time. The body can adapt to short-term challenges; but when stress becomes constant, this continual adjustment creates a cost in the body. Developed by the neuroscientist Bruce McEwen, this concept explains why chronic stress wears the body down. Allostatic load shows that stress can accumulate beyond single moments. A body that stays constantly on alert struggles, over time, to carry this load.