Read the following passage carefully and answer the questions that follow.

What exactly is stress in biological terms? The brain’s mood management centre can be divided into two parts – the decision-making part which regulates judgments and helps in solving problems, and Amygdala, the brain’s emotional core which raises alarm at every perception of threat. Constant stress affects the decision-making part of the brain. How? The answer lies in the emotional centre of the brain or the amygdala, whose job is to look for a match between the memory of past experience and an event now. If a colleague ignores you or is curt with you, your amygdala remembers the negative experience; then, when you receive an e-mail from the same colleague you misread its intent because your brain finds a negative match. Every negative match unleashes a reaction of roughly 1,400 biochemical changes – with cortisol, the stress hormone that is a major culprit in heart disease and diabetes, flooding the nervous system. Your body, over the years, adapts to living in a perpetual state of negative, stressful matching, which keeps the blood pressure and cortisol levels constantly set at high. The body’s natural feedback mechanisms breakdown. Even when you are not in a stressful situation, your body’s activation remains permanently on and at a higher level. It can lead to impulsive, short-sighted, aggressive behaviour as well as increased anxiety, depression and other stress-related diseases. This can lead to high blood pressure, heart diseases, sleep disorder and other stress-related problems.
Is stress the main villain in a CEO’s life? Not really. Increasingly, researchers are probing the upside of stress “When the brain perceives physical or physiological stress, it starts pumping chemicals – cortisol, epinephrine and non-epinephrine – into the body”, says Dr Ambrish Mithal, the endocrinologist of Apollo Hospital, Delhi. Instantly, the heart beats faster, blood pressure shoots up, senses sharpen, a rise in blood glucose invigorates us and we are ready to act – fight or flee. Research shows that moderate amounts of stress can help people perform tasks more efficiently. Far from being something we need to eliminate from our lives, good stress stimulates us. “Think about your daily life – when do you get things done?” asks Mithal “Only when you have a deadline”. No doubt you want some stress to help you do your best.