Stress is a highly individualized experience triggered by specific psychological determinants. The stress response consists of a cascade of neural and hormonal events that have short- and long-lasting consequences for the brain and body. Chronic reactivity to situations that are deemed novel or unpredictable or uncontrollable leads to secretion of stress hormones that access the brain and act negatively upon the hippocampus, a brain structure involved in learning and memory. Although this clinical picture might seem dismal for anyone exposed to various stressors on a daily basis, one must realize that since stress is psychologically defined, it is manageable through psychological coping strategies.