What is a possible health consequence of the exhaustion stage?

• A. They experience improved health
• B. They can develop severe health issues
• C. They gain energy
• D. Their stress resolves quickly

Answer: (B)

When stress is continuous, the body's coping resources become depleted, leading to the exhaustion stage. At this point, the systems that were activated to deal with the stress are worn down, and the immune system weakens, making a person more vulnerable to illness and serious health problems such as ulcers, high blood pressure, heart disease, and chronic fatigue. Since the stress response can’t be sustained indefinitely, health tends to worsen rather than improve. So a possible health consequence is severe health issues. The ideas that health improves, energy increases, or stress resolves quickly don’t fit this stage, which reflects the body's breakdown of coping capacity under prolonged strain.