Stress as Baseline: Adaptive Functioning under High-Demand Conditions and Persistent Stress

Contemporary psychophysiological models commonly assume that low stress and environmental stability represent the natural baseline of human functioning, with stress conceptualized as a deviation from optimal operation. While this assumption is appropriate for the general population, it does not adequately capture contexts in which adaptive functioning emerges under persistent stress and high-demand conditions. This work presents a conceptual framework in which stress is treated as an operational baseline rather than an exception. Extreme values, often discarded as statistical anomalies, are reinterpreted as informative signals of adaptive regulation, transition dynamics, and recovery capacity. The framework does not challenge the validity of existing psychophysiological models; instead, it introduces an additional interpretive layer informed by prior research and focused on conditions beyond population-level averages. Clear boundaries are established between healthy functional adaptation and pathological dysregulation, with the latter explicitly designated as outside the scope of the framework.