Stress (English stress - pressure, pressure, tension) - a state that occurs in response to an extreme impact - a stressor [43]. The word “stress” came into English, and now into Russian from Old French and Medieval English, and was originally pronounced “distress”. The first syllable gradually disappeared due to “smearing” or “swallowing”, and now the word “stress” is understood to mean “ distress " (English distress - grief, need).
Distress always harmful or unpleasant [40, p.29], causes negative emotions, feelings of displeasure. In contrast to him "Eustress" evokes positive emotions, a sense of pleasure. Of course, it would be more convenient to divide the concept of “stress” into “distress” and “eustress” and operate with these two concepts, but the use of the word “stress” in the sense of “distress” has become so widely and deeply think that stress – a state of mental stress that causes negative emotions.
There are two main types of stress depending on the stress factor: physiological and psychological... Psychological will be subdivided into informational and emotional; the latter develops in situations of threat, danger, resentment, etc.
Eustress Distress
Physiological Psychological
Informational Emotional
Figure 17 - Types of stress
The founder of the concept of stress, Canadian physician Hans Selye (1907–1982) in 1936 established that any type of stress causes the same type (nonspecific) response of the body, which is known as general adaptation syndrome (OSA) [40, p. 35]. In it G. Selye identified three phases (stages): the first - reaction of anxiety and mobilization of the body's defenses... In this phase, the body begins to adapt to new conditions. At this stage, a person copes with the load with the help of functional mobilization of the corresponding organs and systems of the body, without structural changes.
In the second phase - phase resistance- all parameters unbalanced in the first phase are stabilized and fixed at a new level. There is an intensive overspending of adaptation reserves. The duration of resistance depends on the innate adaptive capacity of the organism and on the strength of the stressor. If the stressful situation continues to persist, then the third phase begins - emaciation because the ability to adapt is not unlimited.
Stress action time
1 - the phase of anxiety reaction and mobilization of all forces
2 - phase of resistance and adaptation
3 - phase of exhaustion
Figure 18 - Three phases of stress
In the third phase, the appearance of so-called adaptation diseases or stress diseases is possible, when the adaptive reaction of the body acts as a pathogenic factor (for example, inflammatory changes in the joints, eye tissues, hypertension, neuropsychiatric disorders. An excess of steroid hormones, for example, the release of which is the first endocrine reaction of the body to stress, with frequent and intense stress, can contribute to the occurrence of lesions of the gastrointestinal tract (steroid ulcer), etc.
Emotional stress- the state of tension of the body's functions caused by the influence of an emotionally significant stimulus for the individual. The main cause of emotional stress is conflict situations in which a person cannot satisfy an urgent, vital social or biological need for a long time.
Failure of one or another function of any organ (for example, the secretion of bile, insulin and other hormones, gastric juice, immunoglobulins, etc.) and the development of the corresponding disease are caused by a genetic predisposition and their selective involvement in emotional arousal.
Observations and experiments have shown that the development of emotional stress in a conflict situation in different individuals can lead to different results.
With high stress resistance, there may not be any violations. In other cases, either disorders in the activity of the nervous system in the form of neuroses, or violations somatic functions of individual bodies in the form of ischemic heart disease, arterial hypertension, lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, etc. In certain cases, a combined violation of both functions can be observed.
Which organ will be damaged by stress? Hans Selye himself, who has studied physiological mechanisms of adaptation to stress in the laboratory for almost four decades, believes that adaptation diseases selectively affect predisposed body area. “But whether the heart, the kidneys, the gastrointestinal tract, or the brain are affected depends a lot on random contributing factors. In the body, as in a chain, the weakest link breaks although all links are equally under load ”[Selye, p. 40].
Studies have shown that temperament determines how much you are susceptible to stress. Choleric and melancholic people are more susceptible to him.
The influence of stress on activity [Karpov, p. ]
The effect of stress on activity depends on the phase of stress.
Mobilization phase- stress has a sthenic effect on all mental and physiological processes. All the resources of the body are mobilized, perception, attention, memory are sharpened, long-term memory is translated into increased readiness, originality, productivity and creativity of thinking increase. Observed the phenomenon of hyperactivation of thinking and other processes. The ability to formulate and analyze alternatives increases, which increases the efficiency of decision-making processes. Performance is improved.
Adaptation phase – a person adapts to the current situation, all parameters of functioning are fixed at a new level - a person is "drawn in", gets used to it. Performance indicators are consistently high. But a person cannot work for a long time "at the limit". Sooner or later, exhaustion sets in.
Exhaustion phase – the phase when the strength has dried up and the psyche begins to falter. How far can it go? To consider the phenomena occurring in this phase, we divide this phase into two stages: disorder stage (corresponds to the branch of the graph descending to the level of normal mental activity) anddestruction stage (corresponds to the branch of the graph below the abscissa - which has gone down beyond the line of the level of normal mental activity) - see figure .
On the stage of disorder changes occur, first of all, in the cognitive sphere, therefore, the productivity and adequacy of information processing, and the creativity of thinking decrease. The volume of perception decreases, the quality of RAM decreases, the ability to extract information from long-term memory decreases - there is the phenomenon of the blockade of past experience. Especially significant changes are characteristic of thinking. Its stereotype is growing, productivity and the ability to adequately process information are sharply reduced. The search for a solution is replaced by attempts to recall solutions that were encountered earlier ( phenomenon reproduction thinking); the originality of thinking decreases ( phenomenon flattening of thinking).
For activity as a whole, attempts to organize it not according to the type of creating a method adequate to the situation, but according to the type of finding a familiar method in the past experience become characteristic (the phenomenon for the algorithmized activity). In the processes of making managerial decisions, the phenomenon arises global reactions. It consists in a tendency to choose too general and imprecise options for action; solutions lose their concreteness and feasibility; in addition, they become either impulsive or overly prolonged - inert. It is clear that the results of activities are significantly deteriorating.
Destruction stage characterized by a complete disintegration of the ability to organize activities and significant disturbances in the mental processes that provide it. There may be a phenomenon blockade of perception, pacrumple, thinking(phenomena such as “I see nothing and I don’t hear, I don’t understand,” “it has darkened in my eyes,” the phenomenon of a “white veil,” as well as memory lapses, “disconnection of thinking,” “intellectual stupor,” etc.). The main regularity of the destruction phase in terms of the general organization of activities and behavior is that they acquire one of two main forms: destruction by type hyperexcitation and destruction by type hyperinhibition In the first case, the behavior becomes completely chaotic, is built as a chaotic sequence of disorganized actions, deeds, impulsive reactions - the person "does not find a place for himself."
In the second case, on the contrary, there is a complete blockade of activity and behavioral activity, there is a state of inhibition and numbness, "exclusion" from the situation. The phase of destruction is no longer characterized by just a decrease in performance indicators
Karpov A.V. writes the following: However, along with general reactions, there are also quite pronounced individualdifferences in response on stressful influences. They are expressed in the comparative duration of the indicated phases; in their overall dynamics; depending on performance indicators on the strength of stressful influences. To designate a "measure of resistance" of a person to stressful influences, the concept is used stress resilience personality. This is the ability to maintain high levels of mental functioning and activity under increasing stress loads. An important aspect of resistance to stress is the ability not only to maintain, but also to increase the indicators of efficiency and productivity of activities during stressful complication of conditions. In other words, this ability depends on how strongly a person has the first phase of stress development - the phase of mobilization.
Depending on the degree of resistance to stress, as well as on the ability to withstand stress for a long time, there are three main types of personalities. They differ in how for a long time a person can maintain stability (resistance) to the temporary pressure of chronic stress conditions, characterize his individual threshold of stress resistance. Alone executives can handle stress over long periods of time by adapting to stress. Other even with relatively short-term stressful influences, they are already malfunctioning. Third- in general, they can only work effectively under stress. Accordingly, these three types are designated as "ox stress", "rabbit stress" and "lion stress"(drawing) [after Karpov, p. 459].
In conditions of long-term stress, which is most typical for the activities of a leader, individual differences in resistance to him, depending on the parameter internality-externality personality. Typically, resistance is significantly higher in people of the interval type and lower in the external. The methods of adaptation and overcoming stress in the former are more constructive, while in the latter they can be based on the type of refusal to actively and constructively overcome the situation (“come what may”).
Work intensity
Limiting possibilities
"Ox stress"
Conditional limit of stress loads
its general disruption (which corresponds to the extreme values of the descending branch of the graph in Fig. 19 ).
. "Lion Stress"
10 Working time
Rice. 19. The main types of personality resistance to stress by
Another important condition for stress resistance is the general motivational focus personality, its dominant orientation - or personal and career (" on the myself"), Or social and professional (" on business"). It is shown that the dominance of personal, including career motives, reduces stress resistance, while the predominance of motives associated with a professional orientation increases it. In this regard, two forms of behavior under stress are described - the so-called fear control and hazard control. In the first case (typical for a personal orientation "towards oneself"), a person seeks ways to be safe, to reduce the consequences of the situation for himself personally, to a greater extent loses control over the situation and, ultimately, therefore, "abandons" constructive attempts to organize activities. In the second case, control over the situation remains longer: ensuring personal safety is built as an attempt to constructively overcome a dangerous situation, and through this - and eliminate the consequences for oneself. The second type of behavior is much more effective, and for the activities of a leader, it is generally the only one acceptable.
Objective characteristics of stress [Ismontas]
Physiological level:
motor stiffness or restlessness;
change in the sensitivity threshold within various limits;
violation of motor coordination;
yawning, unreasonable tears or laughter, flushing or pallor of the face, hyperhidrosis, tremors of the fingers, itching of the body, etc.
Psychological level:
disorders of all types of memory in various combinations;
attention - distracted and easily distracted;
thinking - difficult or accelerated;
speech difficulty or activity;
perception is inadequate;
accelerated experience of time;
sensory disorders.
Socio-psychological level:
decrease in qualitative and quantitative performance indicators;
disruption of activity;
response at the extreme points of the "excitement - inhibition" scale (panic - stupor);
inadequacy of behavior.
Types of stress by duration
1. Short-term
2. Episodic
3. Chronic
Types of stress depending on the cause
1. The stress of dashed hope
2. Stress of prelaunch states
3. The stress of wasted time
4. The stress of change
5. The stress of monotony
6. The stress of passivity
7. The stress of unattainability of perfection
8. The stress of surprise
9. The stress of satiety
10 Stress of achievement.
Major stressors
1. Information overload
2. Information uncertainty
3. Responsibility
4. Lack of time
5. Interpersonal conflicts
6. Intrapersonal conflicts
7. Multifunctionality of activity
8. External environment
9. Forced inactivity
10. Dissatisfaction with work, salary, position
11. Feeling of uselessness, uselessness and helplessness
12. Career anxiety
13. Difficulties in relations with management, colleagues, relatives
14. Duality between work and family
15. "Weather at home"
16. Feeling unwell
17. Lack of independence, being in the position of a dependent
18. Injustice.
What to do with these stressors? Divide all stressors into three groups:
1. The ones you can eliminate
2. The ones you can weaken
3. Those with whom nothing can be done.
"Lord, give me the strength to change what I can change, patience to endure what I cannot change, and the mind to separate the first from the second."
And behave accordingly: fight; humble yourself and endure; or leave in the end.
Article author: Maria Barnikova (psychiatrist)Psychological stress
02.06.2015Maria Barnikova
Most ordinary people regard stress as negative, painful experiences caused by insoluble difficulties, insurmountable obstacles, unfulfilled hopes ...
The concept of stress is firmly rooted in the vocabulary of modern man, and most ordinary people regard this phenomenon as negative, painful experiences or frustrations caused by insoluble difficulties, insurmountable obstacles, unfulfilled hopes. More than 80 years ago Hans Selye, the creators of the theory of stress, in his works emphasized that stress does not mean pain, anguish, humiliation, catastrophic changes in life.
Complete Stress Relief Means the End of Life
What is psychological stress? Here is its classical definition given by the author of the theory. Stress (stress - a state of increased stress, emotional stress) - a complex of nonspecific adaptive reactions of the body to any requirements presented to it as a result of the influence of stress factors that entailed a violation of its homeostasis. Nonspecific reactions are adaptive actions aimed at restoring the initial state of the body, produced by specific effects on specific stimuli. Any surprise that introduces a change in the habitual life of an individual can be a stressful factor. It does not matter what character the situation is - positive or negative. Emotional shock can be provoked not only by external circumstances, but also by subconscious attitudes towards specific events. For the human psyche, only the volume of necessary efforts to restructure habitual life rhythms, the intensity of the energy expended on adaptation to new requirements, plays a role.
In medical practice, it is customary to divide stressful situations into two types: eustress - positive form and distress - negative... Eustress mobilizes the vital resources of the body and stimulates further activity. Distress brings, causes a "wound" which, even when fully healed, leaves scars.
Distress has a negative impact on the physical and mental health of a person and can give rise to the development of serious diseases. In a state of stress, the activity of the immune system is significantly reduced, and a person becomes defenseless against viruses and infections. With negative emotional stress, the autonomic nervous system is activated, the endocrine glands work more intensively. With prolonged or frequent exposure to stress factors, psycho emotional sphere, which often leads to severe depression or to.
By the nature of the impact of stressors, there are:
Outstanding psychologist Leontiev argued that in the case when the body demonstrates reactions to external phenomena that are not associated with the satisfaction of vital needs (food intake, the need for sleep, the instinct of self-preservation, procreation), such reactions are purely psychological. The concept of an intractable, extraordinary situation for a person in the concept of the theory of stress is also a psychological phenomenon.
Stressful situations are also divided into two groups: extreme social conditions(military action, hooligan attacks, natural disasters) and critical psychological events(death of a relative, change in social status, divorce, exam). For some, the events that have taken place are shock shocks, for others it is a natural phenomenon, and the intensity of the reaction is purely individual. An indisputable fact: in order for a response to a stimulus to arise, this stimulus must have a certain strength. And each individual has a fickle, changeable threshold of sensitivity. An individual with a low threshold of sensitivity demonstrates a strong reaction to a stimulus of weak intensity, while a person with a high threshold of sensitivity does not perceive this factor as an irritant.
It is also customary to divide stress into two groups according to parameters:
The definitions of psychological stress are different from different authors, however, most scientists refer to this type of stress caused by the influence of external (social) factors or formed under the influence of internal sensations. It is not always possible to apply the regularities of the stages of its course to psychoemotional stress, since each individual has purely individual properties of the psyche and personal characteristics of the work of the autonomic nervous system.
The control question allows you to differentiate the type of stressful situation: "Do stressors cause obvious harm to the body?"... In the case of a positive answer, the biological species is diagnosed, in the case of a negative - psychological stress.
Psychoemotional stress differs from the biological species in a number of specific features, including:
The method of measuring stressful sensations (PSM-25 scale) is aimed at analyzing the emotional state of a person, and not at studying indirect indicators (stressor, indicators of depressive, anxiety-phobic states).
The main differences between biological and psychological stressful situations are:
| Group | Biological stress | Psychological stress |
| Cause of occurrence | Physical, chemical, biological effects of stressors | Own thoughts, inner feelings, the impact of society |
| Hazard level | Real | Virtual, real |
| Targeting stressors | Somatic health, life-threatening | Emotional sphere, self-esteem, social status |
| The nature of the response | "Primary" reactions: fear, fright, rage, pain. | "Secondary" reactions: excitement, anxiety, irritability, anxiety, panic, depressive states |
| Time range | Clearly defined within the boundaries of the present and near future | Unclear, blurred, includes the past and an indefinite time in the future |
| Influence individual characteristics character | Absent or minimal | Essential |
| Example | Viral infection, trauma, food intoxication, frostbite, burns | Family conflict, parting with a partner, material difficulties, change in social status |
The range of responses to a stressful event includes a variety of states of arousal and inhibition, including states called affective states. Flow process stressful condition consists of three stages.
Stage 1. Emotional reaction of anxiety.
At this stage, the first response of the body to the impact of stress factors is manifested. The duration of this phase is strictly individual: for some people, the increase in tension disappears in a matter of minutes, in others, the increase in anxiety lasts for several weeks. The level of the body's resistance to external stimuli decreases, and self-control weakens. A person gradually loses the ability to fully control his actions, loses his self-control. His behavior changes to completely opposite actions (for example: a calm, self-possessed person becomes impulsive, aggressive). The person avoids social contacts, alienation appears in relations with loved ones, the distance in communication with friends and colleagues increases. The effects of distress have a devastating effect on the psyche. Excessive emotional stress can cause disorganization, disorientation, and depersonalization.
Stage 2. Resistance and adaptation.
In this phase, the maximum activation and strengthening of the body's resistance to the stimulus takes place. Long-term exposure to a stress factor ensures gradual adaptation to its effects. The body's resistance significantly exceeds the norm. It is at this stage that the individual is able to analyze, choose the most effective method and deal with the stressor.
Stage 3. Exhaustion.
Having exhausted the available energy resources as a result of exposure to a stressor for a long time, a person feels severe fatigue, devastation, and fatigue. Feelings of guilt join, repeated signs of the anxiety stage appear. However, in this phase, the body's ability to readaptation is lost, the person becomes powerless to take any action. Disorders of an organic nature appear, and severe pathological psychosomatic conditions arise.
Each person has been "programmed" from childhood with her own personal scenario of behavior in a stressful situation, reproduced in frequency, the form of manifestation of the stress reaction. Some experience the effects of stressors daily in small doses, while others experience distress rarely, but in full, painful manifestations. Also, every person has individual focus aggression under stress. One blames himself exclusively, triggering the mechanisms for the development of depressive states. Another person finds the reasons for her troubles in the people around her and makes unfounded claims, often in an extremely aggressive form, becoming a socially dangerous person.
The emergence of emotional stress during stress - an adaptive response of the body, which appears and grows as a result of the interaction of physiological systems and mechanisms in combination with psychological methods response.
In the physiological group of stress mechanisms, the following are involved:
Psychological mechanisms- attitudes, formed and fixed at the subconscious level, arising as a response to the impact of stress factors. Psychological schemes are designed to protect the human psyche from the negative consequences of exposure to stressors. Not all of these mechanisms are harmless, they often do not allow assessing the event correctly, and often harm the social activity of the individual.
Psychological defense schemes include seven mechanisms:
There is another classification of types of defense mechanisms, divided into two groups.
Group 1. Schemes of violation of information reception
Group 2. Schemes of violation of information processing
Stress levels are influenced by many different factors, including:
The most common cause of stress is the emerging contradiction between reality and the individual's ideas about reality. Stress reactions can be triggered both by real factors and events that exist only in the imagination. Not only negative events lead to the development of a stressful state, but also positive changes in the life of an individual.
Research by American scientists Thomas Holmes and Richard Ray made it possible to form a table of stress factors that in most cases have the strongest effect on a person and trigger stress mechanisms (stress intensity scale). Among the events significant for people:
Stress factors tend to accumulate. Without taking effective steps, having driven their experiences inside, being left alone with their problems, a person risks losing contact with his own "I", and subsequently losing contact with others.
Manifestations of stress- are purely individual, but all the signs are united by their negative color, their painful and painful perception by the individual. Symptoms differ depending on which stage of stress the person is in and what protective mechanisms are involved. Among the main symptoms of stress are:
As a result of exposure to stressors, the individual often tries to artificially replace the negative feelings experienced by “pleasant” external factors: he begins to take alcohol or drugs, becomes a gambler, changes sexual behavior, begins to overeat, and performs risky, impulsive actions.
Being in situations that cause a state of stress, each person should strive to get out of this situation as a winner, to overcome obstacles with courage, dignity and without negative consequences for health. After all, each new battle with stressors is another step on the thorny path of self-development and self-improvement.
The choice of a comprehensive pharmacological treatment program is carried out on an individual basis, taking into account a variety of factors, including:
The main criterion for prescribing treatment is manifested symptoms. To eliminate stressful conditions, use:
If the patient is dominated by signs of anxiety (irrational fear, excessive excitement, anxiety for no reason), a short-term course of treatment with psychotropic drugs is carried out to relieve symptoms. Use tranquilizers benzodiazepine series (for example: diazepam) or more sparing anxiolytics other groups (for example: adoptol).
They can quickly control and minimize the painful physical manifestations of fear. beta blockers, the action of which is aimed at blocking the release of adrenaline into the blood and reducing indicators blood pressure(for example: anaprilin).
In overcoming emotional stress, reducing nervousness and irritability, a good therapeutic response is given by relatively harmless drugs that contain aminoacetic acid(for example: glycine).
With mild manifestations of anxiety, a long course (at least one month) is prescribed sedatives of the green pharmacy made from valerian, mint, lemon balm, motherwort (for example: persen). In some cases, drugs are used - bromides with significant sedative potential (for example: adonis bromine).
If there are "protective" obsessive actions in the picture of the disease, it is recommended to use antipsychotics- drugs that can eliminate severe mental conditions (for example: haloperidol).
With the predominance of depressive manifestations (apathy, depression, melancholy mood) use antidepressants different groups. With a mild form of depressive moods, a long course (more than one month) of herbal remedies is prescribed. So, the antidepressant effect will be provided by drugs based on St. John's wort (for example: deprim). In more severe and dangerous cases, psychopharmacological antidepressants of various groups are used. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors - SSRIs (for example: fluoxetine) are easy to use, do not lead to overdose and show high results. The drugs of the latest generation - melatonergic antidepressants (the only representative of this class: agomelatine) - are capable of eliminating depressive symptoms and reducing anxiety.
If the patient notes a change in the mode and quality of sleep (insomnia, early awakening, interrupted sleep, nightmares), an appointment is prescribed sleeping pills, both of plant origin and synthesized agents of the benzodiazepine series (for example: nitrazepam) or the latest chemical groups (for example: zopiclone). The use of barbiturates as sleeping pills has lost its relevance today.
An important role in overcoming stressful conditions is the replenishment of the deficit in the body vitamins and minerals... In situations of emotional stress, it is recommended to take B vitamins (for example: neurovitan), drugs with magnesium (for example: Magne B6) or multi-active complexes (for example: vitrum).
Psychotherapy for stressful conditions- techniques developed to provide a beneficial therapeutic effect on the psychoemotional sphere of activity, directly related to and affecting the functioning of the human body as a whole. Psychotherapeutic assistance is often the only unique chance that allows a person in a stressful state to overcome existing problems, correct erroneous ideas and get rid of anxious, depressive states without negative consequences.
Modern psychotherapy uses over 300 different techniques, including the most common, demanded and effective techniques:
Direction 1. Psychodynamic approach
Based on the method of psychoanalysis, the founder of which was the famous talented scientist Sigmund Freud. Feature of therapy: transfer of memories, experienced emotions and sensations to the area of consciousness (awareness) by the patient. The techniques are used: the study and assessment of dreams, a free associative series, the study of the features of forgetting information.
Direction 2. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
The essence of this method is to inform and teach the individual the adaptive skills necessary in emotionally difficult situations. A new model of thinking is formed and retained in a person, which makes it possible to correctly assess and adequately act when faced with stress factors. In artificially created stressful situations, the patient, having experienced a state close to panic fear, noticeably decreases the threshold of sensitivity to disturbing negative factors.
Direction 3. Existential approach
The essence of therapy using this technique is to concentrate on existing difficulties, the patient's revision of the value system, awareness of personal significance, the formation of self-esteem and correct self-esteem. During the sessions, a person learns how to harmoniously interact with the world around him, develops independence and awareness of thinking, and acquires new behavioral skills.
Direction 4. Humanistic approach
This method is based on the postulate: a person has unlimited abilities and capabilities to overcome problems in the presence of a significant incentive and adequate self-esteem. The work of a doctor with a patient is aimed at liberating a person's consciousness, liberation from indecision and uncertainty, getting rid of the fear of defeat. The client learns to really understand and analyze the causes of existing difficulties, to develop correct and safe options for overcoming problems.
A person tends to get rid of pain, tension, anxiety. However, this ability to experience unpleasant sensations, oddly enough, is one of the valuable gifts of nature. A state of stress is a phenomenon designed to warn an individual about a threat to the integrity and vital activity of the body. It is an ideally operating mechanism that activates the natural reflexes of resistance, evasion, retreat or flight, indispensable in the battle with a negative hostile environment. The unpleasant feelings that come with stress mobilize hidden resources, stimulate effort, change, and tough decisions.
Everyone needs to learn how to effectively and efficiently manage stress. If the event that triggered the stress depends on individual activities (for example: emotional stress due to excessive workload in the professional sphere), efforts should be concentrated on developing and analyzing options to change the existing situation. If an emotionally difficult situation is caused by external factors beyond the control and management of the individual (for example: the death of a spouse), it is necessary to accept this negative fact, come to terms with its existence, change the perception and attitude towards this event.
Method 1. Letting out emotions
Special breathing techniques are designed to relieve the accumulated tension, get rid of negative emotions. We perform vigorous movements (swings) with our hands, then close our eyes. We take a slow deep breath through the nose, hold our breath for 5 seconds, slowly exhale through the mouth. We perform 10-15 approaches. We try to relax the muscles as much as possible. We concentrate our attention on the sensations that arise.
Method 2. We open our soul
In the prevention and overcoming of stressful conditions, an invaluable role is assigned to emotional support from the outside and friendly communication. Problematic moments, frankly and freely told to a loved one, lose their global significance and cease to be perceived as catastrophic. Friendly communication with optimistic people allows a person to formulate and express aloud disturbing factors, throw out negative emotions, get a charge of vital energy, and develop a strategy for overcoming problems.
Method 3. We trust our worries to paper
An equally effective method of dealing with emotional stress is keeping a personal diary. Thoughts and desires set out on paper become more consistent and logical. Fixing in writing your negative feelings transfers them from the subconscious to the sphere controlled by the consciousness and controlled by the will of the individual. After such recording, stressful events are perceived as less large-scale, and the fact of problems is recognized and recognized. With the subsequent reading of their revelations, it becomes possible to analyze difficult situation as if from the outside, new ways to overcome it appear, an incentive is formed to resolve it. The person takes control of her condition and, accepting the past and living in the present, begins to make efforts for well-being in the future.
Method 4. Mapping our own stressors
As they say, in order to defeat the enemy, you need to know him by sight. In order to cope with the emerging negative emotions under the hour of exposure to stressors, it is necessary to identify and investigate what specific events can "unsettle".
Being in silence alone, we focus and try to concentrate our attention as much as possible. We select for analysis at least 12 aspects related to various spheres of life (for example: health, family relationships, successes and failures in professional activity, financial position, relationships with friends). Then, in each of the specific aspects, we highlight situations that present significant difficulty, deprive oneself of self-control and restraint. We write them down in order of importance (intensity of response, time duration of experiences, depth of emotional perception, emerging negative symptoms) from the smallest negative category to the most traumatic factor. After the Achilles heel has been identified, for each item we make a list of "arguments": we develop options for possible solutions to problems.
Method 5. We transform emotional experiences into vital energy
An excellent way to get rid of unpleasant manifestations of stress is to perform any physical activity intensively. This can be: exercising in the gym, taking long walks, swimming in the pool, jogging in the morning, or working on personal plot... Energetic physical exercise distract from negative events, direct thoughts in a positive direction, give positive emotions and charge with vital energy. Running is an ideal natural method to "escape" from stress: feeling pleasant physical fatigue, there is no room or energy left to cry about your own grief.
Method 6. We splash out emotions in creativity
A faithful assistant in the fight against psychological stress - creative activity, vocal, music, dance lessons. By creating beauty, a person not only gets rid of negative feelings, but also uses hidden potential, develops his abilities, and significantly increases self-esteem. Music directly affects the emotional status, transferring to the world of vivid original sensations: it makes you cry and laugh, grieve and rejoice. Through music, the perception of one's own “I” and those around them changes, the real world appears in its diversity, the significance of one's own “scanty” concerns is lost. Through dance, you can express your emotions, experience your negativity, appear before the light in all your inner beauty.
Method 7. We increase the level of psychological knowledge
An important factor for successfully coping with stress is the existing store of knowledge: complete, structured, varied. In the formation of resistance to stress, a significant role is played by the cognitive processes occurring in a person, which determine the skills of orientation in environment, the consistency of actions, the objectivity of judgments, the level of observation. No matter how generously or sparingly nature has endowed a person with talents, a person is responsible only for the use of his mental abilities, and should not stop on the path of his development.
Method 8. Changing your belief system
An individual belief system occupies a special niche in the perception of stress factors. A person who regards the world around him as a source of dangers, threats, problems reacts to stressors with strong negative emotions, which often disorganize his behavior. Often severe consequences experienced stress provoke the results of the discrepancy between the real complexity of the situation and its subjective assessment by the individual. Adequate, realistic perception of the world, where prosperity and misfortune coexist, recognition that the world is imperfect and not always fair, striving for harmony, optimism and gratitude for every positive moment help not to take problems to heart.
Method 9. We increase our own importance
A person who reacts to any stress with violent emotions is characterized by a lack of confidence in his abilities and a sense of his own inferiority. Due to low or negative self-esteem, a person has a minimum level of aspirations and takes a "position of a reinsurer" in life. Simple exercises - afhermations (positive statements about your personality, spoken aloud) help to increase and form adequate self-esteem.
Method 10. We carry out a difficult task
An excellent technique for emotional control is a strong focus on the task at hand, allowing you to distract and overcome situational stressors.
From the areas that bring satisfaction and joy, we choose one difficult category. We set a clear goal for ourselves, define specific deadlines for bringing the idea to life (for example: study French, construct a model of a helicopter, conquer a mountain peak).
In conclusion: Everyone can overcome stress and control a difficult situation by focusing on the problem at hand, rather than on emotionally protective actions. Active mastery of one's own consciousness brings extremely positive results, gives the personality a sense of dominance over stressors, strengthens a sense of self-worth, increases the assessment of one's abilities, and increases the chance of discovering opportunities.
Stress is one of the defense mechanisms that ensure the normal functioning of the body. This process involves complex neurohumoral and metabolic processes, the body uses reserve substances. After the experience, their immediate replenishment and physical recovery are required, otherwise pathological conditions may arise. A person needs to independently control the level of internal stress and take timely measures for treatment and recovery. Prolonged stress that turned into chronic form, depletes a person and often leads to personality disorders.
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The concept of stress is the manifestation of a non-specific response of the body to any stimulus. It promotes the production of endogenous adrenaline, which increases resilience and activates a person's potential strengths. Stress accompanies conditions such as anxiety, agitation, and tension. They are dangerous because they lead to the development of anxiety disorders. But in small quantities, they are even useful for the individual, have a stimulating effect. Normally, a person is aimed at overcoming the problem, but in the case of chronic stress, when the body is depleted, he does not always succeed. At this point, anxiety and tension reach their peak and can lead to irreversible consequences.
The definition of stress in psychology differs from everyday understanding. It is almost always accompanied by anxiety, when emotions such as nervousness and concern for the result come to the fore. Together, they help the body to cope with any problem as quickly and efficiently as possible, fast brain activity is activated and sometimes a person himself does not realize how he managed to do something. Psychologists have established a pattern that the higher the nonspecific reaction, the more unpredictable and lightning-fast the decision on the part of the person turns out to be.
Regular anxiety conditions lead to persistent personality disorder, panic attacks and obsessions... The development of pathology can be prevented only with the help of timely and competent treatment.
Many psychotherapists believe that stress responses in moderate amounts contribute to the growth and development of the personality, due to its exit from the comfort zone. Thanks to them, self-knowledge and improvement of external and internal qualities occurs. But this positive effect largely depends on the type and severity of stress.
Classification by provoking factor:
By the type of impact, the following types of stress are distinguished:
The mechanism of action is distinguished:
The level of stress depends a lot on the scale of the problem. Some are temporary in nature, and a person subconsciously understands that they do not pose a serious threat to life, like a session with students or colds... Others are global in nature, when a person does not understand what the outcome will be. The latter include an earthquake, an armed attack and other circumstances that threaten cardiac changes in life or its loss.
There are three interrelated stages of stress, which smoothly pass into one another, and it is impossible to resist this process:
The third stage is of fundamental importance for a specialist. The tactics of treatment fundamentally depend on how long the patient has been experiencing an alarming shock. There is a direct relationship: the more a person is under the influence of an irritating factor, the greater the amount of help needed.
The response of the body in the form of stress appears not only to negative factors of influence, but also to positive stressors, which also portend change. Many psychotherapists believe that stress responses in moderation contribute to the growth and development of the personality and its exit from the comfort zone. Thanks to them, self-knowledge and improvement of external and internal qualities occurs.
The main causes of distress are all negative situations that appear in a person during his life. Everyone has their own value system and can experience a different level of shock from the same situation, but there are no indifferent people.
For example, pregnancy is the result of biological eustress. On the one hand, a woman has been waiting for the onset of this state for a long time and is incredibly happy to feel life inside herself. On the other hand, the body undergoes certain changes that are temporary, but cause a lot of trouble and discomfort. The presence of a pronounced toxicosis in the first months, speaks of opposition. Due to the suppression of the immune system, there is no rejection of the fetus. Immune responses, hormonal changes, utilization of stored nutrients, and much more are complex stress responses. At the end of pregnancy, a woman begins to experience real health difficulties, which subsequently transform into postpartum depression and require specialized treatment.
The symptomatic picture of various diseases with a similar manifestation led the famous researcher Hans Selye to certain reflections that laid the foundation for the work of his entire life - the doctrine of stress. At the moment of complete exhaustion, not a single system remains that has not received a blow. Conventionally, all symptoms can be divided into physiological and mental. The former reflect the effect of stress on the body. These include severe weight loss, decreased appetite, changes in the work of the heart, VSD (vegetative-vascular dystonia), fatigue, etc.
Mental signs include: internal stress, urinary incontinence, anxiety, depression, apathy, Bad mood, isolation, detachment. The initial state of the human nervous system determines how pronounced the response of the body and its non-specific response will be. Emotionally weak individuals are prone to seek solutions to problems on the side or with the help of psychotropic substances. They are the ones who usually have addiction to drugs and alcohol. Strong individuals find it easier to resist stress.
In psychotherapy, the cognitive, physical, behavioral and emotional symptoms of a stressful state are distinguished. They are relative, because some can manifest themselves in a person's behavior without a provoking factor, since they are the norm for a person and are laid down by a psychotype. A psychotherapist will help to identify the true symptoms of stress in the early stages of its manifestation; in advanced cases, when a person loses control over himself, they can be seen even by a non-specialist.
Cognitive symptoms:
Emotional symptoms:
Physical symptoms:
Behavioral symptoms:
Depending on the number of listed symptoms, the severity of the condition is recognized. After interviewing, observation and visual examination, the specialist makes a diagnosis and determines the amount of assistance needed. In severe clinical situations, hospitalization in a 24-hour hospital and constant monitoring by a specialist is required.
It is permissible to start treating stress at home, especially if the patient correctly perceives his condition and is ready to resist all negative changes. The first thing to look at is the emotional state. Soothing teas, sedatives will help reduce anxiety, massage can be done, physiotherapy helps. It is important to prevent the impact of a provoking factor. The earlier the recovery period begins, the faster the healing process proceeds.
For recovery and further readiness to face new stress, you should think about your overall health. It depends on the lifestyle. Healthy sleep, adherence to work and rest, rational and balanced diet, moderate physical activity and regular intake of vitamin complexes will strengthen health and replenish the spent nutrients. This cannot be neglected, because an exhausted body is not able to continue adequate and full-fledged life activity.
The long absence of positive dynamics against the background of self-treatment suggests the need to consult a psychotherapist. He may recommend one-to-one coaching or suggest group sessions that are very effective in countering anxiety disorder. The advantage of this approach to treatment is the ability to learn to cope with stress with minimal consequences for yourself and to regularly conduct prevention.
Stress: causes, types and prevention
05.08.2017Snezhana Ivanova
All people are affected by stress. Nervous stress, various surprises at work and in the family lead to the exhaustion of moral and physical strength.
Stress is an integral part of modern life. Many people would like to completely avoid it, but in most cases this cannot be done. Nervous stress, various surprises at work and in the family lead to depletion of moral and physical strength. All people are affected by stress, its symptoms are known to everyone.
It is important for everyone to know the symptoms of stress. Life sometimes presents us with such surprises that it remains only to be surprised at how in an unknown way everything is developing. By what manifestations can one understand that a person is experiencing severe nervous tension? What are the prominent symptoms of stress? Let's try to figure it out.
A person under stress often suffers from insomnia. Sleep disorders are associated with overexcitation of the nervous system. Such a load is fraught with its consequences. Often there is a situation where a person wants to sleep and cannot do it. He fails to achieve complete relaxation. Thoughts are layered on top of each other, make it difficult to adequately perceive the events that are taking place. A stressed person cannot enjoy the pleasure of rest. He only does what he fights with invisible enemies and constantly expects the worst result of all possible. Everyone has their own causes of stress. Most people have similar symptoms. The first thing that begins to be noticed is that mental balance goes away, a person loses support under his feet. Moreover, in most cases, people strive to endure any emotional turmoil. Few people manage to avoid stress in everyday life, but it must and can be dealt with.
Under stress, physical weakness is always observed, this is its characteristic symptom. It's all about the hormone adrenaline, which begins to be produced in large quantities under stress. Physical weakness is the result of nervous strain. Sometimes there is a characteristic muscle pain. You should not be afraid of this state - it will pass in a few hours. After stress, it is best to sleep, mentally disconnect from what is happening. You cannot force yourself and force yourself to do something, only if extraordinary circumstances do not require it. Physical weakness is a completely natural response to extreme fatigue and stress.
Another characteristic symptom that simply cannot be overlooked. Stress eats away at the body's inner strength, leaving frustration and fear inside. The feeling of anxiety does not leave those people who are under stress. This symptom indicates that it is time to take some effective action, and not just endlessly suffer. Anxiety, irritability, unwillingness to act is associated with a breakdown. It is undesirable to leave a person alone in such a state, whatever the reasons for the disorder. The best medicine is to talk to a loved one or a supportive friend. Other symptoms of stress are associated with the inability to relax, to make the right decision.
Any nervous shock does not arise from scratch. Nothing just happens. For the formation and development of stress, very serious reasons are needed. They usually indicate what a person needs to change in his life. Anyone who is attentive to his own condition and does not want to aggravate it should engage in stress prevention. Let's take a closer look at the causes of stress.
Very often, a change in the usual environment leads to the development of stress. This common reason the formation of stress. A person needs to get used to a new environment. At first, everyone experiences a certain nervous tension, self-doubt. The feeling of anxiety and some danger may not leave for several days or even weeks. And this is a completely normal reaction of a healthy body to stress. Changing activities is a serious step that should not be taken spontaneously, under the influence of emotions. This reason is quite enough to start experiencing not entirely pleasant emotions. In most cases, people are terrified of being fired and do their best to avoid this event, because they believe that to find Good work it is difficult and impossible to do it quickly.
This is a serious reason that can lead not only to the development of stress, but act as a serious reason for the formation of a nervous breakdown. A person is not omnipotent, he cannot constantly experience negative emotions and at the same time not have any significant consequences. Parting with a loved one is something that can overturn the system of internal beliefs, break the strong mental organization of the personality. This is because people have a deep need to care for someone close to them. If you deprive a person of such an opportunity, he will feel unnecessary and frustrated. Prevention and treatment of stress arising from personal relationships is impossible without the person's awareness of their future prospects. Still, a lot is required to rethink and understand in order to change the attitude towards the situation.
Sometimes stress is formed on the basis of unmet needs. They can be both physical and psychological. What can be attributed to this item? For example, unfulfilled dreams of personal happiness, unrequited love. Difficulties at work, coupled with the need to prove yourself, to prove your worth, also lead to stress. An unmet need for love and recognition is a common cause of stress. If people analyzed all the reasons that can only lead to nervous overstrain, then all of them would be impossible to describe. There are many reasons for stress. If a person does not take care of himself, then very soon he will earn himself a nervous breakdown.
In psychological science, it is customary to distinguish several stages in the development of stress. These stages characterize the state of mind of a person, the ability to resist any negative factors. The stages of the onset of stress can be compared to the steps along which a person moves through the labyrinths of their emotions.
The very first stage is characterized by the appearance of a slight fatigue, impressionability, and susceptibility. A person suddenly begins to think about his life, he is afraid to take active steps in order to correct an unsatisfactory situation. The easy stage does not bring much suffering. It only shows that something is wrong with the person: he is tired, nervous, lost his chosen path. But if you do not make attempts to get rid of nervous tension, anxiety and doubts will only grow.
The second stage, which is characterized by a rapid increase in the level of anxiety. At this stage, it becomes more difficult to resist the onslaught of stress. The second stage assumes that a person begins to immerse himself in his own experiences, although he continues to actively seek a way out of a difficult situation. While in the middle stage, there is still a lot that can be fixed without too much damage to health. The only sad thing is that people sometimes think very little about how much they harm themselves. You cannot treat stress without any attention, it is fraught with irreversible consequences.
Unfortunately, stress develops and progresses very quickly. If the situation has gone too far, you have to reap the bitter fruits. The third stage of stress is characterized by severe depression, unwillingness to make any attempts to restore mental balance. A person stops believing that someone can help him. This condition is already called anxiety disorders and has a strong impact on the perception of reality. Such a person is unable to perceive joy, he needs serious treatment. The third stage in the development of stress requires increased attention.
In psychological science, there are two main types of stress. These types are fundamentally different from each other and make it possible to judge how productively a person is working on himself. Knowing the types of nervous tension, you can try to analyze your own state and come to certain conclusions.
This is a type of nervous tension in which there is a strong concentration of attention on an object or phenomenon. In this case, experiences are even beneficial.: a person in a short time mobilizes all his internal forces in order to get out of a difficult situation, to achieve a certain result. This type of shock contributes to a better understanding of one's own intentions, the search for a way out. A person begins to realize what he really should strive for, and what it is better to completely abandon.
This kind of nervous tension cannot be beneficial. It is a type of nervous disorder in which a person suffers greatly. Basically, distress is a type of stress that is the main distinctive feature which is prolonged emotional arousal. With such a disorder, of course, a person cannot fully develop, feel happy. In this case, the tension increases several times, cannot be compared with any types of emotional disturbances. Distress is not just a kind of disharmony within the personality, but a serious disorder that needs timely treatment.
Any emotional deviations should be examined without fail. It is better to prevent them than to try to fix something later. A specialist, and not a lover of intimate conversations, must prescribe competent treatment. Qualified psychologists are engaged in stress prevention. What are the main principles of treatment and prevention? Let's try to figure it out!
There is an easier route to take before you start swallowing the anti-anxiety tablets. You need to start monitoring the quality of your vacation. Very often people neglect sleep significantly, sacrificing it for some urgent matters. This should not be done. For a person, sleep is extremely important. The correct daily routine will be an excellent prevention of stress and will help in treatment if the problem has already appeared. It is better not to delay treatment if the person really needs it.
Many modern people for some reason, physical activity is largely neglected. This is a big mistake that can lead to irreparable consequences. Stress treatment and prevention is based on constant movement. A person should be aware that he needs to do gymnastics or exercises at least once a day. It is best to practice a specific sport. This is an excellent treatment that helps even in advanced cases. The treatment of a nervous disorder itself requires the individual to take full responsibility for what is happening. You need to try to move as much as possible, then later you will not have to resort to treatment with potent drugs.
This method is good in that it allows you to get rid of any manifestations of trouble in the mental state of a person. It is advisable to begin treatment of stress with a deep understanding of the current events. The stronger a person develops the skill of managing his own inner self, the faster he can cope with any problem.
Thus, in order to get rid of nervous tension, you need to try to find peace of mind as soon as possible. It is better to prevent severe emotional distress on time than to resort to treatment later.
Everyone knows firsthand what stress is. The very fact of being born is stress for the newborn. In the future, this state is repeated more than once, because external stimuli are present in the life of every person. Residents of cities get tired of the hustle and bustle, transport, traffic jams. People get tired of constant work and a list of responsibilities to family, society, colleagues. What is stress? Let's figure it out.
The term "stress" was introduced, or rather borrowed from the science of the strength of materials in 1936 by the Canadian physiologist Hans Selye. It was originally a technical term for stress, pressure, and pressure. Hans Selye decided that this also applies to humans. Then stress was considered as an adaptive reaction of the body to extreme conditions (high temperatures, illness, injury, etc.). Today, the problem of stress is considered more broadly, the list of stress-generating factors includes socio-psychological elements, for example, surprises.
Stress is a special form of experience. By psychological characteristics stress is close to affect, and in duration to mood. This is a mental state, the body's response to environmental conditions and the requirements put forward by the environment to. From English, the word "stress" is translated as "stress". In psychology, stress is usually considered as a period of human adaptation.
Depending on how a person assesses the prevailing conditions, stress has a disorganizing or mobilizing effect. However, in any case, the danger of depletion of the body remains, since at the moment of stress all systems work at their limit. This is how it works:
From the point of view of the perception of the personality itself, stress goes through 3 stages:
In moderation, stress is beneficial (emotional shock). It increases attention and, interest, activates.But in large quantities, stress inevitably leads to a decrease in productivity. In addition, it negatively affects health, stimulates diseases. Regardless of the nature of stress, the body's response at the biological level is the same: an increase in the activity of the adrenal cortex (caused by the hormonal changes described above), atrophy of the lymph nodes and thymus gland, the appearance of ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract. It is obvious that such frequent changes are harmful to health, it is not for nothing that they say that all diseases are from the nerves.
You can talk about stress when:
You might be surprised, but stress can be beneficial. Harbingers of stress - emotions, as you know, they are positive and negative. In this regard, stress can be pleasant or unpleasant. For example, a surprise (surprise) can be pleasant and unpleasant, but at the biological level, it looks the same.
Unpleasant and dangerous stress is called. Positive stress is called eustress. Their features:
In addition, stress can be short-term, acute, and chronic. Short-term ones are usually beneficial. Acute stress borders on a state of shock, it is an unexpected and violent shock. Chronic stress is the long-term exposure to various minor stressors.
An example of positive, short-term, and beneficial stress is competition and public speaking. An example of distress (dangerous and prolonged stress) is, for example, the death of a loved one.
According to the spheres of occurrence, the following types of stress are distinguished:
In addition, stress can be physiological and psychological. Physiological stress is a reaction to adverse environmental conditions. In fact, this is environmental stress. Physiological stress is:
Psychological stress arises in the social sphere, in the interaction of a person with society. The psychological types of stress include intrapersonal, interpersonal, personal, work and informational.
We have not mentioned the last type yet, let's pay attention to it. Information stress involves information overload. Every day people are forced to process large amounts of information, a high-risk group consists of people whose profession involves the search, processing and recording of information (students, accountants, teachers, journalists). Television, the Internet, vocational training and the fulfillment of duties force not only to receive information, but also to analyze it, assimilate it, and solve problematic problems. The chaotic flow of information provokes fatigue, distraction, decreased concentration, distraction from the goals of the activity and professional duties. Overload is especially dangerous in the second part of the day, before going to bed. Sleep problems are a common consequence of information overload.
Stress is caused by new and unusual living conditions for a person. Obviously, it is impossible to enumerate all stress-generating factors, they are subjective in nature, depend on the norm that is customary for a particular person. Both the unstable economic situation in the country and the lack of the desired product in the store can cause stress.
Which factor turns out to be stressful depends on the person, personal experience and other individual and personal characteristics. For example, a child from a dysfunctional family will react more calmly to abuse and fights in the future than a person who has never faced such treatment.
Difficulty at work is more likely to be the cause of adult stress. Work stress factors include the following:
Personal stressors include:
Stress is a response to a demand. Regardless of the nature (positive or negative), the body is reorganized. Biochemical shifts are a defensive reaction worked out by evolution. In fact, it is these biochemical changes that trigger the feelings and emotions that we experience during moments of stress. We are not worried about the stress itself, but its consequences - emotions that do not get an outlet.
Signs of stress include:
Stress makes a person nervous, fidgety. The accumulating energy asks for release, but remaining unrealized, destroys a person from the inside. All psychological complications are due to stagnation of physical energy. After all, it is forbidden for a person as a social being to openly throw out his negativity, we cannot act like animals in a stressful situation: fight, run. Although some may well afford it, some other situations require similar behavior. But, for example, problems have office worker difficult to solve this way. This is the tension that builds up.
So, stress can cause:
Experts from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest that by 2020 (the main danger of stress) it will come out on top in popularity, bypassing infectious and cardiovascular diseases. In addition, WHO notes that already 45% of all diseases are caused by stress.
But this is dangerous for chronic stress and stress at the stage of distress. In moderate doses, stress serves as a hardening for the psyche, increases the body's stability. But this does not mean that it is necessary to specially carry out such "tempering measures".
In a moment of stress, our body is ready for two options: fight or flight. This is dictated by the animal part of us, the biological stress of the body. Of course, in life, people do not always literally run away or attack under stress (although this is not uncommon). More often this is understood in the abstract: flight, for example, means going into drunkenness or depression.
It should be understood that stress cannot be avoided. This is a variant of the body's reflex response to difficult or unpleasant (unfavorable) circumstances. A developing active personality will have to face the new and unknown, unusual, frightening all his life. And the body will react with appropriate hormonal changes, it will reflexively defend itself.
