English pressure) - denotes a wide range of human conditions that arise in response to various extreme influences. Leads to changes in the course of mental processes, emotional shifts, disturbances in motor and speech behavior. There is a distinction between positive stress and negative stress. The discovery and description of the mechanism of stress belongs to the Canadian scientist Hans Selye (1907-1982).
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Stress
English – tension) is an emotional reaction that occurs in response to extreme (unexpected, destructive, painful, etc.) environmental influences. Stress manifests itself as a violation of the physiological, psychological and social harmony of the individual. Stress can be informational, emotional, or physiological. People with a high level of aspirations, overloaded with work and who do not know how to live in unity with nature are most exposed to stress. Signs of stress: inability to concentrate, mistakes, memory impairment, feeling tired, slow or accelerated pace of speech, wandering thoughts, physical pain, increased excitability, work without joy, loss of a sense of humor, etc. Stress plays a dual role in a person’s life. On the one hand, it destroys harmony, suppresses mood, causes fear and irritation, but, on the other hand, it “teaches a lesson,” i.e. forms patience and “combat readiness” and adaptation to new conditions. Stress can not only reduce, but also increase performance, especially in art, sports, and creativity. Stressful situations are inevitable in life; they allow a person to experience suffering, leading to spiritual growth, wisdom, and humility.
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Stress is the body's response to extreme conditions that disrupt a person's emotional calm and balance.
When stress continues for a long time, migraines, high blood pressure, back pain, diabetes, and impotence can occur against the background of severe irritation of the nervous system.
What causes stress?
Experts believe that any situation to which a person reacts with strong emotional arousal can cause stress. It must be taken into account that stress can be caused by both positive emotions, such as the birth of a child, marriage, and negative ones - loss of a job, death of a loved one. Situations that provoke stress can also be minor (long waits in line or in traffic jams).
What are the first signs of stress?
The most common symptoms of stress are:
* Depression
* Headache
* Insomnia
* Sexual disorders
* Fast heartbeat
Health care
If stress symptoms do not subside within a few weeks, a diagnostic evaluation should be performed.
In the absence of any obvious physiological causes of stress, educational psychotherapy is recommended, which will help to master the skills of overcoming difficult life situations and extract useful developmental experience from them.
Stress General information about stress.
Stress is a state of psychophysiological tension that occurs in a person under the influence of any strong influences and is accompanied by the mobilization of the defense systems of the body and psyche.
The concept of “stress” was introduced in 1936 by the Canadian physiologist G. Selye. There is a distinction between eustress - normal stress that serves the purpose of preserving and maintaining life, and distress - pathological stress, manifested in painful symptoms. In everyday consciousness, the second idea of stress is mainly entrenched. Selye considers stress an integral attribute of life. A person cannot fully function if his sense organs are not affected by a sufficient number of appropriate stimuli. In this case, the body reacts with a state of stress, which plays a mobilizing and therefore positive role. On the other hand, stimuli of increased intensity or occurring in excessive quantities can cause distress and lead to somatic illness, mental deformation and even death.
The ability to respond to intense external stimuli is determined by the individual psychological characteristics of a particular person: psychophysiological constitution, sensitivity to influences (sensitivity), characteristics of the motivational and emotional-volitional sphere. To prevent external influences from causing distress, it is necessary to develop in the individual such qualities as self-control, discipline, the desire to overcome obstacles, etc.
Thus, stress is a tense state of the body, i.e. a nonspecific response of the body to a demand presented to it (stressful situation). Under the influence of stress, the human body experiences stress.
Signs of stress include: inability to concentrate; frequent errors in work; memory impairment; frequent feeling of fatigue; fast speech; thoughts often disappear; pain appears quite often (head, back, stomach area); increased excitability; work does not bring the same joy; loss of sense of humor; a sharp increase in the number of cigarettes smoked; addiction to alcoholic beverages; a constant feeling of malnutrition or loss of appetite; inability to finish work on time.
Since stress arose mainly from the perception of a threat, its occurrence in a certain situation can arise for subjective reasons related to the characteristics of a given individual. Certain conditions cause emotional tension as a result of the inconsistency of the individual’s emotional mechanism with these conditions. Anxiety is a feeling of vague threat, vague anxiety. Anxiety is the most powerful mechanism of mental stress. Anxiety can play a protective and motivational role. But if anxiety is not adequate to the situation, then it interferes with adaptation. Thus, anxiety underlies any changes in mental state and behavior caused by mental stress. The organization of emotional stress presupposes frustration. The totality of frustration, anxiety, as well as their relationship with allopsychic and intrapsychic adaptations constitutes the main body of stress.
Research has found that young people are less susceptible to the effects of external anxiety than older people because they are more adaptive. From this we can conclude that the more flexible a person’s neuropsychic system is, the younger he is and his consciousness is free from prejudice, the easier the adaptation process is and the less painfully stressful situations are tolerated.
Some life situations that cause stress can be predicted. For example, a change in the phases of development and formation of a family, or biologically determined changes in the body that are characteristic of each of us. Other situations are unexpected and unpredictable, especially sudden ones (accidents, natural disasters, death of a loved one). There are also situations caused by human behavior, the adoption of certain decisions, a certain course of events (divorce, change of place of work or place of residence, etc.). Each of these situations can cause mental discomfort.
G. Selye put forward the hypothesis that aging is the result of all the stress to which the body has been exposed during its life. It corresponds to the "exhaustion phase" of the general adaptation syndrome, which in some ways is an accelerated version of normal aging. Any stress, especially caused by fruitless efforts, leaves behind irreversible chemical changes; their accumulation causes signs of aging in tissues.
Successful activity, whatever it may be, leaves fewer consequences of aging, therefore, according to Selye, you can live long and happily if you choose a job that suits you and cope with it successfully.
From a practical point of view, excess stress, being excessive psychological or physiological stress, causes psychosomatic diseases, and its psychological manifestations include irritability, loss of appetite, depression and decreased interest in interpersonal and sexual relationships, etc. Reducing the effectiveness and well-being of the individual , excessive stress comes at a cost to organizations—increasing the costs of achieving organizational goals and reducing the quality of life for large numbers of workers.
The body's reactions to stress.
Let's consider the body's possible reactions to stress:
Stress reaction.
A person consciously or subconsciously tries to adapt to a completely new situation. Then comes leveling, or adaptation. A person either finds balance in the current situation and stress does not produce any consequences, or does not adapt to it. As a consequence of this, various mental or physical abnormalities may occur.
Passivity.
It manifests itself in a person whose adaptive reserve is insufficient and the body is not able to withstand stress. A state of helplessness, hopelessness, and depression arises.
But this stress reaction may be temporary.
The other two reactions are active and subject to the will of man.
Active protection against stress.
A person changes his field of activity and finds something more useful and suitable for achieving mental balance, contributing to improved health.
Active relaxation (relaxation), which increases the natural adaptation of the human body - both mental and physical. This reaction is the most effective.
Basic ways to deal with stress.
Stress can be caused by factors related to work and organizational activities or events in a person's personal life. When providing psychological counseling to those suffering from excessive stress at work, the following advice can be given:
1. Develop a system of priorities in your work.
2. Learn to say “no” when you reach the point at which you can no longer take on any more work.
3. Develop a particularly effective and reliable relationship with your boss.
4. Don't agree with anyone who makes conflicting demands.
5. Let your boss and co-workers know when you feel that the expectations or evaluation standards for a task are not clear.
6. Find time each day to unplug and relax. Other factors associated with reducing the likelihood of stress include eating a proper diet, staying fit through exercise, and achieving overall balance in your life.
Personal factors can also cause stress. To prevent further consequences that contribute to the occurrence of various mental disorders and psychosomatic diseases, a consultant psychologist can give a number of recommendations that will help you prepare in a timely manner for a stressful event or life situation and reduce their negative impact on the body:
1. Collect sufficient information about the possibility of such situations occurring.
2. Think over ways to prevent specific life dangers, try to find ways to mitigate them.
3. Do not try to make hasty conclusions on the eve of the event itself.
4. Realize that the client can solve most of the situations that cause stress on his own, without resorting to the help of a psychologist.
5. Strive to actively intervene in a situation that causes stress. An active lifestyle helps create a protective background against stress in the body, improving the functioning of adaptive organisms.
6. Understand and accept that serious changes are an integral part of life.
7. Remember that stressful life situations are mastered faster and better by those who know how to use relaxation methods.
There are four main methods of dealing with stress: relaxation, anti-stress daily routine, first aid for acute stress and self-analysis of personal stress.
The use of these methods, if necessary, is available to everyone.
One of the effective remedies against stress is relaxation. According to G. Selye's theory, the automatic anxiety reaction consists of three successive phases: impulse, stress, adaptation. Therefore, if a person wants to direct his efforts to maintain health, then he must consciously respond to a stressful impulse with relaxation. With the help of this type of active defense, a person can prevent the impact of a stressful impulse, delay it or reduce stress, thereby preventing psychosomatic disorders in the body.
Breathing may become difficult and heavy during physical exertion or a stressful situation. A person has the opportunity, by consciously controlling his breathing, to use it to calm himself, to relieve tension - both muscular and mental, thus, auto-regulation of breathing can become an effective means of combating stress, along with relaxation and concentration.
The method of auto-analysis of personal stress by keeping a “stress diary” helps to detect and explain your body’s reactions to stressful situations. This method requires recording in a diary for several weeks when and under what circumstances signs of stress were discovered. Analyzing your diary entries helps you quickly and easily determine which events or life situations contribute to stress. It is the regularly recurring situations described in the diary that can cause stress.
If you suddenly find yourself in a stressful situation, you first need to gather all your will into a fist and command yourself to stop in order to sharply slow down the development of acute stress. In order to be able to get out of a state of acute stress and calm down, you need to find an effective method of self-help in order to quickly navigate a critical situation by resorting to this method of help with acute stress:
1. Relaxation;
2. Rational perception of the environment;
3. Change of scenery;
Half a century ago, Hans Selje introduced the concept of stress (Selje H., 1954), which forced scientists to reconsider generally accepted views on human interaction with the environment. It turned out that, along with the body’s specific responses to this or that effect, there are general reactions associated with the activity of the hormonal system. Selye showed that during heat and cold, during grief and joy, during trauma and sex, the adrenal cortex secretes certain hormones that help a person adapt to sudden changes in the environment, no matter what causes them. Selye called this phenomenon “adaptation syndrome” and found that it occurs in three stages. These are the stage of anxiety, the stage of resistance (resistance) and the stage of exhaustion. If stress occurs within the first two stages, then everything is normal, such stress is even beneficial for the body. If the body’s defenses are not enough, then the third stage of depletion of adaptive reserves begins, and this is a direct path to illness.
Over the past fifty years, hundreds of thousands of popular science articles have been written about stress. Moreover, each researcher expressed his personal views on this phenomenon. Therefore, it would be fair if we give the floor to the very discoverer of stress, Hans Selye, who spoke about his discovery in an accessible form in the book “The Stress of Life.”
These days there is a lot of talk about stress associated with administrative or dispatch work, environmental pollution, retirement, physical stress, family problems or the death of a relative. But how many of the heated debaters who defend their strong beliefs bother to search for the true meaning of the term “stress” and its mechanisms? Most people have never thought about whether there is a difference between stress and distress!
The word "stress", like "success", "failure" and "happiness", has different meanings for different people. Therefore, it is very difficult to define it, although it has become part of our everyday speech. The question arises whether the concept of “stress” is simply a synonym for “distress” (Distress - grief, unhappiness, malaise, exhaustion, need; stress - pressure, pressure, tension)? Then this concept includes fatigue, pain, fear, the need to concentrate, humiliation, public reproach, serious illness, or even an unexpected huge success leading to the disruption of the entire way of life. The answer to this question is both yes and no. Any of these conditions can cause stress.
Stress is an adaptive response, mediated by individual differences and/or psychological processes, that occurs as a result of the environment, circumstances or events that place excessive psychological and/or physical demands on an individual.
How can we cope with the stress of life if we cannot even define it? A businessman experiencing constant pressure from clients and employees; an airport dispatcher who knows that a moment's lapse of attention means hundreds of dead; the athlete madly hungry for victory, the husband helplessly watching his wife die slowly and painfully from cancer - they all experience stress. Their problems are completely different, but medical research has shown that the body reacts stereotypically, with the same biochemical changes, the purpose of which is to cope with the increased demands on a person. The factors that cause stress—stressors—are different, but they trigger essentially the same biological stress response. The distinction between stressor and stressor was perhaps the first important step in analyzing this biological phenomenon that we all know too well from our own experience.
Stress is a nonspecific response of the body to any demand presented to it. To understand this definition, we must first explain what we mean by the word "non-specific". Each demand presented to the body is in some sense original or specific. In the cold, we shiver to release more heat, and the blood vessels in the skin constrict, reducing heat loss from the surface of the body. In the sun we sweat, and the evaporation of sweat cools us. If we eat too much sugar and our blood levels rise above normal, we excrete some and burn the rest so that our blood sugar levels return to normal. Each medicine and hormone has a specific effect. However, regardless of what kind of changes they cause in the body, all these agents have something in common. They are making demands for restructuring. This requirement is not specific, it consists of adapting to the difficulty that has arisen, whatever it may be. In other words, in addition to the specific effect, all agents affecting us also cause a nonspecific need to carry out adaptive functions and thereby restore the normal state. These functions are independent of specific effects. Nonspecific demands imposed by exposure as such are the essence of stress.
From the point of view of the stress response, it does not matter whether the situation we are faced with is pleasant or unpleasant. All that matters is the intensity of the need for restructuring or adaptation. The mother, who was informed about the death of her only son in battle, experiences terrible mental shock. If, many years later, the message turns out to be false and her son suddenly walks into the room unharmed, she will feel intense joy. The specific results of two events - grief and joy - are completely different, even opposite, but their stressor effect - a nonspecific requirement for adaptation to a new situation - may be the same.
It is not easy to imagine that cold, heat, medications, hormones, sadness and joy cause the same biochemical changes in the body. However, this is the case. Quantitative biochemical measurements show that some reactions are nonspecific and are the same for all types of exposure.
Medicine did not recognize the existence of such a stereotypical response for a long time. It seemed absurd that different problems, in fact all problems, required the same answer. But if you think about it, there are many similar situations in everyday life when specific phenomena have, at the same time, common nonspecific features. At first glance it is difficult to find a “common denominator” for a person, a table and a tree, but they all have weight. There are no weightless objects. The pressure on the scale does not depend on specific properties such as temperature, color or shape. In the same way, the stressor effect of demands placed on the body does not depend on the type of specific adaptive responses to these demands.
What is stress? What is he? In the scientific literature, this condition is described as a mental and physical reaction of the body to annoying or frightening situations that arise from time to time in life. Stress is also called a defense mechanism given to us by nature. However, sad as it may be, in our lives it increasingly works not for our benefit, but against us, and can cause enormous harm to both a person’s psychological and physical health.
The Power of Stress
So, we already know that stress is a universal reaction of the body, which, if necessary, serves as a kind of switch on the necessary protective abilities of the human body. However, the stimulus must have great strength so that the body, in addition to the basic defense mechanisms, decides to activate several reactions, which are united under the common name “stress”. Today it has been proven that severe stress has not only a negative, but also a positive effect on the body, neutralizing the consequences caused by exposure to strong irritants. By the way, the stress reaction is inherent not only to humans, but also to other living beings. But since the social factor is important here, people are most susceptible to stress.
The effect of stress on humans
Doctors have proven that stress is one of the main causes of character. Regardless of age, gender, profession, all groups of the population are susceptible to stressful conditions. Moreover, its long-term exposure leads to such disorders as increased blood pressure, abnormal heart rhythm and digestion, gastritis and colitis, headaches, decreased libido, etc.
Stress according to Hans Selye
A Canadian physiologist in 1936 was the first in the world to define the concept of stress. According to him, stress is the reaction of a living organism to internal or external strong irritation, and it must exceed the permissible limit of endurance. Thus, the body fights any threats through stress. This concept has been approved by many scientists and forms the basis for teaching about it. Threats in this concept have come to be called stressors, which are divided into two main types: physical and psychological. The first include pain, heat or cold, any damage accompanied by pain, etc. And the psychological ones include resentment, fear, anger, etc.
Stress and distress
According to many scientists, not all stress is evil. It can also have a positive effect on the body. Based on this, Hans Selye decided to divide this phenomenon into two types: stress and distress. The latter is harmful to us. It is as a result that sometimes irreversible changes occur in the body. For example, it has been proven that stress almost doubles the risk of a heart attack.
Stages of stress development
Naturally, the first and main contribution to the study of the stages of stress was also made by the Canadian scientist Hans Selye. In 1926, while still studying at medical school, he discovered that the symptoms of diseases of patients with different diagnoses were largely similar. This gave Selye the idea that organisms, when faced with the same powerful load, begin to react to it in the same way. For example, symptoms such as weight loss, weakness and apathy, loss of appetite, were observed in such serious diseases as cancer, various infectious diseases, blood loss, etc. Naturally, the scientist began to be tormented by the question of why It's connected. For 10 years he worked in this direction, a lot of research was carried out. The results turned out to be very interesting, but medicine did not want to recognize them. According to Selye, the body, no matter how capable of adaptation it may be, refuses to adapt when exposed to extremely strong influences. In addition, the scientist was able to find out that different stimuli lead to the same biochemical changes in organ systems. Despite the skeptical attitude of doctors, Selye did not stop there and soon managed to prove that hormones play the most important role in this matter. They are the ones that cause stress. The stages of this phenomenon, according to Selye, are divided into the following stages: anxiety, resistance and exhaustion.
Features of stress at each of the three stages
The first is the preparatory stage, which is called anxiety. At this stage, special ones are released (norepinephrine and adrenaline), which prepare the body either for defense or for flight. As a result, its resistance to infections and diseases sharply decreases. During this period, appetite is also disturbed (decreased or increased), disruptions in the digestion process are observed, etc. If the troubles are quickly resolved through some kind of physical activity, then these changes will soon pass without a trace. And in the case of a long-term stressful situation, the body becomes exhausted. Some extremely powerful stressors can even be fatal. By the way, this can be both physical and psycho-emotional stress. The stages of this phenomenon, if there is ground for it, replace each other quite quickly.
The second stage is the stage of resistance (resistance). This happens when adaptive capabilities are allowed to fight. At this stage, the person feels well, almost the same as in a healthy state. However, he may become aggressive and excitable.
The third stage of stress is exhaustion. It is closer in character to the first. After prolonged exposure to stress, the body is no longer able to mobilize its reserves. All symptoms at this stage are like a “cry for help.” Various symptoms are observed in the body. If this is not dealt with, then at this stage serious illnesses can develop, sometimes even fatal. If they are psychological in nature, that is, there is emotional stress, then decompensation can lead to deep depression or At this stage, the patient will in no way be able to help himself on his own, he will need the help of a specialist.
Main types of stress
Let us remember once again what stress is. This is a general (nonspecific) reaction of the body to physiological and physical influence. It most often manifests itself in changes in the functions of certain organ systems. The main types of stress are: physical (injuries, infections, etc.) and emotional (nervous disorders, worries, etc.). In modern life there is also professional stress. Its stages proceed in the same way as in the case of other species.
Types of professional stress
So, let's discuss what characterizes this state of stress. As you know, often people involved in any activity and performing their work are in constant tension, the cause of which is various extreme and emotionally negative factors. This is professional stress. There are several varieties of it, namely: informational, communicative and emotional.
In the first case, stress arises due to the fact that a person does not have time to cope with the task assigned to him or make the right decision due to lack of time. There are many reasons for this: uncertainty, lack of information, surprise, etc.
Professional communication stress is caused by specific problems associated with business communication. Its manifestations are increased irritability due to the inability to protect oneself from someone’s communicative aggression, the inability to express one’s dissatisfaction or protect oneself from manipulation. In addition, one of the important factors is the discrepancy between the style and pace of communication.
Well, emotional stress, as a rule, arises from fear of real or even perceived danger, from strong experiences of various kinds, as well as from feelings of humiliation, guilt, resentment or anger, leading to a severance of business relationships with colleagues and a conflict situation with management.
Positive and negative effects of stress
When we talk about this phenomenon, we mean something bad, negative. However, this is not entirely true. After all, stress is a protective mechanism, an attempt by the body to adapt, that is, to adapt to unusual and new conditions for it. Of course, in this case we are talking about emotional stress, and it turns out that it can be both “bad” and, conversely, “good”. In science, good stress is called eustress. If it is not strong, this condition helps to mobilize the body. Stress caused by good emotions is also positive. For example, a big win in the lotto, the victory of your favorite sports team, the joy of meeting a person you haven’t seen for ages, etc. Yes, joy is, although positive, still stress. The stages of its development are, of course, not the same as described above. However, even positive stress can have negative consequences for some people, for example, even such pleasant excitement is contraindicated for hypertensive patients. Such stress, as you understand, in most cases is short-term, short-lived. As for the negative, they call it a state caused by negative emotions. In science, it is designated by the word “distress.” It negatively affects not only the nervous system, but also the immune system. If the stressors are very strong, then the body will not be able to cope on its own, and specialist intervention will be needed.
How to protect yourself from stress: treatment and prevention
In our dynamically developing world, it is difficult to deal with the negative manifestations of stress. And it’s almost impossible to avoid them. Emotional stress is most often observed in minor people who like to feel sorry for themselves, slander, gossip, and see the bad in everything. To avoid this, a person must control his thoughts and set himself up for good. You can engage in some socially useful activity, have an interesting hobby, go to the gym or swimming pool, read interesting literature and visit museums, exhibitions, etc. However, situations arise in life when people are simply unable to independently cope with emotional stress and its negative impact on the body. What to do in this case? Of course, medications should come to the rescue here: potions and pills for nerves and stress. Many of them are made from various herbs. The substances they contain have a beneficial effect on the nervous and immune systems. Such plants include hawthorn, heather, valerian, oregano, passionflower, lemon balm, peony, hops, motherwort, etc. This means that tinctures of these medicinal herbs, as well as pills based on them, will help a person. When shopping and stress, look at their packaging. Some of these plants will probably be listed here. However, before taking them, it is better to consult your doctor. He will prescribe you comprehensive treatment using various means - both medicinal and psycho-emotional.
Stress medications
Drugs that can calm you down in a stressful situation are called tranquilizers in pharmacology. They relieve anxiety, allow a person to get rid of obsessive negative thoughts, relax and calm. These could be sleeping pills or muscle relaxants. Also in these cases, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - benzodiazepines - help. They are usually fast-acting. Within 30 minutes may bring relief. These drugs are ideal during many nervous conditions and panic attacks. Other medications that help in stressful situations and are used to treat stress are beta blockers, antidepressants, etc. Today, the best drugs are Novo-Passit, Persen, Tenaten, Nodepress and others.
Stress and our smaller brothers
Not only people, but also animals are subject to stress. Various medications have also been invented for pets that help them in situations of stress and relieve discomfort. “Stop Stress” tablets for cats will help your pets feel great and not experience anxiety and other unpleasant sensations. There are similar drugs for dogs.
Many four-legged animals are susceptible to various phobias, and “Stop-stress” tablets are the best remedy for this. Reviews from dog owners say that after a few days of use, the pets will behave like silk and will again begin to delight you with their affectionate behavior.