Stress: stages. State of stress: causes, treatment, prevention
Life ecology: With pain, hunger, fear, rage, the body's reaction of the same type is always observed: adrenaline secretion increases.
Praise stress
“I’ll tell you how to cope with stress once and for all,” “Teach you how to cope with stress,” “Get rid of stress in three lessons.”
When I see such announcements, my hand - the hand of a man who is peaceful and good-natured, but at the same time the hand of a biologist - reaches for a revolver. Fortunately, I don’t have a revolver, so I’d better write an article about stress, what benefits it brings and why getting rid of stress is both impossible and definitely not necessary.
Stress is a non-specific systemic adaptive response of our body to novelty. Let us consider successively all the words in this definition.
Stress specificity
The central position of the stress concept is nonspecificity. The American physiologist Walter Kennon (1871–1945) was the first to note that the body responds to a variety of physical and mental influences in a similar way: adrenaline is released from the adrenal medulla into the bloodstream. With pain, hunger, fear, rage, the body's reaction of the same type is always observed: adrenaline secretion increases.
The origin of the term “stress” is due to Hans Selye (1907–1982). Selye was born in Austria-Hungary, so he is considered “his” in modern Hungary, Slovakia and, of course, in Canada, where he worked. A young scientist found that when exposed to a variety of physical stimuli, as well as various poisons, the animal's body reacts in a similar way. Three symptoms appear:
- enlargement of the adrenal cortex,
- reduction of lymphatic structures,
- the appearance of ulcers on the mucous membrane of the stomach -
triad Selye (Selye H. A., "Syndrome Produced by Diverse Nocuous Agents", Nature, 1936, 138, 32).
This symptom complex Selye called generalized adaptation syndrome, and subsequently - stress response.
It would seem obvious: our reaction depends on what exactly affects the body. In the heat, perspiration intensifies, a person tries to move less, searches for a shadow and tries to spread his arms and legs wider in it - increases the heat transfer surface. In the cold, sweating decreases, a person searches for sources of heat, makes vigorous movements, and tired, tries to reduce the surface of the body - it compresses into a lump. The physiological and behavioral responses to heat and cold are opposite. But at the same time, in the heat, in the cold, a stress reaction develops in our body, the same in both cases. It also arises with any other deviations of the conditions of existence from the usual.
It was nonspecificity that became the revolutionary feature of the new concept. Later, when Hans Selye's theory received numerous confirmations and widespread acceptance, the main attention of researchers was directed to identifying the characteristics of the stress response depending on the type of stressor (stimulus that causes stress). Many experimental facts have been obtained confirming the existence of such features. They began to talk about stress " cold "," radiation "," deep-sea "," pain "," psychological "," social "... However, this is terminologically incorrect. Since a specific and nonspecific, that is, stressful, component is always present in the body’s reaction, we should talk about a combination of stress with a reaction to a specific stimulus: cold, radiation, social conflicts, etc.
Manifestations of a stress reaction
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Too often, any changes in our bodies are attributed to stress. In most cases this is not true:our reaction depends on what exactly affects us, that is, on the modality of the stimulus. For example, impaired reproductive function in athletes, up to the cessation of menstruation, was associated with stress, which accompanies the load of a large sport. It turned out that this is not so. In this case, another factor affects the reproductive function: the ratio of adipose and muscle tissue in the body. This was established as a result of observations of athletes and in animal experiments. If the ratio of muscle and adipose tissue is maintained at a certain level, then the most intense physical activity will not lead to impaired sexual function.
For a long time, until the end of the twentieth century, stress explained such a common disease as peptic ulcer. Australian scientists Robin Warren and Barry Marshall received the Nobel Prize in 2005 for proving the infectious nature of peptic ulcer disease and the discovery of its causative agent, Helicobacter pylori. Stress may increase ulceration (we will come back to this) but he is not his root cause.
Thus, it is legitimate to use the term “stress” if the reaction that we observe does not depend much on the modality of the stimulus.
Systematic stress
The stressor causes a reaction of all body systems, and at the same time, the body reacts as a whole system - its individual reactions are closely related to each other. Only for convenience are stress components such as behavioral, endocrine, physiological, immune, etc. The table shows some manifestations of the stress response.
Significant confusion in the idea of \u200b\u200bwhich changes are stress and which are not is made by the fact that the main human stress hormone cortisol (as well as some others) is actively secreted during any physical exertion. Change in cortisol secretion is considered one of the main indicators of stress. However, during physical exertion (muscle work, changes in the temperature of the environment, etc.), the body needs to intensify carbohydrate metabolism, and this is the reason for the release of cortisol. During stress, the body needs systemic changes in life, primarily mental reactions. Therefore, an increase in the concentration of cortisol in the blood does not yet indicate that a stress response develops. Before talking about stress, it is necessary to register changes in other body systems.
So, to use the term “stress” when describing the reaction of an organism is quite correct if it is shown that several adaptive systems are involved in the reaction, for example, behavioral and physiological.
Stress adaptability
“Adaptability” means that the biological significance of stress is to preserve the body as a whole. The damage to health is not caused by stress, but by adverse changes in living conditions, which the animal or man could not be avoided before the protective resources of the body were exhausted.
Moderate stress is necessary for our development and existence.
Behavioral changes always start with increased anxiety . The animal is alarmed, sensing an unfamiliar smell or hearing a crunch of a branch. A person internally tenses up in an unusual environment. Anxiety is accompanied by activation of sensory systems: all feelings are aggravated, since it is necessary to collect as much information as possible about the new situation. Not only increases the sensitivity of vision, hearing, smell, etc. - increased attention . Details of the environment that the animal or person previously did not pay attention to are now striking. The new information needs to be compared with information about similar situations stored in memory - information extraction processes are activated . At the same time ability to remember improves: new information should be maintained so that the recurrence of this situation is not stressful. Parallel to a change in the state of sensor systems motor condition also changes . Depending on the psychological type, the animal or person becomes more mobile or, conversely, constrained. Changes are taking place in the motivational sphere: motivations unrelated to the potential struggle to save life — food and sexual — are suppressed. Respectively food and sexual behavior are inhibited .
Physiological reactions under stress are also aimed at optimizing adaptation to a changing environment.
Everyone who has ever seen a domestic cat in a situation unusual for her, for example, during a spring trip to the country, knows how much the visible size of the body increases due to standing on end standing hair - piloerection. One-year-old ravens, although they are not inferior in size to adult birds, are easily distinguished by their large heads — the feathers on it are always raised. For the young crow, the whole world is still a mystery, and she is constantly in a state of stress. And it’s hard to surprise the old crow with anything, so the feathers lie smoothly, the head seems smaller and flatter than the young.
Under stress, the bronchi expand, the frequency and depth of breathing increase, since the body's performance depends on the supply of oxygen to the tissues. This phenomenon is well known to actors, lecturers and everyone who has to speak publicly. Since any presentation contains an element of novelty, even if you are going to pronounce a well-known text, it is accompanied, albeit by a small, but stress. Even if the airways are narrowed, for example, due to a cold, the bronchi immediately expand, as soon as a person appears in front of an audience.
- The blood flow increases, directed to the organs necessary for the struggle for life - the heart, lungs and skeletal muscles.
- At the same time, blood vessels are narrowed, located close to the surface of the skin (to reduce possible loss of blood in case of injury) and going to the digestive system.
- The motility of the gastrointestinal tract and its secretory activity cease.
- To facilitate running, the contents of the rectum and bladder are evacuated.
- It is well known that an alarmed person has a urge to use the toilet.
- On the other hand, the kidneys stop producing urine - this creates a supply of fluid in the body, which is useful in case of injury to restore blood volume.
Thus, stress mobilizes all body systems to adapt to changing conditions.
The negative impact of stress on health - which sometimes takes place - is due to the fact that the stress response has been formed over hundreds of millions of years, when the main stress stimuli were situations that posed an immediate threat to existence. It could be a predator or a representative of its species - a competitor in the struggle for food, a resting place, a female, etc. Therefore, most of the changes during stress increase the body's readiness for a fight, that is, muscle strain and possible injury.
The stresses of a modern person are rarely associated with a danger to life, and many manifestations of the stress response have lost their biological significance and even become predominantly harmful. With an unexpected call to the authorities, anyone experiences stress, and although the conversation in the director’s office rarely comes to bloodshed, the body is preparing for a possible blood loss.
To prevent a drop in blood pressure in case of injury, under stress, arteries that carry blood to the brain narrow. If stress is not accompanied by bleeding, then narrowing of these vessels does not bring any benefits, since it reduces the blood supply to the brain. Ladies of the XIX century often fainted, not because they were more sensitive than our contemporaries, but because of corsets, which constrained breathing. Women were constantly in a state of oxygen deficiency, and even mild stress - “young lady, letter to you” - often reduced the supply of oxygen to the brain to a critical level and below.
The Selye triad includes a decrease in the thymus, i.e. lymphoid tissue.Inflammation and immunity are associated with lymphoid tissue. Today it is well known that hormones of the adrenal cortex, namely glucocorticoids, have anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive activity. Anti-inflammatory activity is very important, since foci of inflammation as a result of cell destruction occur constantly in the body. No wonder the most popular medicine in the world is aspirin, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. However, with a massive release of glucocorticoids, immunity is weakened, so prolonged stressful conditions are often accompanied by infectious diseases.
Atrophy of the chest due to prolonged squeezing with a corset (from the book of the German anthropologist Herman Ploss). And these people called barbarism the custom of Chinese women to bandage their feet ...
What is called a “cold” in everyday life is usually a viral disease. Rashes of herpes or SARS do not occur because the virus has entered the human body. Viruses are constantly present in the body, but their activity is suppressed by the immune system. If immunity is weakened after severe stress, then the virus actively multiplies, which manifests itself in the form of a disease. A person often gets the flu after hypothermia, which caused stress. But acute respiratory infections are not uncommon in the summer period: they are provoked by overheating, excessive bathing - in other words, also by temperature effects. Since stress develops both during cooling and overheating, you can catch a cold in the summer.
According to children's clinics, the number of infectious diseases increases during the school holidays. Perhaps this is due to the fact that many children experience violent joy, that is, stress. Despite its positive coloration (we will talk about "positive" stresses later), it is also accompanied by the release of glucocorticoids, which suppress the immune system - hence the flu, otitis media, chickenpox, etc.
The third component of the Selye triad is the formation of ulcers on the gastric mucosa under the action of adrenaline (which is weakened by the action of other stress hormones - glucocorticoids). Obviously, the adaptive effect of stress on the suppression of digestive activity. When you need to run away from a predator, it is wasteful to spend energy on functions that are not directly aimed at saving life. Therefore, under stress, the secretory activity of the gastrointestinal tract and intestinal motility are inhibited. However, with frequent stresses, digestive dysfunctions develop, which can turn into a disease.
Not only constant, but also a one-time stress can cause a sharp digestive upset. Everyone knows that after prolonged fasting, food should be taken in small portions. Due to stress caused by starvation, the secretory and motor functions of the gastrointestinal tract are inhibited, so that a large food load can cause death.
In addition, it is well known that immediately after eating, exercise is not recommended, in particular, you can not swim. Immersion in water, the temperature of which is always lower than body temperature, and the muscular work associated with swimming will cause stress. If the stomach is filled with food, then due to a violation of the normal contractile activity of the stomach and intestines, spasms can occur that cause severe pain and can even cause reflex cardiac arrest.
Under stress, growth, differentiation and regeneration are inhibited, as well as the reproductive function - all these processes require energy. Therefore, regular stressful stresses lead to diseases of the corresponding systems, especially in children and adolescents, in which the processes of tissue growth and differentiation are not yet completed.
So, although stress can be harmful to health, generally speaking, the stress response is aimed at increasing the fitness of the body. We conclude this section with several historical examples of stress adaptability.
Before the assault of Ishmael, Generalissimo Suvorov drew attention to a huge number of sick soldiers and ordered: “So that there are no sick people!”According to the order, all patients, except the dying, went on the assault. And all who survived turned out to be healthy. When the Germans bombed London during World War II, the number of neurotic patients and suffering from a variety of psychosomatic disorders sharply decreased in the city (Joseph Campbell. The myths we live in. M: Sofia; M .: Helios Publishing House, 2002).
Novelty of changes
Selye himself defined stress as a “nonspecific response of an organism to a need”, that is, as a reaction that has common features regardless of the type of exposure. This definition is not very convenient, almost any reactions of living organisms fall under it - after all, the satisfaction of needs occurs constantly. However, in no case can it be argued that a person or animal is constantly experiencing stress. The vast majority of needs arise and are successfully satisfied without any of its signs. In the definition of Selye we see the usual logic of the discoverer - having discovered a certain regularity, the scientist wants to extend it to as many objects, situations, areas of knowledge as possible. This is normal; we understand the master and, taking off his hat to him, we will take this definition to the historical museum.
Sometimes stress is called a reaction to strong impacts. But stress can be accompanied by very minor changes in the external environment - if they are unpleasant, and a person (or animal) cannot adapt to them.
Another common definition is that stress is a reaction to harmful effects. This view also leaves too many ambiguities. What effect is harmful? A person may not be aware of his harm. A person or an animal may not realize that someday then this effect will be beneficial.
Finally, stress is accompanied by such changes in living conditions that are both pleasant and bring undoubted benefit. Many people (and animals) build their lives to experience regular stress.
Therefore, it is most correct to understand stress as a reaction to novelty, to a deviation of living conditions from familiar ones.
“Novelty adds a lot of vain fears,” Plutarch remarked.
The ringing of the alarm clock is an unpleasant stimulus, but it is not accompanied by stress, as it affects us regularly. If we regularly expose the body to the same effect, a specific reaction will gradually increase. A person or an animal adapts to specific environmental changes: the athlete’s body gets used to muscle loads, the polar explorer gets used to the cold, the traffic controller gets used to the toxic atmosphere. At the same time, with repeated presentations of the same stimulus, the stress response will decrease.
Let us compare the street crossing at an unregulated intersection made by a city dweller and a person who first came to the city from a village. Or an overnight stay in the forest, which is to be faced by a taiga hunter and an amateur tourist who has gone astray. Both situations require exertion of physical strength and mental abilities, but in both cases the first of the subjects performs the necessary actions without experiencing stress, because the situation is familiar to him, and for the second subject, the magnitude of stress is very high.
With prolonged exposure, even requiring significant effort, the human body adapts to them. The digger is not stressed when the work is familiar to him, although it is the most energy-intensive of all traditional human activities. But stress will develop in the body of a mole rat if it plunges into icy water. And the "walrus" - when digging a trench. Residents of large cities suffer from various respiratory diseases, as they constantly breathe air with a high content of harmful substances, but do not experience stress. At the same time, the villager who came to the city due to unusual air, unusual visual, auditory, olfactory irritants, unusual social contact style will be stressed. Perhaps so strong that the desire to reduce the novelty of the situation will manifest itself in a dramatic change in the strategy of behavior - a similar case is described in the story of O. Henry “Squaring the circle”, where a man from Kentucky, meeting his new blood enemy (and fellow countryman) in New York, welcomes him as a friend.
“Trained” does not mean “stress tolerant”
The adaptation of the human and animal organisms to loads is always specific. With the constant presentation of the same situation, the body adapts to it, and the level of stress, initially high, gradually decreases. With a change in the modality of the stimulus, that is, the type of load, the stress response will again become high.
In February 2007, 43-year-old Liza Maria Novak, a married woman, the mother of three children, was detained while attacking her lover's mistress. This ordinary incident attracted the attention of the entire planet because the detainee was a NASA astronaut. It is generally accepted that astronauts are people of steel, carbon fiber and Teflon. It is believed that they are superior to ordinary people in everything, including the ability to adequately act under stress. Therefore, journalists, as, incidentally, NASA official representatives who made statements, spoke about errors in the astronaut training program or, in extreme cases, errors in the specific case of Novak testing. And the fact that she experienced stress - no doubt. Upon learning of the betrayal, Novak took a gun, a knife and a spray can with annoying gas, put on a special diaper for astronauts, which allows not to visit the toilet for a long time (although she later denied the last fact, but managed to get into the news), and drove behind the wheel of a car non-stop a thousand miles. All this characterizes her behavior as inadequate, devoid of biological meaning and, therefore, stressful.
In fact, this incident does not give reason to speak about the professional unsuitability of Colonel Novak, who had experience in space flights as a ship commander. Astronauts and astronauts are trained and tested for their ability to cope with situations that may arise during space flight. Skills of socially acceptable behavior during everyday adversities are not specially developed by future space explorers (as, indeed, by many other women and men). Finding herself in such a situation for the first time, Novak experienced stress and showed stressful behavior.
The cat, who grew up with constant firing from all types of weapons, with explosions of shells, bombs and grenades, did not respond to these stimuli, stressful for any living creature. Moreover, he served as a liaison - visible paper attached to a collar
The photograph of the cat was taken during the Battle of Stalingrad (July 17, 1942 - February 2, 1943).
The animal quietly sits on the parapet of the trench, among the destroyed buildings. Meanwhile, fighting is one of the most powerful stressors for humans. And in Stalingrad there were constant battles. The cat was continuously exposed to strong sound, visual, and possibly painful irritations. However, looking at his posture, we can confidently say that this animal was not stressed. In a person who has been continuously under combat conditions for more than six months, due to chronic stress, mental changes become irreversible. The absence of fear and depression in this cat suggests that objectively adverse conditions did not lead to stress, as they became familiar to him. He perceived shots and explosions as integral elements of the environment of existence, because he did not know another life - perhaps he was born in a war zone. Stress in this cat would have arisen if it had been placed in objectively favorable, but unusual conditions, for example, in a peaceful village.
It should be emphasized that stressfulness, that is, the novelty of the situation, always grows with a shortage of time available to solve the problem. Time, sometimes quite long, is needed:
- to collect information about changes in the external environment,
- to search for a key incentive that would characterize the situation as familiar,
- and finally, to select the most appropriate behavior program.
The more time a person or animal has to “look around,” the less pronounced the stressful behavior.
The lack of time, increasing the subjective novelty of the situation, increases the level of stress. Based on the concept of subjective novelty is formulated chronostress theory (Chernysheva M.P., Nozdrachev A.D. Hormonal factor of space and time of the internal environment. St. Petersburg: Nauka, 2006).
The magnitude of stress is determined not only by the formal novelty of the situation, but also by the biological significance of this situation - the level of motivation. Different levels of stress are observed in a person during official re-certification and in someone who solves mathematical problems (even very difficult ones) while waiting for a train.
We draw attention to the closeness of the concept of stress as a reaction to novelty, on the one hand, and, on the other, to emotions as a result of a lack of information. According to the views of the famous physiologist and psychologist P.V. Simonov (1926–2002), the strength of emotion is proportional to the magnitude of the actual need and inversely proportional to the information about the ways to satisfy this need. Obviously, the stronger the need (for food, safety, etc.), the stronger the emotion — this was indicated by P.K. Anokhin (1898–1974). The same goes for stress. But both the power of stress and the power of emotion also depend on how clear and familiar the situation is for a person or animal, in other words, on the amount of useful information. Even a very hungry person experiences neither stress nor emotions if he wakes up in the morning at home - he just goes to the kitchen and eats. Another thing is if a person wakes up hungry in an unfamiliar place.
We can say that emotional reaction is an indispensable and indispensable component of stress. The stress response from the specific reactions of our body is distinguished by the presence of emotions, negative or positive.
Positive emotions under stress
Under stress, among other things, there is an increased release of endogenous opiates - enkephalins and endorphins. These substances, like their plant counterparts, cause euphoria. It is with the growth of their secretion that positive emotions are associated with stress. We experience stress not only when we jump into the abyss, tying our ankles with a rubber band, but also becoming familiar with art.
In order for a work of art to cause stress, there must be a lot of novelty in it. However, a radical deviation from traditions in avant-garde art causes too much stress and, as a result, more often negative emotions.
A Russian person, when visiting the Tretyakov Gallery, receives, as a rule, much more positive emotions than when meeting a European museum. On the one hand, the real picture makes a stronger impression than the best reproduction - stress comes from novelty. On the other hand, the novelty in the Tretyakov Gallery is moderate, we have known many paintings since childhood. In the first room hangs a portrait of Pushkin by Kiprensky - yes, I had this portrait on the primer! And such a sense of recognition accompanies the visitor in almost all halls. At the same time, of course, recognition is supplemented by the joy of acquaintance, as when meeting a handsome person with whom he was familiar only from photographs and correspondence.
To reduce the novelty, scrolling through the radio of new songs is directed before the release of a new album for sale. We begin to like them more when we gradually get used to them. But as soon as the listeners memorize a new song, it is sent to the archive and the next musical project is launched.
In the theater, everyone knows that the performance is especially good between the tenth and twentieth performance. Until the tenth, the novelty is too great, so the excitement of the actors prevents them. Then, after the twentieth show, the novelty disappears, the stress of the actors is minimal, the game becomes somewhat mechanical, and the transfer of emotions to the audience is deteriorating.
The desire for the familiar, that is, the lack of novelty and, consequently, stress, can be observed in children who daily require literally verbatim reproduction of a well-known fairy tale. During the day, an avalanche of new information falls upon a small person, he gets tired of intense mental activity and, naturally, seeks to minimize the novelty of the situation, and for this he needs to listen to a familiar fairy tale.
In the same way, an adult, choosing a book to sleep, prefers either repeatedly read, or takes a book from a certain, well-known to him series - a cool detective or love story. As D.S. Likhachev wrote in his memoirs, in the room of an old English hotel there will always be a Bible and detective stories so that any guest can choose a suitable reading for the night.
The enduring popularity of serial literature is due precisely to the fact that when reading the next novel from a familiar series, the feeling of novelty is reduced to a minimum. Cross-cutting characters behave as the reader expects, and jokes and conflicts are predictable. Thus, the main advantage of the novels of Stout, Khmelevskaya and any other serial literature is the lack of novelty.
Series about Sherlock Holmes, Poirot, Megre, modern "ladies'" detectives, the series about Harry Potter or about Erast Fandorin are an effective and affordable means of protection from the stress of real life, as they immerse the reader in a well-known, and therefore clear and simple world.
Note that each of the successful authors of serial literature initially attracted the attention of the novelty of the image he created: a detective gentleman, an old detective, a detective - a cheerful blonde from a design bureau ... But then the market, taking into account the peculiarities of human nature, requires endless continuation, copyright or epigone.
The authors of serial works achieve a lack of novelty not only due to the reproduction of plots, characters and style, but also due to the conscious impoverishment of vocabulary. Georges Simenon explained the popularity of his novels precisely by the fact that he uses no more than one and a half thousand words. For comparison, recall that Gustave Flaubert and Guy de Maupassant advised not to repeat the word earlier than 200 lines of text. However, serial works are written with the opposite goal - to exclude, if possible, everything that can cause stress in the reader’s novelty. However, it should be noted that thanks to lexical poverty and primitive grammar, the books of Georges Simenon and Agatha Christie are useful for beginners to learn foreign languages.
Predominance hollywood movies the world market is provided by stereotypical, predictable stories and directorial moves in the vast majority of paintings. Ilf and Petrov in "One-Storied America", written after a trip to the USA in 1935, noted that most Hollywood films can be classified in one of four categories: western, gangster, Cinderella’s story, costume-historical film. The viewer knows what type of film he will watch, and receives the expected plot, the expected type of characters, the expected video sequence and so on. The viewer is quite satisfied because the level of stress is minimal.
European cinema more unpredictable - let’s compare the Nikita film by Luc Besson and its American version, which reproduces almost all of its scenes and dialogs, with the exception of the last frame. If in the American version this is a standard happy ending - the heroine with a clear smile goes towards her, of course, bright future, then
Luke Besson does not let the viewer forget that Nikita is a psychopathic person, and not only her future happiness, but also simply successful social adaptation are in doubt. Naturally, such an uncertain ending causes stress and significantly reduces the commercial success of the European film.
The great success in the years 1990-2010 of the old Soviet cinema is explained not so much by nostalgia as by the simplicity and clarity of the films. As soon as the hero appears on the screen, it is immediately clear whether he is good or bad. The paintings of the 1970s are much more complicated, the "bad good man" is constantly found among movie characters, especially in the films of "Lenfilm". And sometimes it’s completely impossible to answer the question “What does this film teach?” Therefore, late Soviet films are not interested in contemporary Russian viewers, who have enough stress in everyday life.
When stress is clearly harmful
Hans Selye coined the terms Distress - harmful stress and Eustress- useful. These terms are not widely used, mainly due to the fact that they differ only in the sign of the emotions accompanying them, and the physiological picture of both reactions at the first stages of development is the same.
Harmful stress occurs when the stimulus that causes it has one or more of three signs:
- it is impossible to adapt to it;
- it cannot be avoided;
- it is impossible to predict its appearance and / or disappearance.
All three features can be combined with the concept of “uncontrolled situation”. In this way, uncontrolled stress is clearly harmful to health.
We said above that with successive presentations of the same stimulus, a decrease in the stress response occurs, since the stimulus loses its novelty. But this is only if the body can adapt to change. If not, then the stress response does not decrease.
For example, with regular immersion in ice water - Winter swimming - there is a gradual adaptation of the body to hypothermia. A person ceases to catch a cold in winter. But general health promotion does not occur, because the human body cannot get used to cold, chronic stress develops. The main cause of death of walruses, especially extreme ones walking barefoot in the snow, is pneumonia due to suppressed immunity. An autopsy shows an almost completely disappeared cortical layer of the adrenal gland.
The other extreme is bath enthusiasm, that is, overheating of the body, is also accompanied by chronic stress. In Finnish women, the frequency of reproductive system disorders among sauna lovers who visit it several times a week is significantly higher than those who go to the sauna once a week or less.
The detriment of unavoidable stress is also evident. We suffer especially badly if we cannot do anything to end our suffering or the suffering of a loved one. Stress becomes unavoidable if an unpleasant stimulus lasts a long time - the adaptive capabilities of the body are not unlimited. And even long before the resources are exhausted, the body will suffer significant damage, because under stress the functions of nutrition, reproduction and growth are inhibited.
But the most severe, damaging our health, leading to depression and death stress response develops with the unpredictability of changes in the environment.
How unpleasant is the unpredictability of the end of the stimulus, everyone who visits the silent dentist knows. He does not warn the patient about what lies ahead. A good dentist always says what he is going to do and how much remains to sit with his mouth wide open.
Unpredictability weakens the effect of stimuli pleasant for a person, causing positive emotions.Very well, Fox explained to the Little Prince: “If you will come at four o’clock, from three o’clock I will feel happy. And the closer to the appointed hour, the happier. (...) And if you come every other time, I don’t know what time to prepare your heart ... It is necessary to observe the rites. ” Therefore, the surprises that we arrange for our loved ones do not always please us as we would like.
So, even a strong and unpleasant stimulus does not necessarily cause uncontrolled stress. Perhaps it will be possible to adapt to it or to escape from its influence earlier than the resources of the body are exhausted. You should also strive to ensure that the beginning and end of the unwanted stimulus are predictable.
To summarize
We did not touch on all aspects of the problem in this article; in fact, we only examined the definition of stress. Repeat again.
Stress is a reaction to novelty.
Stress does not depend on the modality of the stimulus.
Under stress, all body systems work.
Stress is aimed at adapting to changing conditions of existence.
Stress accompanies both pleasant and unpleasant events.
The stress arising in uncontrolled conditions is definitely harmful.
Since stress is a reaction to novelty, it is impossible to increase your resistance to stressful situations, to reduce sensitivity to them through any special exercises and trainings. The psychologists who promise to do this in a few lessons lie. Only the accumulation of experience, everyday and professional, leads to a decrease in the number of situations that cause stress.
There are no easy ways to universally increase the stability of the psyche in a stressful situation, but there is a difficult one - getting higher education. This was established in the United States after World War II, when the factors determining the formation of post-stress disorders were studied. Doctors noticed that not all veterans suffered from the experiences caused by participation in hostilities, and, moreover, the strength of the disorder did not fully correspond to the risk people were exposed to during the war. It turned out, in particular, that people with higher education suffered significantly less than people with a criminal past, experience of participating in street gangs (Lazarsfeld, 1949, cited by Myers, D.J. Social Psychology. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2002).
This regularity contradicting common sense is explained by the fact that in universities, people not only gain knowledge and skills, but also learn the learning process itself - they improve their ability to gain new experience and translate it into specific behavior programs that allow you not to step on the same two same rake, adapt to new conditions and as a result quickly transfer the new situation to the category of familiar ones.
Of course, not only university education has a similar effect. Continuing self-education, reading, thinking, creating our own developments, we not only improve in a particular field, but also increase our ability to avoid uncontrolled stresses, leaving ourselves only pleasantly invigorating stresses.
english pressure) - means a wide range of human conditions that occur in response to a variety of extreme influences. It leads to changes in the course of mental processes, emotional shifts, impaired motor and speech behavior. Distinguish between positive stress and negative stress. The discovery and description of the stress mechanism belongs to Canadian scientist Hans Selye (1907-1982).
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Stress
english - stress) - an emotional reaction that occurs in response to extreme (unexpected, destructive, painful, etc.) environmental influences. Stress is manifested as a violation of the physiological, psychological and social harmony of the individual. Stresses are informational, emotional, physiological. Most of all, people with a high level of aspirations are stressed, busy with work and not able to live in unity with nature. Signs of stress: inability to concentrate, mistakes, memory impairment, feeling tired, slow or fast pace of speech, wandering thoughts, physical pains, increased irritability, work without joy, loss of sense of humor, etc. In a person’s life, stress plays a double role. On the one hand, it destroys harmony, suppresses mood, causes fear and irritation, but, on the other, it “teaches,” forms patience and “combat readiness” and adaptation to new conditions. Stress can not only lower, but also increase working capacity, especially in art, sports, and creativity. Stressful situations are inevitable in life, they allow a person to experience suffering, leading to spiritual growth, to wisdom, and humility
Excellent definition
Incomplete definition ↓
Stress A person’s condition characterized by nonspecific protective reactions (at the physical, psychological and behavioral levels) in response to extreme pathogenic irritants (see Adaptation Syndrome). The reaction of the psyche to a traumatic situation. May cause the formation of suicidal behavior.
Brief Explanatory Psychological and Psychiatric Dictionary. Ed. igisheva. 2008.
Stress
(English stress - stress) -
1) “The nonspecific response of the organism to any demand presented to it” (G. Selye);
2) nonspecific response, stress, body reactivity that occurs in humans and animals in response to stressors - significant in force when exposed to extreme or pathological stimuli for the human or animal organism;
4) a strong physiological or psychological reaction to the action of the stressor unfavorable for the body;
5) strong reactions of the body (both favorable and unfavorable).
The concept was introduced by the Canadian physiologist G. Cellier (1936). In the modern scientific literature, the first and second meaning of the term is used predominantly - C.
Brief psychological dictionary. - Rostov-on-Don: "PHOENIX". L.A. Karpenko, A.V. Petrovsky, M. G. Yaroshevsky. 1998 .
Stress
The concept introduced by G. Selye in 1936 to denote a wide range of states of mental stress caused by the performance of activities in particularly difficult conditions and arising in response to various extreme influences - stressors. Initially, the concept arose in physiology to denote a nonspecific reaction of the body (“general adaptive syndrome”) in response to any adverse effect (G. Selye), later it began to be used to describe the individual’s conditions in extreme conditions at the physiological, psychological and behavioral levels.
Different types of stress are distinguished depending on the type of stressor and the nature of its influence, physiological stress and psychological stress in the most general classification. The latter is divided into information stress and emotional stress.
Information stress arises in situations of information overload, when the subject does not cope with the task, does not have time to make the right decisions at the required pace - with high responsibility for the consequences of decisions.
Emotional stress appears in situations of threat, danger, resentment, etc. Moreover, its various forms - impulsive, inhibitory, generalized - lead to changes in the course of mental processes, emotional shifts, transformation of the motivational structure of activity, impaired motor and speech behavior.
Depending on its severity, stress can have a positive, mobilizing, and negative impact on activity - distress, up to a complete disorganization. Therefore, the optimization of any type of activity should include a set of measures to prevent the causes of stress.
Dictionary of practical psychologist. - M .: AST, Harvest. S. Yu. Golovin. 1998.
Stress Etymology.
Comes from English. stress is stress.
Author. Specificity.Due to the performance of activities in particularly difficult conditions. Depending on its severity, stress can exert both a positive and a negative effect on an activity (until it is completely disorganized). For example, severe physical and mental injuries, blood loss, muscle strain, and infections can lead to stress conditions.
Psychological dictionary. THEM. Kondakov. 2000.
Stress
STRESS (from.569) - a concept so firmly rooted in our language that it seems that it does not even require explanation. Today we use this English word at every step when we complain about a difficult life and nervous overload. Everyone understands that stress is a nuisance and it is necessary to fight it. However, stress is a much broader phenomenon than we imagine. This concept was introduced into use by the Canadian scientist Hans Selye. Back in 1936, he drew attention to the fact that the body responds to any environmental requirement by stress (literally “stress” and means “stress”). In other words, stress is a suitable adaptive reaction that provides adaptation to diverse living conditions. Therefore, to be true to the original source, the problem of dealing with stress loses its positive meaning. Selye himself identified two types of stress - physiological (eustress) and pathological (). The latter occurs under the influence of excessive, adverse irritants. It is in this meaning that this concept has spread in everyday speech and even in the domestic scientific literature. As you can see, a simple reference to the source is enough to understand: such an interpretation is not entirely accurate.
From this point of view, the so-called emotional (psychological) stress requires an ambiguous assessment: depending on the strength, duration, positive or negative emotional reaction, it can proceed within normal limits or become painful.
American psychologists Holmes and Ray developed a scale of stressful situations, distributing important life events according to the degree of emotional stress caused by them. The highest score (100) in this scale is the death of a close relative. Divorce (75), imprisonment (63), serious illness (53), major debt (31) follow in descending order ... Researchers believe that the accumulation of stress over 300 points during one year poses a serious threat to our mental and even physical well-being.
The paradox is that this scale also includes such events: a wedding (50), the birth of a child (39), outstanding personal achievement (28), promotion (27), moving to a new place of residence (20) and even vacation ( 13)! Thus, if you managed to graduate from a university, find a job and find new housing, get married, go on a honeymoon trip and have offspring, then your personal indicator of emotional stress starts to “roll over”. The result is an “inexplicable” irritation and breakdown.
Scientists from the University of Innsbruck found something similar in their research. They studied the psychological well-being of holidaymakers coming from abroad to this famous mountain resort. It turned out that many people, temporarily freed from everyday worries, begin to suffer from mental problems, are prone to melancholy and even aggression. Psychologists believe that most vacationers experience excessive psychological stress from encountering a new environment, other people's morals and language, as well as from a sharp change in lifestyle. It is worthwhile to keep in mind those who want to travel the whole world. Apparently, it’s more useful for peace of mind not to change the vacation location too often.
Thus, it becomes apparent that stress is an integral part of our lives. It is called up by any kind of significant events - both upsetting and pleasant. And the fight against stress would mean not only an attempt to prevent potential failures, but also a rejection of personal achievements and worldly joys.
So what should be fought with? Of course, only with pathological stress. After all, often we ourselves drive ourselves into a dead end, from where we can get out only with tangible emotional losses. These "dead ends" should be avoided. You don’t have to take up work that you obviously can’t afford, don’t need to borrow money if it’s very difficult to repay the debt, you don’t have to make a hasty romance if you can’t imagine all its consequences ...
But no matter how hard we try, we won’t be able to avoid all the troubles. And by the way, negative experiences are just as necessary in life as positive emotions. (As John Steinbeck said, “what's the use of warmth if the cold doesn't underline all its charms?”). Any normal person sometimes experiences grief, disappointment, anger. But so that these experiences do not lead to pathological stress, we must try to overcome them. The simplest means is physical activity, at least just a walk. But you should not "discharge" yourself with others: most likely your irritation with a boomerang will come back to you. A change of activity helps when positive emotions from some pleasant occupation displace chagrin. True, an attempt to defeat severe stress with equally strong joy poses a threat. So, a student who went with friends to a noisy disco after an exhausting exam actually doubles his psychological stress and ultimately feels completely broken and devastated.
The creator of the stress theory, Hans Selye, argued: “Stress is life.” As long as we are alive, we will constantly rejoice and be upset. Of course, you need to be able to relax, but if emotional stress disappears from our lives, it will mean that life is over.
Popular psychological encyclopedia. - M .: Eksmo. S.S. Stepanov. 2005.
Stress
There are several different definitions of stress:
As an incentive: stress can be considered as a characteristic of the environment (lack of time, unhealthy work environment, etc.).
As a reaction: stress is seen as a state of mental stress arising in response to complex circumstances.
Lack of balance in ethnic relations between a person and the environment (a shodel of interaction for a stressful situation). A person is stressed when the alleged requirements of the arrangement become higher than the alleged ability to satisfy these requirements.
Interaction Model & LT; for stressful situations
An important aspect of this model is the emphasis on the expected abilities and requirements of the situation, rather than on actual requirements and real sp (features. There may well be a real gap between requirements and abilities, but if a person does not realize this, he does not experience stress. Stress has various consequences including the following:
Behavioral effects: alcohol abuse, loss of appetite and fussiness.
Cognitive effects: an overly acute reaction to criticism and an inability to focus.
Physiological effects :: high blood pressure and blood glucose, heart palpitations, difficulty breathing.
Health problems: coronary insufficiency, stomach ulcer, headaches.
Organizational consequences: job dissatisfaction, poor relations with Xellegs and absenteeism.
Psychology. AND I. Dictionary / Per. from English K. S. Tkachenko. - M .: FAIR-PRESS. Mike Cordwell 2000.
Synonyms:See what stress is in other dictionaries:
stress - stress, and [re] ... Russian word stress
stress - stress, but ... Russian spelling dictionary
stress - stress / ... Morpheme Spelling Dictionary
Stress - (from the English stress, pressure, pressure, pressure; oppression; load; tension) nonspecific (general) reaction of the body to an impact (physical or psychological) that disrupts its homeostasis, as well as the corresponding state of the nervous ... ... Wikipedia
STRESS - (stress reaction) (eng. stress stress) is a special condition of the human body and mammals that occurs in response to a strong external stimulus. In Russian, the term stress is also used to refer to the stimulus itself ... ... Big Encyclopedic Dictionary
stress - but; m. [from English stress stress] The state of stress in the human or animal organism as a protective reaction to various adverse factors (cold, starvation, physical and mental injuries, etc.). ◁ Stressful, ow, ow. With condition. FROM … encyclopedic Dictionary
STRESS - in psychology and biology, any tension or impediment to the functioning of the body. A person responds to physical or psychological stress by a combination of physical and psychological defense mechanisms. If stress is too strong or protective ... ... Philosophical Encyclopedia
Stress - This is the response of the human body to overstrain, negative emotions, or simply to monotonous fuss. During stress, the human body produces the hormone adrenaline, which makes you look for a way out. Everyone needs small amounts of stress, because it makes you think, look for a way out of the problem, life without stress would be boring. But on the other hand, if stress becomes too much, the body weakens, loses strength and the ability to solve problems
Selye identified 3 stages of the general adaptation syndrome:
Stage of anxiety. A person is in a state of alertness and tension. Adaptive resources are mobilized in the body and a kind of “prelaunch readiness” arises. Although physically and mentally a person feels well and is in a good mood, during this period so-called psychosomatic disorders may occur: migraine, allergies, stomach ulcers or gastritis.
Stage of resistance.Occurs if stress is still strong. All resources raised by the body for adaptation begin to be actively spent. A person no longer feels an upsurge of strength, but has already “entered a working form” and is ready for a more or less long-term overcoming of difficulties, despite a barely noticeable fatigue.
Stage of exhaustion. It occurs with prolonged exposure to stress on the body. The energy spent on combating circumstances has already been exhausted, and the moral and physical forces are running out. Man no longer has the opportunity to defend himself. In this case, assistance can already be provided from outside in the form of support or elimination of the cause of stress.
For each stage, characteristic changes in neuro-endocrine functioning are described.
Initially, Selye considered stress solely as a destructive, negative phenomenon, but later Selye writes:
Stress is the nonspecific response of an organism to any presentation of a demand to it. [...] From the point of view of the stress response, it does not matter if the situation we are faced with is pleasant or unpleasant. What matters is the intensity of the need for restructuring or adaptation.
- Hans Selye, "Stress of Life"
Types of stress
Eustress
The concept has two meanings: “stress caused by positive emotions” and “mild stress mobilizing the body”.
Distress
A negative type of stress that the body cannot cope with. It undermines human health and can lead to serious illness. The immune system suffers from stress. In a stressful state, people are more likely to become victims of infection, since the production of immune cells decreases markedly during periods of physical or mental stress.
Emotional stress
Emotional stress refers to the emotional processes that accompany stress and lead to adverse changes in the body. During stress, an emotional reaction develops earlier than others, activating the autonomic nervous system and its endocrine support. With prolonged or repeatedly repeated stress, emotional arousal can stagnate, and the functioning of the body can become disordered.
Psychological stress
Psychological stress, as a form of stress, is understood by different authors differently, but many authors define it as stress due to social factors.
Symptoms of stress
What is stress from a practical point of view? To understand this, let's look at the main stress symptoms:
A constant feeling of irritation, depression, and sometimes without any special reason.
Bad, restless sleep.
Depression, physical weakness, headache, fatigue, unwillingness to do anything.
Decreased concentration, which makes learning or work difficult. Memory problems and a decrease in the speed of the thought process.
The inability to relax, to set aside your affairs and problems.
Lack of interest in others, even in best friends, in family and friends.
Constantly arising desire to cry, tearfulness, sometimes turning into sobs, longing, pessimism, self-pity for the beloved.
Decreased appetite - although it happens the other way around: excessive absorption of food.
Often there are nervous tics and obsessive habits: a person bites his lips, bites his nails, etc. There is fussiness, distrust of everyone and everyone.
Later, Cellier introduced the concept of “positive stress” ( Eustress), and “negative stress” is designated as distress.
Positive Stress Properties
And here we give a short list again:
According to Dr. Richard Shelton of the University of Alabama, stress does not always have a negative effect on the human body. Yes, in the event that it has become chronic, then you should contact specialists, but if stress happens only periodically, then this can be beneficial
Under the influence of stress, indicators of intellectual abilities grow, because the brain creates more neurotrophins, supporting neurons in a state of vitality, and providing a link between them
Stress enhances immunity because the body, sensing its effect, begins to prepare for potentially dangerous situations, during which interleukins are produced - substances that are to some extent responsible for maintaining normal immunity. Stress mobilizes the body's resistance, although only temporarily
The body under the influence of stress becomes more resilient, because stress can be called a kind of training of the emotional system and psyche. When a person faces stress and solves problems associated with them, he becomes more resistant to more serious problems.
Stress motivates. Such stress is called positive or just eleustress. It allows a person to enter a state that saves forces and resources, and as a result of which a person simply does not have time to engage in procrastination, reflect or experience
Specialists at Johns Hopkins University found that children of women who experience mild or moderate forms of stress during pregnancy develop motor activity faster and motility
Strong stress dilates the pupils of the person so that he can collect the maximum amount of visual information about the events
According to scientists, stress is an essential part of the evolutionary process, because it enhances the living creature’s ability to survive
Stress helps to thicken the blood, which serves as a preparation for injuries (but the flip side of the coin is that blood clots can occur due to frequent stresses)
How to deal with stress?
Many prevention methods can be performed without the help of a specialist. For example, for those who constantly live in a nervous environment and face stressful situations every day, psychotherapists advise:
it’s easier to relate to events and not take them to heart;
learn to think positively, finding positive traits in each incident;
switch to pleasant thoughts. If you are overcome by any negativity, make yourself think of something else;
laugh more. As you know, laughter not only prolongs life, but also helps get rid of nervous tension;
engage in physical education, as Sport helps to get rid of negativity and cope with stress.
Avoid unnecessary stress..
It is impossible to avoid all stressful situations. There are, of course, those who, despite their unpleasantness, must be resolved. However, in life there is a huge amount of stress, which can still be avoided.
Try to make a difference.
If you cannot avoid a stressful situation, try changing it. Find out how you can change things so that this problem does not occur in the future. Often this is due to a change in interpersonal communication and work in your daily life.
Adaptation to the stressor
If you cannot change a stressful situation, then change your attitude and adapt to it. Look at stress from a slightly different angle.
Accept that you cannot change
Some sources of stress are inevitable. You cannot prevent or alter stress caused by a serious illness or death of a loved one, crisis, etc. In such cases, the best way to deal with stress is to accept these situations as they are.
Take time to relax and have fun.
If you regularly find time for relaxation and entertainment, then you will be better protected from inevitable stressful situations.
Lead a healthy lifestyle
You can increase your resistance to stress by enhancing your physical health.
The main symptoms are:
Every person faces stress in his life, because this is a state of the body that occurs when a person is exposed to certain negative, or even positive factors, leading to various kinds of changes in their life. During this violation, the body produces the adrenaline necessary to overcome the problem, so a small amount of stress is required by our body - they allow us to move forward and improve ourselves. However, a long-term negative effect causes the development of various disorders in the body and can even cause chronic stress, which is dangerous for its side effects.
As already mentioned above, such a disorder can arise both from excessive exposure to negative factors, in which case it is called distress, and from the influence of positive factors - in this case eustress develops. At its core, any events in life can be a stress factor. However, the reaction of each person is individual and depends on his nervous system. For some people, psycho-emotional stress can cause the development of serious psychosomatic disorders in the body, and for others it will pass without a trace, becoming only an incentive to improve themselves and their lives.
Classification
There are different types of stress. As mentioned above, distress and eustress are distinguished by their nature. A positive form usually does not negatively affect a person’s state of health and mental sphere, while a negative form can knock a person out of the saddle for a long time and leave unhealed wounds.
Also, types of stress differ in the nature of the impact of certain factors, and can be:
- temperature;
- neuropsychic (the most common form);
- food;
- light, as well as caused by other stimuli.
In addition, such types of stresses are distinguished as those arising due to extreme social conditions or developing as a result of critical psychological events. The first type includes disorders that arise as a result of hostilities, natural disasters, bandit attacks, etc. The second type includes those disorders that arise as a result of various social problems, for example, passing an exam, divorce, death of a relative, etc. d.
It is also worth separately highlighting the following types of stress - psychological and biological. Psychological disorder or psychoemotional stress arises as a result of the reaction of the human nervous system to a real or imagined negative factor. Biological disturbance occurs against the background of a real threat. Therefore, the main criterion for determining the type of disorder is the question: "Does this or that effect cause real harm to the body?" If the answer is “yes”, then this is a biological disorder, if “no” - psycho-emotional. Knowing these varieties allows you to understand how to relieve stress and prevent its adverse effects on human health.
Post-traumatic stress is also distinguished, that is, a disorder that develops after trauma or critical events. Stress urinary incontinence is one of the common symptoms of such a pathological disorder. Especially often, stress urinary incontinence occurs in children after severe events.
The main stages of stress
There are three stages of stress, which are characterized by periods of excitement and inhibition. For each person, they are expressed to one degree or another, which depends, firstly, on the source of the disorder, and, secondly, on the state of the human nervous system.
The three stages of stress are interconnected, that is, with the development of the first, the second and third will necessarily follow. During the occurrence of exposure, an organism responds to it. This can happen within a few seconds or a few weeks after what happened - it all depends on the state of the nervous system of each individual.
In the first stage stress, the individual loses the ability to control their actions and thoughts, the body's resistance decreases and behavior changes directly opposite to that which is characteristic of it. So, if a person was kind, he becomes quick-tempered and irritable, and if he was quick-tempered - closes in himself.
Second stage - stage of resistance and adaptation. At this stage, the body's resistance to the irritant increases and the person makes decisions that allow him to cope with the situation.
Third stage characterized by exhaustion of the nervous system. If the effect is prolonged, for example, when a person develops chronic stress, his body becomes unable to withstand the factors that caused the disorder. A person develops a feeling of guilt, anxiety may reoccur, but, in addition, chronic stress often causes somatic pathologies, up to severe pathological conditions.
Thus, all phases of stress are interconnected and when the question arises of how to relieve stress, it is necessary to understand what stage a person is at a certain point in time. It is important to remember that the consequences of stress can be both insignificant and very severe, therefore, the sooner the patient begins to take pills for stress, the less the consequences of this disorder.
Causes of stress
Every person in his life is faced with many negative factors. The causes of stress are so numerous that listing them all is not possible. Nevertheless, scientists were able to establish the main causes of stress, or rather, factors that affect almost any individual.
So, the main negative factors that can cause psycho-emotional disorder and even chronic stress include:
- serious illness;
- illness or death of close relatives;
- parting with loved ones, including divorce;
- attack or emergency;
- worsening financial situation;
- birth of a child;
- moving to another country (or even just changing your place of residence);
- sexual problems;
- change of work;
- retirement;
- the emergence of problems with the law, etc.
Very often, women develop stress during pregnancy, as her body and psyche undergo significant changes.
It must be said that such a disorder tends to accumulate, that is, with prolonged exposure, it is exacerbated. For example, stress during pregnancy can increase over time and at the time of birth, the usual disorder becomes severe or severe. If stress occurs during pregnancy, a woman needs to tell her gynecologist about her symptoms so that he prescribes her medicines that can be taken without risk to the fetus.
Symptoms
If we talk about the symptoms of stress, then each person can have different symptoms - it all depends on the state of mind of the individual, stage of the process, as well as the strength of the negative impact.
The physical symptoms of stress are few - they can be manifested by weight loss due to malnutrition, constant fatigue due to insomnia, irritability, or vice versa.
More pronounced are the psychological symptoms of stress, which include:
- feeling of inner tension;
- causeless anxiety;
- stress urinary incontinence;
- feeling of constant dissatisfaction;
- depressed state and bad mood;
- a sense of phantom of the world;
- decreased interest in ordinary activities, etc.
How to relieve stress in the event of symptoms should be discussed with a psychotherapist at the initial stage of the disease and with a psychiatrist if the disorder progresses. The consequences of stress can be extremely serious, so treatment should be started at a time when the first signs of stress appeared.
Sometimes people try to drown out the symptoms of stress on their own by drinking alcohol, drugs, or becoming a gambler. All these external influences can significantly aggravate the disorder and ruin the patient's life.
Signs, as already mentioned above, can be explicit and implicit, therefore, relatives should carefully monitor the patient's behavior and reactions in order to seek help from a specialist in time.
Separately, it should be said about such a symptom as stress urinary incontinence. It can occur in young and adult women and is characterized by physical activity, sneezing, etc. Most often, stress urinary incontinence occurs in women during pregnancy and after childbirth. During pregnancy, stress urinary incontinence develops when the fetus presses on the bladder, and after birth it occurs due to weakening of the muscles of the pelvic floor. Therefore, in cases where a woman experiences stress during pregnancy, this disorder is exacerbated, and stress urinary incontinence becomes a frequent symptom of a pathological disorder. In general, stress alone during pregnancy can cause premature birth and miscarriage.
It is also important to remember that stress urinary incontinence occurs in children amid exposure to adverse factors and is an important sign that the child is undergoing psycho-emotional overload.
Treatment
The most important question people ask doctors is how to relieve stress. They are interested in stress prevention and ways to deal with stress. If a person has post-traumatic stress, it is very important to seek the help of a good specialist, in other cases, you can try to drink the stress pills yourself, which today can be purchased without a prescription (in case of unexpressed clinical manifestations).
Methods of dealing with stress are medical or non-medical. On their own, a person can practice relaxation techniques and conduct auto-training. Actually in the ability to relax is the prevention of stress.
At the same time, in medical practice, there are many techniques to combat this disorder, due to which the effects of stress become imperceptible to humans. Without appropriate therapy (psychological counseling and taking medications prescribed by a doctor), the effects of stress can be extremely serious for the body, up to the development of somatic diseases such as oncology, etc.
An effective complement to stress therapy is the use of medications and supplements that stimulate cell nutrition - for example, the drug Mildronate: it optimizes intracellular metabolic processes, allowing you to maintain the nutrition of neurons at the required level even when oxygen is insufficient, for example, under stress. Protected from starvation, brain cells work much more efficiently, building up neural connections is accelerated, which helps the body cope with stress.
Prevention of stress consists in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, proper alternation of rest and wakefulness. Refusal from alcohol, drugs, tobacco and other bad habits also increases the body's resistance to external influences. A positive attitude makes it possible to “disarm” stress at the initial stage.
Is everything correct in the article from a medical point of view?
Only answer if you have proven medical knowledge.
