All about stress: signs, consequences, ways to deal with stress

Work that requires complete dedication, household chores and caring for family, communication with friends and family, visiting beauty salons and fitness centers in order to maintain beauty and health. And most of us try to do all this in 24 hours a day. As a result, we experience stress.

It is very important to recognize stress in time. It is important to know yourself and be able to determine when your level is beyond your limits, because you can get used to stress and make it part of you. It can become normal and you won't even notice how harmful it can affect you. Stress will not only make you feel like life is meaningless, but it will also increase your risk of various diseases.

What is stress

Stress is a completely normal response of the body to overwork or threat. At the same time, the body tries to resist in every possible way, as a result of which we suffer. When this protection works normally, it helps a person to be cheerful, energetic, concentrated and on a pedestal. But stress often has a detrimental effect on our mental and physical health.

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Stress is a long-term, continuous, depressing emotional tension. When growing multitasking does not allow you to relax for a minute. When you constantly need to look for solutions, here and now. When everything seems global and urgent.

Specialist help

If you understand that conventional methods do not help you, and you cannot help but worry about problems more than necessary, trust a psychologist. In this way, you will not only learn to control your emotions, but also part with a number of serious problems from the past that can ruin the future.

It is also worth checking the health of the endocrine system and the thyroid gland in general. A hormonal imbalance negatively affects the body's resistance to stress.

In addition, it is easy to check the level of protection of the body through DNA research. It will show how the main “conductors” of our emotional state - serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine - work, and you will find out how susceptible your body is to stress and vulnerable to external stimuli, and most importantly, you will understand what to do about it.

Signs and symptoms of stress

Each person experiences stress differently. The common thing about the symptoms of stress is that it affects our mind, body and behavior. A person becomes aggressive, has a bad mood, suicidal thoughts in his head, and very often, due to nervous disorders, gets sick.

After stress, an individual becomes overly emotional and cannot sit still. Or, on the contrary, too self-contained, silent, distant, passive, unemotional. The person seems to be paralyzed by stress and at the same time seething inside. Here are a few signs of stress in a person:

inability to concentrate on one thing;
inability to prioritize – everything seems important;
irritability, anxiety, anger at the slightest reason;
sleep problems (long periods of falling asleep, insomnia);
sudden opposite emotions (laughter, tears for no particular reason);
problems with appetite;
chronic fatigue that does not go away even after sleep.

Why are people worried?

Excitement is an emotion for which the limbic system of the brain is responsible. This part of the brain is virtually uncontrollable, but it plays a major role in human development and survival.

The limbic system works quite complexly. In a dangerous situation, the amygdala stimulates the hypothalamus region of the brain. It, in turn, signals the adrenal glands, which turn on the mechanism for producing stress hormones (adrenaline and cortisol). This triggers the fight-or-flight survival response. It was she who saved our ancestors in life-threatening situations. It turns out that we are the descendants of people who were afraid, worried and anxious, and these emotions are embedded in us at the level of evolution.

Excitement is not anxiety, but a mild form of it. The body of a worried person is alert, and seems to be thinking: “Is there a danger or will it be okay?” If the defensive reaction of “resistance and/or flight” is triggered, then the person begins to have an anxiety disorder.

External factors that cause anxiety are events and circumstances. The internal causes of this condition can be the individual characteristics of a particular person: from the size of the brain to the characteristics of child-parent relationships, upbringing and development.

Consequences of constant stress

Heart attacks . Stress leads to increased blood pressure. Every time you get stressed, your blood pressure goes up. In addition to this, your blood flow also increases significantly, which leads to the release of triglycerides and cholesterol into the blood. People who smoke and are obese are also at higher risk of serious heart problems.
Choking . Children who are regularly stressed are at higher risk of developing respiratory diseases such as asthma. Studies in children have shown that stress can significantly worsen asthma. There is also evidence to suggest that chronic stress in parents can negatively impact the health of their children.
Gastritis . Some people with chronic stress suffer from gastritis, which further complicates their condition. Stress-induced gastritis, also known as stress-related erosive syndrome, can cause superficial hemorrhages and mucosal erosion in patients who are seriously ill and in people exposed to stress.

How to relieve stress: ways to deal with stress

It is very important not to lose composure and control. Manage your emotions using the following methods. Start in order:

Take a moment, sit down . Ask yourself about the importance of the problem that is gnawing at the moment. How will its decision or lack of decision affect the situation in 1 year, 5 years? The answer will help you understand the importance of anxiety.
Recording thoughts . Phrases, sentences, individual words - jot everything down on a draft. This will be a distraction during the acute period. Read what you wrote the next day - this way you will understand the significance of the events and the actions taken.
Stimulate your nerves . An effective method is to run your index finger horizontally across your lips. It is based on the physiological response of the parasympathetic nervous system. Quickly and effectively soothes.
Muscle tension . Gather your nerves! Tighten all your muscles, clench your fists, and grit your teeth for 10 seconds. Feel how your body switches and reacts with prolonged relaxation.
Try any classic methods : a walk in the fresh air, relaxation in the bath, herbal tea, gourmet food or delicious chocolate, physical activity, an hour for a hobby, chatting with friends, and so on.
Work on yourself . Try to turn negative into positive. Don't let stress overcome you. Spilled coffee on yourself? Think of a spoiled item as unnecessary, old, inconvenient, ready to be thrown away a long time ago.
Try to interrupt the overwhelming stressful thought . Clap your hands. Say out loud that you will definitely return to her later. Promise yourself to remember the problem at a certain hour.
Be available . Do not turn off communications. Don't ignore other people's attention. On the contrary, run away from the desire to hide from everyone. Chat on social networks. And then have a good cry.

Agree, there is nothing complicated in such techniques. If you turn to them for several days during times of stress, they will definitely help. Even one technique can give the desired effect, if the situation has not become critical.

Getting stress under control will reduce your risks of developing Alzheimer's disease, depression, asthma, gastritis, obesity and heart disease. All it takes is a little joy, treat yourself and relax. Even though you may think it is impossible to completely get rid of stress, small lifestyle changes will definitely improve your condition.

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Medical treatments are great for dealing with stress. Of course, the amount of time you can devote to procedures will depend on your schedule and responsibilities. However, even one hour a week spent at the spa can be very beneficial. Most salons offer a calm and relaxing environment, which is exactly what people suffering from extreme stress need. Such procedures also help to lose weight.

To keep stress to a minimum, you should adopt a low-sugar diet. Sugar increases blood glucose levels, which leads to temporary nervousness and anxiety. An excellent alternative to sweet foods such as cookies, candies and cakes - fruits and berries. They contain cortisol, which helps reduce stress.

Eternal anxiety does not allow me to sleep...

“Anxiety makes sense. Although it can be disruptive to a person's life, anxiety can be used constructively. The very fact that we survived means that once upon a time our ancestors were not afraid to face their anxiety,” wrote American psychologist Rollo May. May devoted his entire life to studying the phenomenon of anxiety in the modern world. At the same time, the scientist insisted on distinguishing between two “anxieties”, one of which is pathological, destroys the personality, and the other is an effective incentive to action in a world where risk and unpredictability are inevitable.

Anxiety and Anxiety Disorders

By wise nature, a person has a huge number of adaptive mechanisms for all occasions. One of them is a state of anxiety. The effect of normal anxiety on the body is similar to cocking a trigger - a person becomes excited, tense, full of expectations of danger and ready to fight back. If this state is adequate to the impending potential threat - for example, you are walking along a dark street at night and you are anxious, then it means that the anxiety mechanism has fulfilled its function, putting the body on “combat readiness”.

However, it often happens that the reasons for anxiety are already in the past, but internal tension remains. Gradually accumulating, this condition becomes pathological, and doubts and unpleasant forebodings become permanent. Thus, normal anxiety gradually turns into an anxiety disorder, accompanied by feelings of helplessness, a sense of impending disaster, and a physically debilitating expectation of trouble. Anxiety ceases to be an adaptive mechanism, and a person’s life is filled with constant unreasonable fear.

Symptoms of Anxiety Disorders

According to WHO, 25-30% of the world's population suffers from anxiety disorders during their lifetime. That is, every third. At the same time, women are more susceptible to anxiety disorders, first of all, paying attention to the emotional aspect of anxiety, and only then noticing (or not noticing) the rational grain in it.

It is quite easy to recognize anxiety that has passed into a pathological stage. Along with unjustified worries, anxiety disorders are characterized by increased excitability or fearfulness. Sleep disturbances are often observed - difficulty falling asleep and frequent awakenings in the middle of the night. In addition, people susceptible to anxiety disorders are characterized by fussiness, lethargy, or motor awkwardness.

Also, various complaints about physical well-being are typical for anxiety: weakness, headaches and muscle pain, back and lower back pain (often interpreted as “osteochondrosis”), muscle twitching, etc. These symptoms are largely due to a chronic increase in muscle tone, which accompanies pathological anxiety. Other physical symptoms of anxiety include increased heart rate, tightness or constriction in the chest, shortness of breath, increased blood pressure, trembling, sweating, goosebumps, goosebumps, nausea, diarrhea, abdominal cramps, dry mouth. .

Mental symptoms include feeling dizzy, unsteady, or faint; feelings that objects are not real (derealization) or that the self has moved away or “is not really here” (depersonalization); fear of loss of control, madness, death; narrowing of attention, anger or verbal aggression, feelings of despair and hopelessness, memory impairment.

Treatment of Anxiety Disorders

If anxiety has reached a pathological stage and is causing a significant deterioration in quality of life, you should consult a doctor. The main approaches in the treatment of anxiety disorders are psychotherapy and pharmacotherapy. You can also use some relaxation methods to alleviate the condition - muscle relaxation, calm breathing, distraction. Friendly and encouraging conversation also helps improve the condition.

You can make an appointment with a psychotherapist and visit both in the clinic and take advantage of online consultation. This is especially convenient for patients who cannot come to the clinic for various reasons.

As for medications, doctors most often prescribe benzodiazepine tranquilizers and various antidepressants to anxious patients. All of them have both their advantages and significant disadvantages. For example, benzodiazepines quickly relieve sleep disturbances and anxiety symptoms. However, they have the so-called “rebound” syndrome (rapid resumption or transient increase in symptoms after discontinuation of the drug), the risk of addiction and the formation of drug dependence, impaired cognitive functions (attention, concentration, memory), and impaired coordination. Therefore, drugs of the benzodiazepine group should not be taken for longer than 2-4 weeks.

In turn, tricyclic antidepressants are powerful drugs that effectively relieve all anxiety-depressive symptoms (acting on both physical and mental manifestations of anxiety) and sleep disorders, and can be used for long-term treatment and prevention of anxiety. But they have pronounced side effects (dry mucous membranes, constipation, cardiovascular disorders, transient cognitive impairment), which worsen their tolerability and increase the list of contraindications for their use, especially in patients with concomitant somatic diseases. Any medications used to treat anxiety disorders must be prescribed by a doctor.

Let's blow away stress!

One of the relaxation methods available to everyone is breathing exercise. It is based on the simple fact that without air a person cannot live for even a few minutes. Therefore, holding your breath is a powerful distraction for the body and allows you to escape from the direct influence of stress.

So, the exercise itself. Sit back comfortably. As you exhale, relax and as you inhale, lean back slightly, lift your chin and tilt your head back slightly. Sit up straight and exhale all the air from your lungs. As you exhale, relax. Firmly grasp the edges of the seat with both hands and, as you inhale, pull it up, as if trying to lift a chair. Tighten your arms, stomach, and the rest of your body muscles as you continue to lift the chair you're sitting on. While maintaining tension throughout your body, hold your breath. Exhale slowly through your nose, relaxing your body and letting go of the seat. After exhaling, relax completely. There should be no tension anywhere in the body. Perform three to five such cycles. Determine the time of inhalation, exhalation and breath holding in accordance with your state of health and your breathing rhythm. If you have high blood pressure, then practice only a relaxing breathing method, without a tense phase during inhalation. Then, with each exhalation, release the remaining tension in you, “blowing away” it.

Maria Garasim, psychotherapist at the Scandinavia clinic:

– Undoubtedly, each of us, even throughout the day, repeatedly experiences a feeling of anxiety. Will the boss call, will the deal be successful, has the child successfully passed the exams, is the mother’s blood pressure going through the roof, etc. All these are situations accompanied by emotional stress. We worry, worry, doubt, because we don’t know how and when our problem will be solved or whether our problem will be solved at all. In this case, the anxiety we experience is absolutely justified and is a response to stress. Fortunately, a large number of difficult life situations are resolved one way or another, and anxiety goes away. But if we are under conditions of prolonged, exhausting and uncertain stress, anxiety takes on a pathological character - it is no longer associated with a specific threatening traumatic event, we worry “just like that” and this makes it even worse. We stop sleeping normally, experience headaches and rapid heartbeat, nausea and shortness of breath. We begin to turn to doctors of various specialties - cardiologists, neurologists, pulmonologists... The state of internal tension does not allow us to relax even during rest hours. All life seems dull and joyless. If anxiety has filled your entire life, there is no need to engage in self-rescue. Contact specialists - psychotherapists.

If the cause of your anxiety is your physical condition, remember that it can easily be resolved with a visit to the clinic. For example, you can get a check-up and make sure that everything is in order with your health, and also get tips on improving your lifestyle, which will also help you worry less.

More information about checkups can be found here.

Relieving stress: advice from a psychologist

In order to relieve stress, you need to be able to recognize, accept and deal with its causes:

Try to react less to minor irritants.
Look at the problem as a challenge, a way to become better, more experienced.
Accept the things you cannot control.
Surround yourself with people with a positive attitude who look at the glass and claim it is half full.
Breathe more in the fresh air, do yoga, read a motivational book.
Go in for sports, then you will not have time for bad thoughts, plus improve your memory and health.
Get enough sleep, listen to rhythmic music and spend time with loved ones.
Give yourself a hobby.

Childhood trauma

Don't lose sight of the conditions and circumstances of your childhood. The cause of most of your problems lies there. Increased susceptibility to stress is an echo of too low self-esteem, which was formed at an early age.

When figuring out how not to worry about anything, try to understand that every person has the right to make mistakes. No one will reproach you or punish you for doing something wrong. Let go of the experiences of childhood and live now as an adult, accomplished person.

Exercises to relieve stress

These exercises help relieve muscle tension and improve your emotional state. Thanks to this, they promote restful and sound sleep. And good sleep is the key to good morning well-being, good health and beauty.

Exercise 1 . Sit on the floor with your legs wide apart. Look at your left foot. Place the palm of your right hand on your left side. Taking a deep breath, raise your left hand, exhaling, move it to the right. Repeat the exercise with your right hand.
Exercise 2 . Bend one leg under you. Exhaling, bend towards the extended leg, trying to reach its foot as much as possible. Repeat the exercise, changing legs.
Exercise 3 . Lying on your back, pull your legs bent at the knees to your chest, clasping them with both hands. To better stretch and relax your muscles, gently rock back and forth.
Exercise 4 . Lying on your back, cross your left leg bent at the knee over your right and press it to the floor with your right hand. Repeat the exercise, changing legs.

Evening yoga for stress

If you like yoga, two simple poses will allow you to achieve complete relaxation and help you calm down after a busy day.

Pose 1 . Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. Place your hands on your knees. Try to focus all your attention on the pose you have taken. The base of the spine should be as close to the floor as possible, and the head should be raised high. Imagine that your spine is stretching.
Pose 2 . Lying on your back with your legs wide apart, place your hands, palms up, about 15 cm from your torso. Slowly rotate your limbs, first outward, then inward. Turn your head from side to side. Imagine that your legs are separated at the knee joints, that your head is separated from your shoulders. Breathe with your stomach, imagine that you are being pressed to the floor by the force of gravity and with each inhalation it becomes stronger and stronger.

Dance

By performing voluntary dance movements, we release the tension that has accumulated during the day. Be relaxed and move slowly, making movements that you enjoy.

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Let the music sound inside you. Belly dancing, for example, is a great at-home fitness activity that can help relieve stress.