Stress: how to reduce its impact on a person’s quality of life

January 6, 2009

Stress becomes our everyday life. The concept of “stress” has long passed from the category of scientific terms to the concept of common everyday life. We hear about it almost daily in the media and in everyday life.

Stress becomes our everyday life. The concept of “stress” has long passed from the category of scientific terms to the concept of common everyday life. We hear about it almost daily in the media and in everyday life. The UN considers workplace stress the “plague of the 21st century.” According to numerous experts, mental disorders

caused by acute or chronic psycho-emotional stress are widespread.
Stress and its health consequences are reaching epidemic proportions
and represent an important social problem in modern society.

But do we know what stress is?

Stress is a human condition that occurs as a reaction to any events or demands that are difficult or impossible for a person to cope with.
How to get pleasure hormones

Many people think that the most vivid sensations come from alcohol and drugs, but in fact there are many ways to get your own, natural “pleasure hormones.”

Psychologists differentiate stress by power.
Great stress
occurs in response to situations that pose a threat to life or its usual way of life: natural or man-made disasters, war, captivity.
Significant personal events can be the cause of great stress: the death or serious illness of a loved one, divorce, major financial losses, forced migration or job loss. Low stress
can be caused by a wide variety of everyday situations and problems that a person cannot solve or requires special effort to do so. Such stress should not be underestimated, because if a person experiences stress of low intensity for a long time, then the harm to his health can be comparable to the effects of severe stress.

STRESS – “THE PLAGUE OF THE 21st CENTURY”

22.Jan.2020

In modern society, the concept of “stress” has long passed from the category of scientific terms into everyday use. Moreover, this condition occupies a leading position among the risk factors for the development of most diseases. Hypertension, coronary heart disease, bronchial asthma, ulcers - this is not a complete list of ailments, the development of which can be accelerated by severe or prolonged stress...

Stress is a condition that occurs as a reaction of the body to any events or demands that are difficult or impossible for a person to cope with. It can be said that life is a constant series of stresses and a person’s behavior partly depends on how intense these stresses are. Light stress serves as a “shake-up” and helps a person become more energetic, active and collected. Moderate - can affect mental work, make a person absent-minded and hot-tempered. And being strong leads to apathy and loss of strength. Any stress begins with an anxiety stage. The body detects that external factors have gone beyond the limits of comfort and mobilizes protective resources. The condition is manifested by increased heartbeat, increased hearing and vision, severe anxiety, due to which one cannot sit still, and irritability. Further, all the main systems of the body are included: nervous, cardiovascular and even hormonal. For some time, the body tries to turn on adaptive defense mechanisms - it enters a “working mode” sufficient to respond to changed conditions. Moreover, this condition can last quite a long time, up to several months. However, after this stage comes the stage of exhaustion, when the body’s reserve capabilities have already been exhausted. There is a feeling of fatigue and apathy that does not go away even after rest. How serious stress and its consequences for human health will be depends both on the intensity and duration of the stress, and on the psychological and genetic characteristics of the person. Not all people who experience comparable levels of stress suffer in the same way. The effects of stress are also influenced by a person's living conditions and environment. If you have family, loved ones and friends nearby, stress is easier to bear. Stress can contribute to the development and progression of both physical and mental diseases. By the way, the most weakened systems of the body fail faster. Hypertension, coronary artery disease, bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer disease - this is not a complete list of diseases, the development of which can be accelerated by severe or prolonged stress.

STRESS. METHODS OF PROTECTION

There are sound approaches to teaching stress coping skills and increasing resilience. Relaxation classes, auto-training, yoga and regular rest, preferably in nature, can help with this.

Here are some simple but effective tips for those who want to learn how to overcome stress on their own:

Try to slow down the pace of your life! Plan your workday in advance. Learn to alternate periods of full-time work with good rest.

Get enough sleep! On average, an adult needs 7-8 hours of sleep per day.

Don't eat on the go! Breakfast, lunch and dinner should be a time of rest.

Don't try to relieve stress with tobacco or alcohol! The problems that caused stress and the stress itself will not go away, but your health will suffer.

Physical activity will help relieve emotional stress! Especially related to water: it’s good to do swimming or water aerobics.

Set aside some time every day for relaxation! Sit in a comfortable chair, turn on some pleasant music, close your eyes and imagine yourself on a desert island, on the seashore...

Try to distract yourself, switch to activities that give you positive emotions! Go to a concert, read a book, take a walk in nature, chat with friends, etc.

There is no way to change the circumstances of life - change your attitude towards them!

Analyze your negative emotional experiences: perhaps the events that caused them are not worth such strong emotions.

Focus on the positive! Circumstances in your life are often better than you think when you're upset.

Watch your mood as well as your appearance, treat your irritability and temper as a source of illness! A friendly facial expression and smile will definitely improve your mood and the attitude of others towards you.

Svetlana Vokhmyanina, psychotherapist, Nyagan City Clinic

How is stress tolerated and why is it dangerous?

How serious stress and its consequences
for human health will be depends both on the intensity and duration of the stress, and on the psychological and genetic characteristics of the person.
Not all people who experience comparable levels of stress suffer from it in the same way. The consequences of stress are also influenced by a person’s living conditions and his environment. If you have family, loved ones, friends, stress is easier to bear
.
Stress of great intensity or long-term chronic stress can contribute to the development and progression of both physical and mental
diseases. Stress usually contributes to the “failure” of the most weakened systems of the body. Hypertension, coronary heart disease, bronchial asthma, peptic ulcer disease - this is not a complete list of diseases, the development of which can be accelerated by severe or prolonged stress. We should not forget about serious mental problems - such as anxiety, neurotic or depressive disorders, which also significantly reduce a person’s quality of life.

Stress: how to reduce its impact on a person’s quality of life

Stress (tension, load) is a normal adaptive reaction of the body to physical or psychological stimuli that disrupt its self-regulation, and manifests itself in a certain state of the nervous system and the whole organism [1]. Most people have experienced symptoms of chronic stress at least once in their lives: feeling constantly tired, irritable, unwilling to do anything, getting up early in the morning, difficulty concentrating at work or school. These symptoms are often accompanied by a state of constant malaise (runny nose, cough, low-grade fever). Let's take a closer look at the picture of stress, how it manifests itself and how you can counteract it. Canadian endocrinologist Hans Selye in 1936 first described the physiology of stress within the framework of the general adaptation syndrome, which includes 3 stages (Fig. 1):

anxiety or mobilization; resistance; exhaustion. At the mobilization stage, the body's adaptive mechanisms of self-regulation are activated. The release of adaptation hormones (glucocorticoids) into the blood increases, trying to restore the normal functioning of organs and systems. It is at this stage that the glucocorticoids, adrenaline and norepinephrine released “block” the immune system, and the person may develop an acute respiratory infection or other disease. At this stage, the body prepares for defense or flight. The resistance stage occurs with relative stabilization of the functioning of the disturbed body systems. At this moment, stable resistance to stress factors occurs. In this case, adaptation energy is consumed, which, according to Hans Selye, has a limited supply and is not replenished, but according to another scientist, Bernard Goldstone, it is replenished as it is consumed. The person becomes aggressive, irritable, and begins to fight the disease. When the process of energy consumption goes faster than the process of its replenishment, the stage of exhaustion occurs. During the struggle, all reserve energy reserves are consumed. All symptoms at this stage are like a “cry for help.” The body loses its ability to resist, and psychosomatic disorders begin, including deep depression or death [1, 2]. There are two types of stress - distress

and
eustress
.
Eustress is stress resulting from positive emotions or short-term and mild stress that mobilizes the body’s strength. Such stress has a positive effect on the human body and is not dangerous. Distress is severe stress caused by negative factors (physical, mental) that are very difficult for the body to cope with. Such stress has a negative impact on the nervous system and human health in general. These two types of stress are divided into types based on the nature of the impact. Emotional stress
is the very first reaction to stress.
Activates metabolic processes in the body, the autonomic nervous system, and the endocrine system. If it occurs frequently or lasts for a long time, it leads to imbalance of these systems. Psychological stress
is caused by social factors or one’s own worries.
Caused by conflict situations in society, worries about the future. With such stress, a person can experience emotions such as fear, excitement, envy, melancholy, jealousy, irritability, anxiety, restlessness, etc. Biological stress
- caused by physical stress factors.
These include: burns, hypothermia, disease, poisoning, injuries, hunger, radiation, etc. It is worth noting another type of stress - professional stress
, which arises due to the influence of work stress factors: harmful working conditions (pollution, noise);
inconvenient work schedule; poor nutrition; poor relationships with management, employees, classmates; overload, fast pace of work; monotony, same type of actions [1]. The influence of stress on human health has various manifestations, the main of which are: headaches that do not have a characteristic localization; chronic lack of sleep and insomnia; functional disorders of the cardiovascular system: bradycardia, arterial hypertension, myocardial infarction; impaired concentration, increased fatigue, decreased performance; diseases of the gastrointestinal tract: gastritis, peptic ulcer, dyspepsia of neurotic origin; exacerbation of cancer; decreased immunity, as a result of which the body may be susceptible to viral infection; disruption of neuroendocrine regulation, irregular production of hormones, which leads to the development of osteoporosis, diabetes mellitus or other metabolic diseases; degeneration of brain tissue, muscle rigidity or atony; Alcohol or drug addiction may appear [2]. If a stress factor has affected the body for a short time, then this can be beneficial: At a moment of strong stress, nerve cells are activated, so the brain begins to work at maximum. Working memory improves. During an exam, a student can talk about material that, in his opinion, he has never learned. The level of oxytocin, the hormone of “tenderness and trust,” increases. This helps eliminate conflict situations and build trusting relationships. Reserve energy reserves are activated, strength and motivation appear to achieve your goals. In the process of overcoming difficulties, the body's endurance increases. The immune system is activated, biological indicators improve. The sensitivity of all analyzers is heightened, which helps to concentrate on solving the problem [2]. A certain degree of stress is a normal part of the living organism's response to inevitable changes in the physical and psychosocial sphere. Moderate stress motivates and improves performance under appropriate stress conditions. Therefore, the stress response itself does not lead to undesirable health consequences and actually protects the body from harmful effects. A key question is when stress becomes non-physiological, leading to dysregulation of stress-related processes, neurotransmitters and brain activity with further consequences for health. How to identify in practice the first signs of the pathological effects of stress on the human body? You need to pay attention to symptoms that seem insignificant. For example, a person sleeps for 8-9 hours, and in the morning gets up exhausted, it seems to him that he did not get enough sleep; During the day he constantly yawns, he wants to lie down and close his eyes; he confuses letters when writing them, cannot concentrate on basic things; he increasingly craves sweets, especially chocolate; people around him say that he has become absent-minded, grouchy, and irritable. The patient notices that he begins to get colds more often, and, as a rule, they last longer than usual and it takes a long time to recover from them. Why is this happening? Let us recall that under stress, the central nervous system is activated, which triggers the stress response: the peripheral nervous system is activated, and various hormones are released by the endocrine glands. The stress response is a series of biological and psychological responses that are determined by a variety of biological networks and their mediators to maintain stability under the influence of stress factors [3]. Stress overload, which is also called excessive allostatic load, can disrupt the biological interaction of organs in the human body when there is a significant disruption of network relationships and biochemical processes, leading to undesirable changes in organs and tissues [3, 4]. The organs responsible for immunity also suffer. Under stress conditions, the level of hormones—glucocorticoids—increases sharply in the blood, a high concentration of which suppresses the body’s immune system. From a physiological perspective, each time a stress response is activated, adjustments must occur to adapt to the changing environment. Allostasis is the process by which the body restores dynamic stability: it is the activation of multiple biological networks and their mediators, caused by natural changes within an acceptable range of variability [4]. In allostasis, the stress response occurs quickly, persists for the required period of time, and is terminated, providing regulation of stress-related networks. This process is considered as autoregulation. Although allostatic processes can be adaptive for a certain limited period, with prolonged or excessive allostatic load, the “cost of adaptation” becomes so high that the stress response is disrupted [4]. This may lead to changes in stress-related networks, leading to pathophysiological changes and increased susceptibility to various mental, physical disorders and infectious factors. Excess allostatic load can lead to serious health problems. It can disrupt almost any system in the body. The most common manifestations of these disorders are the following symptoms [3]: physical: pain, headache, nausea, palpitations, fatigue, frequent colds; mental: memory problems, inability to concentrate, negative perceptions, anxiety, constant worry; emotional: mood swings, irritability, short temper, agitation, depression, feeling of loneliness; behavioral: undereating or overeating, lack of sleep, self-isolation, sedentary lifestyle. All these symptoms are interrelated and can enhance each other. Statistics show the relationship between mental factors and the development and clinical picture of infectious diseases. People exposed to stress develop upper respiratory tract infections 2-3 times more often and stay ill for longer than the average population. In the general course of the disease, its internal picture occupies a very large, sometimes dominant place. Sometimes it is much easier to eliminate the real pathogen in a patient’s body than to “evict” an imaginary microbe from his psyche. In such cases, the impact on the patient’s psyche - psychotherapy can be the most important method of treatment. Sometimes the cause of an illness (or its exacerbation) can be a word carelessly spoken by someone and misunderstood by the person [5]. Thus, the effects of stress on the body are very diverse. Stress and its consequences are directly proportional phenomena: the stronger and longer the stress, the more negative the impact it has on health. How to help a patient cope with stress, how to reduce its impact on a person, how to prevent the pathological development of stress? First of all, you need to be optimistic. Optimistic people get sick much less and are more successful in life because they are not inclined to consider everything that happens to them as stress. In addition, you must: Sleep at least 8 hours. Exercise. Spend more time outdoors. Change your diet: reduce the consumption of fatty, spicy, smoked foods, eat more vegetables, fruits high in vitamin C (100 mg or more per 100 g of product): broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kale, turnip greens, parsley, horseradish, bell peppers, black currant, guava. There are currently no medications indicated for the treatment of stress. Doctors usually prescribe beta blockers, tranquilizers and antidepressants. However, these drugs primarily target the phenotypic consequences of disrupted organ interactions rather than optimizing or restoring autoregulation of the underlying dysregulated networks. In addition, their long-term use can cause physiological and psychological dependence, affect autoregulation, thereby making an even greater contribution to the development of pathology [5]. Complex homeopathic medicines that have appeared on the market are an additional tool that a doctor can use to improve treatment results by influencing autoregulation and its optimization. Their goal is to restore or optimize the patient's natural self-regulatory ability, i.e., return the patient to an optimal state for eliminating the disease. Drugs with bioregulatory properties are effective and safe; they are capable of restoring network interactions between organs and systems, cells and their environment, as well as individual molecules; they can be used for a long time and combined with other drugs and treatment methods [7]. One of these drugs is Homeostres (Boiron, France), which has a physiological and targeted effect on the key manifestations of stress. It quickly eliminates symptoms of irritability and anxiety; normalizes sleep, improves the process of falling asleep; reduces fatigue and nausea; does not cause drowsiness, lethargy or addiction. The drug contains the following components: Aconitum napellus (aconitum napellus) C6; Belladonna (belladonna) C6; Calendula officinalis (calendula officinalis) C6; Chelidonium majus (chelidonium majus) C6; Jequirity C6; Viburnum opulus (vitrum opulus) C6.
The presence of aconite, belladonna and calendula in the composition, in addition to affecting the symptoms of mental disorders, determines the ability to reduce inflammatory processes, so this drug can be successfully used in a comprehensive program for the treatment of acute respiratory infections in children and adults exposed to frequent stress. Thanks to these components, the activity of the immune system increases. The drug is prescribed according to the following scheme: 2 tablets 3 times a day, dissolve in the mouth 20-30 minutes before meals. For children under 6 years of age, the drug is dissolved in a small amount of water. The course of treatment is 7-14 days. If necessary, courses can be repeated. In the works of S. V. Romasenko et al. [7] showed that Homeostres reduces somatovegetative disorders; for example, its use reduces fatigue in 44% of patients by the 3rd day of therapy (Fig. 2).

In a study by L. G. Khachatryan [8], it was found that Homeostres improves the state of the psycho-emotional sphere (Fig. 3). Thus, anxiety and phobias in the group of children with perinatal damage to the nervous system decreased by 2 times already by the 7th day of treatment, while the effectiveness of Homeostres was comparable to the effectiveness of using phenibut.

No side or toxic effects were noted when taking the drug in any study; all patients tolerated the treatment well. Thus, the administration of this drug reduces sensitivity to stress and its manifestations, and improves the quality of life of patients suffering from chronic stress. Considering that Homeostres is non-toxic and does not cause any side effects, it can be recommended for the prevention or treatment of the effects of stress in children and adults.

How to protect yourself from stress?

In modern society, escaping stress is a difficult task, but not hopeless. There is a rational approach: teaching skills to overcome stress and increase stress resistance. Regular morning exercises can help with this. And in the evening - relaxation classes, auto-training, yoga. Regular rest is also important, preferably in nature. Here are 10 simple but effective tips for those who want to learn how to overcome
stress on their own: 1. Try to
slow down the pace
of your life.
Plan your workday in advance; alternate periods of intense work with proper rest. 2. Get enough sleep! On average, an adult needs 7–8 hours of sleep
per day.
3. Don't eat on the go: breakfast, lunch and dinner should be a time of rest
.
4. Don't try to relieve stress with tobacco or alcohol. The problems that caused stress and the stress itself will not go away
, but your health will suffer.
Physical activity
will help relieve emotional stress : go swimming or water aerobics.
6. Set aside some time every day for relaxation
: sit in a comfortable chair, turn on some pleasant music, close your eyes and imagine that you are sitting on the seashore.
7. Try to distract yourself, switch to activities that give you positive emotions
: going to a concert, reading, walking in nature or chatting with friends.
8. There is no way to change the circumstances of life - change your attitude
towards them.
Carefully analyze your negative emotional experiences: perhaps the events that took place do not deserve such strong emotions. 9. Focus on the positive: The circumstances in your life are often better than you think
when you're upset.

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10. Watch your mood as you watch your appearance, treat your irritability and temper
as a source of illness
. A friendly facial expression and smile will improve your mood and the attitude of others towards you.

Stress is an inevitable part of our lives. No matter where you live - in the city or in the countryside, whether you are rich or poor, whether you are a man or a woman, whether you are black or white, stress is inevitable in your life. The best thing we can do to solve this problem is to try to avoid stressful situations in our lives as much as possible and take some steps to minimize the impact that stress has on our health. The essence of the problem is that chronic, severe stress negatively affects our health and contributes to the acceleration of the aging process.

It's hard to believe, but there are actually two types of stress in our lives: one associated with positive emotions, the other with negative ones. Positive stress is the excitement/anxiety we feel as our favorite sports team tries to rally in the final minutes of the game. Our heart begins to beat faster, our palms become sweaty, our breathing becomes rapid. However, this physical reaction rarely lasts very long and does us little harm (other than perhaps a sore throat from shouting for our team in the last minute of the game).

Harmful stress results in the same physical response, but it occurs as a result of physical or psychological discomfort caused, for example, by witnessing an accident on the highway, rumors that your company is about to go bankrupt, or a serious illness. Unlike positive stress, negative stress can last for a long time, affecting us continuously day after day until we become physically weak and mentally exhausted.

In other words, stress triggers the fight-or-flight mechanism, a primitive response that helped our prehistoric ancestors survive. However, the stresses of modern times are rarely relieved by any of these responses; we cannot fight them, and we cannot run from them. Stress occurs everywhere and every day, adversely affecting our health and well-being.

Stress leads to many complex physical reactions. Once the fight-or-flight mechanism begins to take effect, excess hormones are released, causing the blood to become saturated with a wide variety of chemicals. Our blood pressure skyrockets, proteins are quickly converted into sugar for fuel, and, depending on the circumstances, we may even experience a huge burst of strength for a period of time. This reaction explains women's stories of lifting cars during accidents.

If you don't have a lot of stressful situations going on in your life, occasional stress won't have a lasting impact on your health. Once the problem that caused the stress is resolved, your body recovers and everything ends well.

Repeated stress can stimulate the production of cell-damaging free radicals; they weaken the immune system, increase blood pressure, raise blood cholesterol, increase anxiety and worsen depression. Here are the most common health problems that are caused or aggravated by stress:

• Neck and back problems
• Heart diseases
• Skin problems such as hives and rashes
• Digestive problems
• Menstrual pain
• Insomnia
• Feeling tired
• Frequent colds and sore throat
• Mood swings

In addition, a growing body of clinical evidence supports the fact that chronic stress deprives the body of vitamins, minerals and other nutrients. As a result, many doctors now prescribe nutritional supplements to their patients suffering from chronic stress due to work, illness or other problems. In such a situation, the patient needs to take antioxidants such as beta-carotene and vitamins C and E in order to prevent the increase in free radical production caused by chronic stress.

Stress also affects our behavior and lifestyle, and almost always negatively. In stressful situations, we tend to look for easy solutions, such as drinking alcohol or taking tranquilizers. People who smoke tend to smoke more often when under stress; Women often have eating problems such as anorexia or bulimia. The crux of the problem is that once we develop such behavioral deviations, it can be difficult for us to overcome them later, when the stress level has already been reduced.

Tension and stress can completely destroy our health and well-being. Stress can completely change a person, both internally and externally, if we allow it. Struggling against daily stress can cause illness. But fighting against tragic situations can cause death.

This is vitally important and it is necessary to relieve nervous tension and stress in every possible way. This should become a daily norm for you, just like, for example, brushing your teeth. Give yourself rest, take “breaks” periodically. Spend five or ten minutes doing something you love that will help you relax, especially while you're working. But also take longer breaks. Relaxation and pleasure should be a priority in your life; family picnics, reading, music, sports competitions, and so on - you need it. The possibilities are endless and it will also bring huge benefits to your health. And if your whole family also takes part in relaxation and entertainment with you, then everyone benefits from these pleasant events spent together!

Again, find ways to relax. Escape from the grind of daily work and use the extracted energy to your advantage. You will never be able to completely get rid of stress and nervous tension, but you can definitely lighten the load. Taking precautions can ease the negative effects of stress and tension on your body, health and well-being.

Psychotherapist Mitskevich M.A.