A rapid heartbeat, muscle tension, a feeling of lack of air, depression and depression, poor sleep, irritability and low working capacity are all symptoms of stress.
American scientists Holmes and Ray have developed a scale showing the degree of stressful effects on the psyche of various life situations. According to this scale, 100 - the maximum number of points - "dials" death of a loved one, 73 points for divorce, 50 for marriage, 47 for loss of work, 40 for pregnancy, 38 for changing jobs, 35 for serious disagreements with a partner, 31 for big money debts, and so on.
It turned out that stress can cause not only tragic life events, but also quite happy, for example, marriage or the birth of a child. And even such seemingly innocuous events as changes in the diet or preparation for the celebration of the jubilee or the New Year, also do not pass without a trace for the human psyche. Estimation of the degree of their stressful impact is about 12-15 points.
So, if we recall all the significant events that caused a strong emotional reaction in a person during the last year (no matter what emotions were positive or negative), it is possible to determine with a high probability in what state his psyche is at the moment. According to the authors of the scale, if a person scored more than 300 points during the year, his deeds are bad - he is on the verge of depression and psychosomatic disorders. Although, of course, it should be borne in mind that some people endure stress relatively easily, that is, they have a stress-resistant psyche, while others, on the contrary, have a very high susceptibility to any stress factors.
Very many authoritative psychologists hold the view that the lion's share of diseases is psychosomatic, that is, it is caused by stress. It has long been revealed a direct relationship between stress and diseases such as psoriasis, vitiligo, allergies, hypertension, stomach ulcers and many others. It is very important, how the person reacts to stress - actively or passively. If a person, having got into a strong stressful situation, starts at least to do something to get out of a difficult situation, or at least does not restrain his emotions (crying, finding out the relationship, outraged, looking for sympathy from friends), then he has much better chances to keep his health than those who panic and get lost in difficult situations or are used to restrain their emotions and not give them a way out.
But it would be wrong to think that stresses have only a destructive effect. According to psychologists, moderate stresses mobilize the body for self-defense, and also teach us to adapt to new situations, prompting for greater activity, resulting in increased efficiency. Indeed, stress can become destructive only when it significantly exceeds a person's psychological capabilities. With very strong stress, certain hormones begin to form in the blood, under the influence of which many vital organs and body systems fail. And hence the disease.
In addition, observations have shown that the health of a person is greatly influenced by the emotional state in which he constantly resides. So, envy and anger lead to diseases of the digestive system, constant fear affects the thyroid gland, the habit of holding resentment and discontent destroys the heart, and dissatisfaction with one's own life achievements can lead to hypertension.
What to do? After all, the life of modern man without stress does not happen. To stress did not cause damage to health, psychologists advise:
- Do not keep negative emotions in yourself. It is noticed that if a person is crushed and screamed, then he calms down more quickly than if he hesitates to show his grief or anger openly.
- Do not try to find a way out of a stressful situation immediately. First you need to calm down, bring your thoughts and emotions in order, and then think about how to proceed.
- Overcome the stress is very helpful physical activity. The fact is that the nervous tension entails and muscle clamps. Consequently, when a person removes muscular tension, the nervous also decreases.
- Not for nothing they say: "There is no evil without good." To save yourself from the destructive effects of stress, a person should try to see in what has happened, at least one positive moment. Then the situation will not seem so dramatic either.
- To remove stress under stress helps to control breathing. To calm down, you should breathe slowly through your nose. Having inhaled, it is necessary to hold the air in the lungs for a while, then exhale slowly, through the nose. And so several times, until the nervous tension goes down.