The concept of "stress" is very broad. In general, when we say "he lives in constant stress," we mean negative emotions: anxiety, danger, despair, hopelessness ... But, according to the author of the theory of stress, Hans Selye, almost every our action causes stress. After all, the body's reaction (both physiological and psychological) to every news, obstacle, danger is a strong stimulus. According to this definition, we are constantly under the influence of stress. So, stress and its role in human life is the topic of conversation for today.
We cross the busy street, meet a friend who has not seen each other for many years, we rejoice at the good estimates of the child and worry because my husband lost his job. Sudden death of a loved one causes stress, but sincere joy in connection with the birth of a child causes no less stress. Because every event, even if it entails positive changes in life, leads to the need to respond to it, forcing the body to mobilize. We must get used to these changes, accept them and learn how to live with them.
Reaction to stress
Reaction to stressful situations and a way of life under stress is a strictly personal matter. What is the greatest stress for one person will not be perceived by another. For someone, a strong shock can only be caused by a climb to the mountains or a jump with a parachute, even those, and for another it will not be enough. Because each of us feels anxiety and tension on a different occasion, different stimuli cause stress in us.
Some of us are used to spending time in a hurry and stress, others are tired of everything, they shy away from routine and are looking for a life of tranquility. Stress becomes dangerous for a person when it is excessive, too frequent and is associated with strong negative emotions. Then the destruction of positive motivation can cause many physical and mental ailments. But we must not forget that positive stress can also be dangerous! Too strong positive emotions can do no less harm than negative ones. Especially if a person is shattered by nerves and a weak heart. This must be taken into account, intending to make a person a "surprise". Even the most pleasant of them can turn into a disaster for an emotional and sensitive person.
The positive role of stress
Yes, stress can be beneficial. This formulation of stress and its role in the life of man is denied by many, considering that with stress of any kind it is only necessary to fight. This is not true! Of course, stress is also a kind of shock for the body. But this is the mobilization of all vital indicators, the discovery of secret reserves, which the man had never imagined before. For example, stress is associated with a certain risk, something like the "exam". Then it will be easier for you to realize your positive and negative aspects. Moderate doses of motivation to work in the form of stress stimulate action and are the driving force. Stress causes us strength to solve complex problems, and thanks to it we take on new business and successfully complete them. We work fast, and sometimes we do things that can not be done without stress. Some people function perfectly in a state of stress and are even looking for something that could once again "shake" them, prompting them to do more. About such people they say "he is looking for problems on his own head". And there is. Problems and stress make you think, move forward, achieve new victories. Even psychologists believe that working without the element of excitement, competition and risk is much less attractive.
Preparing for exams in college is a great stress for young people. Passing through the fear of failure, there is mobilization of great efforts inside. Attention is sharpened, concentration improves and brain efficiency is increased. When the exam is taken, the place of anxiety is satisfied, the source of stress and tension disappears, the person feels happy.
Car driving. Along the way, this is another obstacle. Stress makes a person more temporarily mobilized, makes you act faster, watch signs and other cars on the road. If a person is stressed during the wheel - he is cautious, he is trying his best to avoid accidents and he usually succeeds. Who most often gets into an accident? "Flyers" who are not afraid of anything. They have no stress, no sense of danger, no mobilization of attention. Stress in this case helps to avoid danger.
You intend to change the workplace to a more attractive, more highly paid, with an interesting prospect for the future. Ahead is a conversation with the head of the new company. This is certainly a strong stress. Do you want to know what to say on your first interview, how to dress, how to make a hair and make-up? Do you need to talk a lot, or, better to listen, just by answering questions? Thinking about this situation, scrolling various scenarios in your head, your heart beats faster. You feel that the tension increases until the moment when you encounter a new employer, stretch out your hand to greet and start talking. Once the situation is gaining momentum, your stress is gradually leaving you. However, it gives you strength and mobilizes. You are concentrated and serious, you know what you want and what they want from you. You gradually forget the moments of nervousness that accompanied you the first minutes of the interview.
In all these cases, stress plays a positive role in human life. In a state of mobilization, the body experiences stress, it helps to concentrate on the main thing, to gather all the forces to get what you want. Stress in appropriate doses is determined by activity, it is useful.
Negative role of stress
If you have too much tension and last too long - this can lead to serious disruption in the functioning of various organs, and sometimes the entire body. Stress can affect the situation in the family, professional activity and health. Stress can affect our relationships with loved ones, but also sometimes it is due only to what is happening inside us and with us. The type of immune disorders that we usually suffer from prolonged stress depends on the duration of stress. Some people become irritable, others are apathetic. Someone is looking for an outlet, referring to friends and relatives, and someone closes in himself and silently suffers, leading himself to a neurosis.
Stress is especially dangerous if it is unreasonable. When you feel that everything around is annoying, but do not understand what exactly is the cause of the anxiety. This condition can last for years. It requires the intervention of specialists. The strongest upheavals in the life of a woman are the death of loved ones, divorce, betrayal of a loved one. Such stresses can turn into a real disaster, if you experience them incorrectly. You can never be left alone with disaster. This leads to nowhere. Share your grief or just problems with loved ones, with your friends, express what excites. Stress can destroy life in the same way as it can improve it.
How the body reacts to stress
You may have trouble falling asleep. Waking up in the middle of the night, you experience a nervous cough. You are irritable, impatient, excessively violently reacting to the environment, you can not easily overcome the gusts of sudden anger or depression. You finger your fingers, smoke a cigarette after a cigarette. You have cold and sticky hands, you feel burning and pain in the abdomen, dry mouth, difficulty breathing. You feel that you are sick.
If you have these symptoms, you probably live in constant stress. To these symptoms can also be added a feeling of constant fatigue, the thought that you have too little time to do several things at the same time. You suddenly feel a bad feeling, a feeling of fear and timidity, of disappointment. You can also feel pain in the muscles, stiff neck, you start to nail your nails, compress your jaws, your face muscles become strained, you feel the gnashing of your teeth. For some, this happens gradually, others suddenly feel all the symptoms at once. Some have nerve tics, and sometimes crying appears for no apparent reason.
You do not need to know all these symptoms to conclude that this stress is the cause of your problems. Experts say that at least three of these signals occurring within a week or more are sufficient, which indicate the effect of excessive tension. In this case, you need to change the lifestyle, the situation at work or in the environment as soon as possible. Create an atmosphere that does not lead to serious health problems.
The mechanism of stress
Stimulus, obtained by the brain, creates appropriate impulses in the pituitary gland. The pituitary gland begins to release hormones that, together with blood, enter the adrenal glands, which in turn release an increased amount of adrenaline and norepinephrine. Under their influence, high blood pressure is observed, the heart begins to work faster, from the liver to the blood more than the amount of glucose, cholesterol and free fatty acids is usually released. This determines the increased readiness of the body. The physical and mental forces are ready to fight. If such a state of high alertness persists for a long time, the stress and resistance of the body falls and there comes a nervous exhaustion, the deregulation of the body. Immunity falls, a person begins to get very sick. That's why we often say: "All diseases are from nerves". In part, it really is.
Effects of stress
Long-term stress gives rise to many diseases. First of all, the most vulnerable organs suffer. In some cases, this is associated with the digestive system, sometimes with breathing, and sometimes several organs will undergo some negative effects of stress. Depending on age, gender, experience, education, lifestyle, philosophy and many other factors, some people are more susceptible to the negative effects of stress, others less. The stress response also depends on how we see ourselves - whether as a passive object that is subject to stress, or an active subject who is responsible for this stress.
How to understand that the body is stressed
The first sign that something is wrong with your body is some problems with falling asleep. Gradually, other diseases join the insomnia. You start crying for no reason, you get tired no matter how much you work and how you relax. You have problems with concentration, attention, memory. There is a headache, irritability, and sometimes a lack of interest in sex. These symptoms more and more take possession of you, everything happens gradually, and, perhaps, that is why you do not see the approach of the problem. Only when the state reaches the critical threshold, you begin to feel that something is going wrong. People do not even always understand that they are in the grip of stress. They lose their old cheerfulness, enthusiasm for work, lack of confidence appears on the site of the current uncertainty. Gradually, stress takes possession of all life. That is why it is necessary to cope with it on time and correctly. Do not hesitate to ask for help from a specialist.