Psycho-emotional stress symptoms and treatment. Methods for dealing with anxiety

The date: 14.10.2019

A life modern man impossible without stress. Social conditions, work, overwork - all this causes emotions. Sometimes a person undergoes a sharp exit from the comfort zone, which entails the need for psychological adaptation. This is psycho-emotional stress.

emotional stress

Do not underestimate the danger of stress, as it can cause many diseases internal organs and systems. It is necessary to identify stressors in a timely manner and exclude their influence in order to protect your own health.

The concept of stress and the stages of its development

The concept of emotional stress was first identified by the physiologist Hans Selye in 1936. This concept denoted reactions unusual for the body in response to any adverse effect. Due to the influence of stimuli (stressors), the adaptive mechanisms of the body are in tension. The process of adaptation itself has three main stages of development - anxiety, resistance and exhaustion.

In the first stage of the response phase (anxiety), the body's resources are mobilized. The second, resistance, manifests itself in the form of activation of protective mechanisms. Exhaustion occurs when psycho-emotional resources are exhausted (the body gives up). It should be noted that emotions and emotional stress are interrelated concepts. But only negative emotions that cause negative stress can lead to serious mental disorders. Selye called this state of distress.

The causes of distress induce the body to exhaust its energy. This can lead to serious illnesses.

The concept of stress can also have a different character. Some scientists believe that the manifestation of emotional stress is associated with a generalized distribution of sympathetic and parasympathetic excitations. And the diseases that appear as a result of such a distribution are individual.

Distress - negative stress

Negative emotions and stress are unpredictable. The manifestation of the protective functions of the body to the emerging psychological threat is able to overcome only minor difficulties. And, with prolonged or periodic repetition of stressful situations, emotional arousal becomes chronic. Such a process as exhaustion, emotional burnout, manifests itself precisely when a person is in a negative psycho-emotional background for a long time.

The main causes of emotional stress

Positive emotional reactions are rarely a threat to human health. And negative emotions, accumulating, lead to chronic stress and pathological disorders of organs and systems. Informational and emotional stress affects both the physiological state of the patient and his emotions and behaviors. The most common causes of stress are:

resentment, fears and negative-emotional situations;
sharp adverse life problems (death of a loved one, job loss, divorce, etc.);
social conditions;
excessive feeling of concern for yourself and loved ones.

Causes of stress

In addition, even positive emotions can be harmful. Especially if fate brings surprises (the birth of a child, career advancement, the fulfillment of a dream, etc.). The causes of stress can also be physiological factors:

sleep disturbance;
overwork;
pathology of the central nervous system;
poor nutrition;
hormonal disruptions;

Stress as a health risk factor is unpredictable. A person can cope with its impact, but not always. In order to alleviate stress and diagnose it, experts tend to divide stressors into external and internal.

It is necessary to look for a way out of a dangerous psycho-emotional state by eliminating the influence of a disturbing factor on the body. There are no problems with external stressors. But with internal stressors, long, painstaking work is required not only by a psychologist, but also by other specialists.

Signs of stress

The resource of forces to deal with stress is individual for each person. It's called stress tolerance. Therefore, stress, as a risk factor for health, should be considered for possible symptoms that affect both the emotional and mental state of the body.

With the advent of distress, the causes of which are associated with external or internal factors, adaptive functions fail. With the development of a stressful situation, a person may feel fear and panic, act disorganized, experience difficulties with mental activity, etc.

The stress itself manifests itself depending on the resistance to stress (emotional stress can be the cause of serious pathological changes in the body). It manifests itself in the form of emotional, physiological, behavioral and psychological changes.

Physiological signs

The most dangerous to health are physiological symptoms. They pose a threat to the normal functioning of the body. Being under stress, the patient may refuse to eat and suffer from sleep problems. With physiological reactions, other symptoms are observed:

pathological manifestations of an allergic nature (itching, skin rashes, etc.);
indigestion;
headaches;
increased sweating.

physiological stress

Emotional Signs

Emotional signs of stress appear as a general change in the emotional background. It is easier to get rid of them than other symptoms, since they are regulated by the desire and will of the person himself. Under the influence of negative emotions, social or biological factors, a person may develop:

Bad mood, melancholy, depression, restlessness and anxiety.
Anger, aggression, loneliness, etc. These emotions arise sharply, are clearly expressed.
Changes in character - increased introversion, decreased self-esteem, etc.
Pathological conditions - neurosis.

emotional stress

It is impossible to experience severe stress without the manifestation of emotions. It is emotions that reflect the state of a person, are the main way to determine the situations of psychology. And in order to prevent health hazards, it is the manifestation of this or that emotion and its influence on human behavior that plays an important role.

behavioral signs

Human behavior and the reactions that go with it are signs of emotional stress. It's easy to spot them:

decrease in working capacity, complete loss of interest in work;
changes in speech;
difficulty communicating with others.

Emotional stress, which is expressed through behavior, is easy to determine when observing a person for a long time and when communicating with him. The fact is that he does not behave as usual (he is impulsive, speaks quickly and indistinctly, makes rash actions, etc.).

Psychological signs

Psychological symptoms of emotional stress are most often manifested when a person stays outside the zone of psycho-emotional comfort for a long time, his inability to adapt to new conditions of existence. As a result, biological and physical factors leave their mark on the psychological state of a person:

memory problems;
problems with concentration when doing work;
violation of sexual behavior.

People feel helpless, withdraw from loved ones and sink into deep depression.

deep depression

With mental factors, a person succumbs to acute or chronic trauma of a mental nature. A person may experience a personality disorder, depressive psychogenic reactions, reactive psychoses, etc. Each of the pathologies is a sign that is the result of the influence of psychological trauma. The causes of such conditions can be both unexpected news (death of a loved one, loss of housing, etc.), and the long-term effect of stressors on the body.

Why is stress dangerous?

Due to prolonged stress, serious health problems can occur. The fact is that during stress, the adrenal glands secrete an increased amount of adrenaline and norepinephrine. These hormones make the internal organs work more actively in order to protect the body from the stressor. But the accompanying phenomena, such as increased pressure, spasms of muscles and blood vessels, increased blood sugar lead to disruption of the functioning of organs and systems. It is because of this that the risk of developing diseases increases:

hypertension;
stroke;
ulcer;
heart attack;
angina;

With the action of prolonged psycho-emotional stress, immunity decreases. The consequences can be different: from colds, viral and infectious diseases to the formation of oncology. The most common pathologies are associated with the cardiovascular system. The second most common are diseases of the gastrointestinal tract.

The impact of stress on health

According to doctors, more than 60% of all diseases of modern man are caused by stressful situations.

Diagnostics of emotional stress

Diagnostics of the psycho-emotional state is carried out only in the office of a psychologist. The fact is that each case requires a detailed study according to the methods and conditions that the specialist sets for a specific purpose. This takes into account the direction of work, the goals of diagnosis, consideration of a specific situation from the patient's life, etc.

Identification of the main causes of stressful behavior occurs according to different methods of psychodiagnostics. All of them can be divided into classes:

The current level of stress, the severity of neuropsychic tension. The methods of express diagnostics and testing by T. Nemchin, S. Cohen, I. Litvintsev and others are used.
Prediction of human behavior in stressful situations. Both the self-assessment scale and the questionnaires by V. Baranov, A. Volkov and others are used.
negative effects of distress. Differential diagnostic methods and questionnaires are used.
professional stress. They use surveys, tests, "live" dialogue with a specialist.
The level of stress resistance. Most often, questionnaires are used.

The information obtained as a result of psychodiagnostics is the main further struggle with stress. The specialist looks for a way out of a certain situation, helps the patient to overcome difficulties (prevention of stress) and is engaged in a strategy for further treatment.

Treatment of emotional stress

Treatment of psycho-emotional stress is individual for each clinical case. Some patients have enough self-organization, search for new hobbies and daily analysis and control of their own condition, while others require medication, sedatives and even tranquilizers. According to experts, the first thing to do is to detect the stressor and eliminate its impact on the emotional and mental state of a person. Further methods of struggle depend on the severity of the disease, its phase and consequences.

The most effective methods of stress therapy are:

Meditation. Allows you to relax, calm your nerves and analyze all life's difficulties and difficulties.
Physical exercise. Physical activity allows you to escape from problems. In addition, during exercise, pleasure hormones are produced - endorphin and serotonin.
Medicines. Sedatives and sedatives.

Psychological trainings. Passing group classes with a specialist and home methods not only help eliminate signs of stress, but also improve the stress resistance of the individual.

Psychological trainings

Therapy is most often based on complex methods. Psycho-emotional stress often requires a change of scenery, outside support (both relatives and a psychologist). If you have trouble sleeping, doctors may prescribe sedatives. With serious psychological disorders, tranquilizers may be required.

Sometimes used and folk methods based on the preparation of decoctions and tinctures. The most common is phytotherapy. Plants such as valerian, oregano and lemon balm have a calming effect. The main thing is that a person himself wants changes in life and tries to correct his condition by returning to his natural existence.

Stress prevention

Prevention of psycho-emotional stress comes down to maintaining a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition and doing what you love. It is necessary to limit yourself from stress as much as possible, to be able to predict and “bypass” them. Psychologists are confident that the risk of stressful situations is reduced if a person:

exercise;
set new goals;
properly organize their work;
pay attention to your rest, especially sleep.

The main thing is to think positively and try to do everything for the benefit of your own health. If it was not possible to protect yourself from stress, you do not need to succumb to panic or fear. You should remain calm, try to think about all possible scenarios for the development of events and look for ways out of the current situation. So, the effects of stress will be more “soft”.

Conclusion

Everyone is subject to emotional stress. Some manage to quickly overcome feelings of anxiety, fear and subsequent behavioral signs (aggression, disorientation, etc.). But, sometimes, prolonged or often repeated stress leads to exhaustion of the body, which is dangerous for health.

You need to be sensitive to your own psycho-emotional state, try to anticipate stress and find safe ways to express your emotions through creativity or doing what you love. This is the only way to keep your body healthy and strong.

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Emotional stress is a psycho-emotional state of a person that occurs as a result of exposure to stressors - internal or external factors that cause negative emotions, which contribute to a sharp exit from the comfort zone and require certain physiological and psychological adaptation. At its core, this manifestation can be attributed to the natural protective reactions of the body in response to a change in its usual conditions and the emergence of various kinds of conflict situations.

Causes

Feeling of fear.
Resentment.
Emotional anxiety.

Chronic fatigue.
Sleep disturbance.
adaptation reactions.
Personal decompensation.

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Risk group

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Symptoms and signs

These include:

Increased irritability.
Tears.
Pulse increase.
Change in respiratory rate.
Anxiety.
Fear, a feeling of despair.
Weakness.
Increased sweating.
Fatigue.
Headache.

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Hypertension.
Angina.
Stroke.
Heart attack.
Arrhythmia.
Heart failure.
Ischemic disease.

Asthma.
Migraine.
Reduced vision.

Back to index

Methods of getting rid of the disease

Autogenic training.
Physiotherapy.
Meditation classes.
Psychotherapy.
Phytotherapy.
Autotraining.
Physiotherapy.

What are the main symptoms of stress? How to avoid stress?

Stress is the reaction of the body to a dangerous, traumatic situation, excessive physical or emotional stress, affecting all its systems.

What are the main symptoms of stress? How to avoid stress?
stress symptoms
Types of stress
How to avoid stress?
Psycho-emotional stress - burnout of the soul
Psychology to help - what to do when strength is at its limit?
Psycho-emotional state - the basis of personal health
Detrimental effect on mental state
Common causes of psycho-emotional overload
Gender Interaction
Death of loved ones
Childhood psychological trauma
Unsuccessful passage of age crises
frustration
Prolonged physical illness
The occurrence and treatment of emotional stress
Causes
Risk group
Classification of psychoemotional states
Symptoms and signs
What is the danger of stress
Methods of getting rid of the disease
Stress: symptoms and treatment
Stress - main symptoms:
Classification
Main stages of stress
Causes of stress
Symptoms
Treatment
Danger of emotional stress
Stress factors
Causes
Symptoms
The danger of stress
Stages of emotional stress
Features of prevention
Fighting methods
Outburst of emotions
Conclusion
emotional stress
Signs of emotional stress

Appearing as a protective reaction of flight, stress has served its purpose perfectly for thousands of years. The meeting with the danger required immediate action. To do this, all body systems were put on “combat readiness”. Large amounts of stress hormones - adrenaline and noradrenaline - were released into the blood, causing an increase in pressure, an acceleration of the heartbeat, dilated pupils, and muscle tension.

AT modern conditions life has become incomparably safer, and the need for immediate flight is extremely rare. But the reaction of the body has not changed at all. And in response to the reprimand of the boss, we release the same adrenaline as when we met with a predator millions of years ago. Alas, the natural reaction of flight is impossible. With repeated stressful situations, the changes caused by adrenaline accumulate. They are the ones that cause the symptoms of stress.

stress symptoms

The action of stress hormones is manifested not only in changes in physiological parameters. The emotional and intellectual spheres are also affected. There are also characteristic behavioral symptoms of stress.

Physiological changes under stress are aimed at maximizing the mobilization of the body's reserves. With prolonged or frequently repeated release of adrenaline in the body, following changes:

From the side of the cardiovascular system. Changes in blood pressure, even in those who were not previously disturbed by them. Often, hypertension begins with stressful situations. Palpitations and heart rhythm disturbances, sometimes so pronounced that a person feels them without special studies. Heart failure is one of the most common reasons for seeking medical attention in people with chronic stress. One of the manifestations high blood pressure and vascular pathology may be tinnitus.
From the side digestive system. The most common symptoms of stress are decreased or complete lack of appetite. A stressed person loses weight rapidly. The reverse situation is much less common - an increase in appetite during stress. In addition, severe pain in the abdomen can also be manifestations of stress. There are various dyspeptic phenomena - heartburn, belching, nausea and vomiting, a feeling of heaviness in the stomach, stool disorders.
Disorders in the respiratory system are manifested by a feeling of lack of air, the inability to take a deep breath, shortness of breath, and occasionally - attacks of suffocation. Colds are on the rise.
In the musculoskeletal system, under the influence of adrenaline, muscle spasms, convulsions are possible, muscles are constantly in good shape. Back pain often occurs.
Various kinds of rashes appear on the skin, up to very pronounced ones. Even in the absence of allergic manifestations in the past, there are allergic reactions especially skin ones. Sweating increases, constantly wet palms disturb.
Involvement of the nervous system is manifested by mental and intellectual symptoms. Of the physical manifestations, headaches are possible. The same group can include general asthenization of the body, its lower resistance to stress. The temperature during stress is often lowered. Episodes of its increase are possible, more often to subfebrile (37-37.5) digits. Short-term increases to higher numbers are not accompanied by inflammatory changes.
On the part of the reproductive system, there is a decrease in libido.

Intellectual symptoms of stress are especially noticeable in pupils and students during periods of increased stress. These include:

Decreased memory.
Absent-mindedness, difficulty concentrating, disorganization, being late.
Obsessive thoughts, especially with a negative connotation.
Inability to make a decision.

Emotional symptoms, unlike the previous groups of symptoms, can be regulated by the person to some extent. With pronounced stress, the following changes in the emotional sphere can be observed:

Anxiety, anxiety, a sense of impending disaster. Panic attacks occur for no apparent reason.
Irritability, capriciousness, also for no apparent reason.
Constantly reduced emotional background. Frequent seizures sadness, sadness, up to a depressive state and suicidal tendencies. For women, tearfulness is especially characteristic.
Low self-esteem combined with high demands on oneself.
Passivity and disappearance of interests in life.
Constant tension, it is extremely difficult for a person in a state of stress to relax.

Behavioral changes are external, behavioral manifestations of stress that are especially important to be aware of. Not always a person in a state of stress pays enough attention to their health. Diagnosis of stress is greatly facilitated by the knowledge of the main external manifestations of this condition. You will be able to take timely steps to normalize the condition of a loved one, preventing the occurrence of somatic diseases.

There are frequent attempts to reduce the manifestations of stress with the help of alcohol or cigarettes. A sharp increase in their consumption by an outwardly prosperous person is an alarming sign.
Another option for avoiding stress is workaholism. Immersion in work to the detriment of family, friends, and sometimes health should alert you.
Inattention, absent-mindedness, including appearance. In work, this is manifested by a deterioration in the results of labor, an increase in the number of errors.
An unstable emotional state leads to a large number of conflicts, both at home and at work.

Types of stress

Despite the negative connotation inherent in the word "stress", such a reaction of the body can be beneficial. Most of the great achievements of mankind were made in a state of stress. Athletes, climbers, outstanding warriors, scientists accomplished their exploits and achievements, set records and conquered peaks precisely thanks to the highest mobilization of forces in a state of stress. In addition, extremely intense positive emotions can also cause stress. Such mobilizing and subsequently passing without a trace stress is called eustress. Its opposite, the stress that causes numerous negative symptoms called distress.

In addition, there are psychological and physiological forms of stress.

Physiological stress is caused by direct effects on the body. Stress factors can be hypothermia or overheating, physical overload, injury and pain.
Psychological stress occurs as a reaction to socially significant events. It is usually divided into informational and emotional. The first is caused by excessive information load. Especially often, stress occurs when a person is highly interested in combination with information overload. This state is very typical for workers in heuristic professions that require the analysis of a large amount of information and the constant generation of ideas. The reverse situation is also possible - the occurrence of stress due to monotonous work.

Emotional stress occurs after intense or repeated episodes of negative emotions - resentment, hatred, anger. The carrier and transmitter of these emotions is the speech of the opponent.

The significance of the emotional component of stress is so great that a special term has appeared - psycho-emotional stress. It is this form of stress that leads to chronic diseases and pronounced physiological disorders. The reason is the impossibility of implementing the stress reaction envisaged by nature in the case of emotional stimuli.

How to avoid stress?

It is obvious that the recommendation not to get into stressful situations or to react to them less emotionally is not feasible. Therefore, it is important to learn how to get out of such situations with minimal losses. Various psychotechnics of relaxation and banal physical activity will help with this. During physical work, the natural pathway of adrenaline metabolism is realized. It does not accumulate, and accordingly there are no physiological changes accompanying stress.

Therefore, in the case of chronic stress, banal recommendations that we used to ignore since childhood are the most effective. Morning exercises, jogging, walking, exercising in the gym - the best prevention stress.

Psycho-emotional stress - burnout of the soul

Psycho-emotional stress - critical situation a person who is subjected to excessive emotional and social overload. This concept refers to the adaptive capabilities of the psyche, which are necessary for an adequate response to changes in the surrounding world (positive and negative).

In difficult life situations internal resources are gradually exhausted. If for a long time a person does not have the opportunity to relax, switch attention from a traumatic situation, a kind of “burnout of the soul” occurs.

Aspects characterizing the concept of psycho-emotional stress:

a decline in physical strength (faults in the nervous system lead to serious consequences for the whole organism);
the emergence of a feeling of anxiety, growing within 2 days (changes in the functioning of the brain, excessive production of hormones - adrenaline, corticosteroid);
emergency operation of the body (at the mental and physical level);
depletion of physical and mental strength, culminating in a nervous breakdown and turning into acute neurosis, depression and other psychological abnormalities.

Modern psychology describes the concept of psychogenic stress as a set of emotional and behavioral reactions of a person to a certain life situation.

The sources of stress can be both real traumatic events (death of a loved one, natural disaster, war, job loss), as well as an excessively negative perception of various circumstances by a person in his own life.

Psychology to help - what to do when strength is at its limit?

Popular psychology helps to cope with stress, the causes of which lie in a distorted perception of reality, inability to regulate one's own emotions (express them in an appropriate way, restore peace of mind). If the psychological state allows you to work (albeit in less efficient mode), gain knowledge and strive for self-improvement, it will be enough to study the aspects of the formation of emotional stress and methods of dealing with it in order to bring yourself into a harmonious state on your own.

symptoms are felt as emotional burnout, loss of taste for life;
catastrophically reduced performance;
the state of global fatigue is observed from the very beginning of the day;
disturbances in the cognitive (mental) sphere are manifested - memory, concentration of attention, ability to analyze, etc. are deteriorating;
there is an acute psychological imbalance (a person ceases to be the master of himself);
emotional reactions to any events become excessively aggravated (aggression, anger, desire to escape/destroy, fear);
joylessness, up to despondency and disbelief in changes for the better, becomes a permanent, background state.

Clinical psychology and competent professionals will come to the rescue, which will help to normalize the physical and mental state. First, the impact is on the symptoms of stress (reducing their intensity), then on the causes of their occurrence (complete elimination or reduction of the degree of negative impact).

Psychologists and psychotherapists identify all aspects of the occurrence of psycho-emotional disorders and help a person to better manage his psyche, increasing adaptive skills.

In advanced cases, the psychological state is so deplorable that it is on the verge of neurosis or clinical depression. Man needs drug treatment which only a psychiatrist has the right to provide.

Psycho-emotional state - the basis of personal health

The human psyche has an extremely complex structure, therefore it can be easily unbalanced due to the influence of various adverse factors.

The main causes of mental disorders are:

cognitive disorders;
emotional overload (psychogenic stress);
physical illnesses.

The concept of psycho-emotional state means the totality of emotions and feelings experienced by a person. This includes not only what a person is experiencing "here and now", but also a wide range of mental scars from old experiences, repressed emotions and unfavorably resolved conflicts.

Detrimental effect on mental state

The most striking characteristic of a healthy psyche is the ability to independently experience life's difficulties. The reasons for failures in the mechanism of self-regulation can be very diverse. Each person is undermined by a certain situation that is important in his mind. Therefore, the concept of psycho-emotional stress is always associated with the interpretation and evaluation of a person's own life.

The principle of destructive influence is simple:

bring the negative emotions of a person to the maximum limit (boiling point);
provoke a nervous breakdown or the inclusion of an emergency braking mode (apathy, emotional burnout, mental devastation);
exhaust emotional reserves (memories of positive emotions).

The result is psychological exhaustion. It is important to remember that impoverishment emotional sphere always accompanied by violations of the logical-semantic, cognitive area of the psyche. Therefore, recovery methods always involve an integrated approach to the triad: “body-mind-soul” (harmonization of their interaction).

Common causes of psycho-emotional overload

Psycho-emotional stress occurs in two situations:

The occurrence of an unexpected negative event in the life of an individual.
Long-term accumulation and suppression of negative emotions (Example: lifestyle in background stress mode).

The mental health of a person when receiving emotional / sensory stress depends on the scale of the adverse event and the real possibilities of the person (mental, financial, temporary, physical) to cope with it at a given time.

Gender Interaction

The psychological health of a person directly depends on the realization of one of the most important needs - to love. The search for a partner begins with the state: "I want to receive love", and the creation of a family - "I want to give love." Any failures and delays in this area cause a powerful emotional imbalance.

Death of loved ones

The loss of significant social connections destroys a stable mental state and exposes a person to a rigorous revision of his own picture of the world. Life without this person seems faded, devoid of meaning and hope for happiness. Others can see vivid symptoms of depression or neurosis. A suffering person needs competent psychological help and support from loved ones. The greatest risk of getting a nervous breakdown, the formation of suicidal behavior, entering a state of clinical depression or the manifestation of psychiatric abnormalities, are introverts who have a small social circle and do not receive help from the environment.

Childhood psychological trauma

Children are completely dependent on adults and do not have the opportunity to fully express their emotions and protect their own identity. The result is a mass of repressed resentment and negative emotions. The causes of most chronic diseases lie in the psycho-emotional stress experienced in childhood. Psychoanalysis and humanistic psychology deal best with old childhood traumas.

Unsuccessful passage of age crises

Unsuccessful passage of the boundaries of age development or getting stuck on them (the concept of "Peter Pan", the syndrome of the eternal student) generates large-scale intrapersonal stress. Often the symptoms are so acute that they completely immobilize the volitional and energy resources of a person. Then psychology and the centuries-old baggage of human knowledge about emotions and emotional stress come to the rescue.

Video: "Stress Vaccination": How to deal with your emotions?

frustration

The concept of "frustration" means "disorder of plans", when a person finds himself in a situation (real or imagined), where it is impossible to satisfy the needs that are significant at the moment. In a narrower sense, frustration is understood as a psychological reaction to the inability to get what you want. For example, a person lived for many years for the sake of achieving one goal, but at the very last moment the bird of happiness fluttered out of his hands.

Prolonged physical illness

The psychology of the 21st century pays special attention to psychosomatic diseases, including more than 60% of existing diseases among them! The influence of the psyche on physical health cannot be overestimated - a folk saying: "In healthy body– a healthy mind” is confirmed by numerous scientific studies.

It is enough to eliminate destructive emotional experiences for a person to recover even with a serious, chronic illness.

Video: First aid kit "Anti-Stress" - how to get rid of stress with the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT)

The occurrence and treatment of emotional stress

Causes

A person falls into any stressful state in case of discomfort, when it is impossible to satisfy their own key social and physiological needs. Psychologists and psychiatrists have identified a number of causes that contribute to the development of emotional stress. The most common of them include the following:

Feeling of fear.
Resentment.
Difficult life circumstances and situations (divorce, job loss, serious illness, death of a loved one, etc.).
A sharp change in social or living conditions.
Negative emotional situations.
Positive emotional situations (moving, changing jobs, having a baby, etc.).
Emotional anxiety.
Situations that carry a potential threat, danger.
Exposure to external emotional stimuli (for example, painful conditions, injuries, infections, excessive physical activity, etc.).

In addition, the following physiological reasons can contribute to the development of a stressful state:

Chronic fatigue.
Sleep disturbance.
Excessive emotional and psychological stress.
Disorders in the work of the nervous system.
Some endocrine diseases.
Insufficient, unbalanced nutrition.
Hormonal changes in the body.
adaptation reactions.
post-traumatic disorders.
Personal decompensation.

Experts say that the factors that provoke the occurrence of stress can be divided into external and internal. The first includes a certain negative impact of surrounding circumstances. The latter are the result of mental detail and the imagination of the person himself and are practically not interconnected with the external environment.

Risk group

Almost everyone experiences emotional stress throughout their lives. However, experts identify a separate group of people who are most susceptible to this scourge. In them, stress often acquires a chronic, protracted form and proceeds quite hard, with the development of a number of concomitant complications and physiological consequences. The risk group includes:

Persons with increased emotional excitability.
Creative individuals with a well-developed imagination.
People suffering from nervous disorders and diseases.
Representatives of certain professions (politicians, businessmen, journalists, police officers, drivers, military, pilots, air traffic controllers).
People with high levels of anxiety.
Residents of metropolitan areas and big cities.

Such people are particularly vulnerable to external irritating psycho-emotional factors, and even a seemingly insignificant cause causes them emotional disturbances.

Classification of psychoemotional states

According to medical classification, there are such types of emotional stress:

Eustress is an emotional reaction that contributes to the activation of the mental and adaptive abilities of the human body. It is associated with the experience of strong positive emotions.
Distress is a pathological condition that leads to the disorganization of psychological and behavioral personal activity, negatively affecting the entire body. Development is associated with the influence of negative emotions and conflict situations.

In addition, there are three stages of stress:

Perestroika. It is characterized by a number of chemical and biological reactions in the body that cause the active activity of the adrenal glands and the release of adrenaline. The person is in a state of intense tension and emotional arousal. There is a decrease in reaction, performance.
Stabilization (resistance). There is a process of adaptation of the adrenal glands to the changed situation, the production of hormones is stabilized. Efficiency is restored, but the sympathetic system continues to be in a state of increased activity, which, with prolonged stress, leads to a transition to the third stage.
Exhaustion. The body loses its ability to withstand stressful situations. The functional activity of the adrenal glands is extremely limited, there is a violation and failure in the activity of all possible systems. At the physiological level, this stage is characterized by a decrease in the content of glucocorticoid hormones against the background of an increased level of insulin. All this leads to loss of working capacity, weakening of the immune system, the development of numerous pathologies, the formation of mental maladaptation.

Symptoms and signs

You can determine the presence of emotional stress using a number of characteristic physiological and psychological signs.

These include:

Increased irritability.
Tears.
Pulse increase.
Change in respiratory rate.
Inability to control one's behavior and reactions.
Anxiety.
Memory and concentration disorders.
Sharp jumps in blood pressure.
Fear, a feeling of despair.
Weakness.
Increased sweating.
Overstrain of muscle groups.
Lack of air, oxygen deficiency.
Fatigue.
Headache.
An increase or, conversely, a decrease in body temperature.

In addition to the above symptoms, a person who is under stress has inadequate reactions that occur due to a surge of energy and the inability to control their own emotions.

What is the danger of stress

Emotional stress has an extremely negative effect on the body and can cause a number of fairly serious diseases. This is due to the physiological nature of stress. During psycho-emotional failures, an increased content of hormones such as norepinephrine and adrenaline is observed. This leads to changes in blood pressure, cerebral and vascular spasms, increased muscle tone, increased blood sugar levels and damage to the walls of blood vessels.

As a result, the risk of the following diseases increases significantly:

Hypertension.
Angina.
Stroke.
Heart attack.
Arrhythmia.
Heart failure.
Ischemic disease.
Formation of oncological tumors.

Severe consequences of a prolonged stressful state are manifested in the form of heart attacks, neurosis, mental disorders. In addition, the entire body is depleted, immunity is reduced and a person becomes especially vulnerable to all kinds of viral, infectious, colds.

Medical workers identify pathologies that can be triggered by stress. These include:

Asthma.
Migraine.
Diseases of the digestive system.
Ulcerative lesions of the stomach and intestines.
Reduced vision.

In order to avoid adverse consequences, it is important to learn how to control your own emotional state and know how to fight effectively.

Methods of getting rid of the disease

How to quickly and effectively relieve stress? This question worries people who have repeatedly encountered this problem. There is no single answer to it.

The choice of the method of therapy is influenced by the nature and cause of stress, the phase and severity of the psychological disorder.

Treatment of emotional stress should be comprehensive and systematic. The following methods are used to fight:

Autogenic training.
Physiotherapy.
Meditation classes.
Drug treatment based on drugs of a sedative and sedative nature.
Psychological trainings and consultations.
Psychotherapy.
Phytotherapy.
Autotraining.
Physiotherapy.

Emotional stress can lead to the development serious illnesses threatening the health and even the life of the patient. Therefore, it is recommended, without delay, to seek help from a specialist.

Stress: symptoms and treatment

Stress - main symptoms:

Headache
Chest pain
Irritability
Insomnia
memory impairment
Urinary incontinence
High blood pressure
Decreased libido
Apathy
Fatigue
Anxiety
Weight loss
Decreased mood
Disruption of the gastrointestinal tract
inattention
depression
Feeling of inner tension
Feeling of constant dissatisfaction
Delay of menstruation
Decreased interest in normal activities

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 lives. During this disruption, the body produces the adrenaline needed 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, long-term negative impact causes the development of various disorders in the body and can even cause chronic stress, which is dangerous for its side effects.

As mentioned above, such a disorder can arise both from excessive exposure to negative factors, in which case it is called distress, and from exposure to positive factors, in which case eustress develops. At its core, any event in life can be a stressful 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, while 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. The positive form usually does not have a negative impact on the state of health and the mental sphere of a person, while the negative one is able to knock a person out of the saddle for a long time and leave behind non-healing wounds.

Also, the types of stress differ in the nature of the impact of certain factors, and can be:

temperature;
neuropsychiatric (the most common type);
food;
light, as well as caused by other stimuli.

In addition, there are such types of stress as arising from extreme social conditions or developed as a result of critical psychological events. The first type includes disorders that arise as a result of military operations, 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 highlighting the following types of stress - psychological and biological. Psychological disorder or psycho-emotional stress occurs as a result of the reaction of the human nervous system to a real or fictional 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”, it is a psycho-emotional one. 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 experienced critical events. Stress urinary incontinence is one of the most common symptoms of this pathological disorder. Especially often stress urinary incontinence occurs in children after severe events.

Main stages of stress

There are three stages of stress, which are characterized by periods of excitation and inhibition. In 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 definitely follow. During the occurrence of exposure, there is a response of the body to it. This can happen within a few seconds or a few weeks after the incident - it all depends on the state of the nervous system of each particular individual.

At the first stage of stress, the individual loses the ability to control his actions and thoughts, the body's resistance decreases and the behavior changes to the exact opposite of that which is characteristic of him. So, if a person was kind, he becomes quick-tempered and irritable, and if he was quick-tempered, he closes in on himself.

The second stage is the stage of resistance and adaptation. At this stage, the body's resistance to the stimulus increases and the person makes decisions that allow him to cope with the situation that has arisen.

The third stage is characterized by exhaustion of the nervous system. If the exposure 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 sense of guilt, anxiety may reappear, but, in addition, chronic stress often causes the development of 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 at what stage a person is at a certain point in time. It is important to remember that the effects of stress can be both minor and very severe, therefore, the earlier the patient starts taking stress pills, the less the consequences of this disorder.

Causes of stress

Each person in his life is faced with many negative factors. The causes of stress are so numerous that it is not possible to list them all. Nevertheless, scientists have managed to establish the main causes of stress, or rather, the 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;
assault or emergency;
worsening financial situation;
birth of a child;
moving to another country (or even just changing the place of residence);
sexual problems;
job change;
retirement;
the appearance 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 aggravated. For example, stress during pregnancy can increase over time, and at the time of the birth of the child, a normal disorder turns into severe postpartum depression or psychosis. If stress occurs during pregnancy, a woman needs to tell her symptoms to the gynecologist observing her so that he can prescribe her medications that can be taken without risk to the fetus.

Symptoms

If we talk about the symptoms of stress, then for each person they can be different - it all depends on the state of the individual's psyche, the stage of the process, as well as the strength of the negative impact.

The physical symptoms of stress are few and far between – weight loss due to malnutrition, constant fatigue due to insomnia, irritability or, conversely, apathy.

More pronounced are the psychological symptoms of stress, which include:

feeling of inner tension;
causeless anxiety;
stress urinary incontinence;
feeling of constant dissatisfaction;
depression and bad mood;
a sense of the illusory nature of the surrounding world;
decreased interest in normal 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 when the disorder progresses. The consequences of stress can be extremely severe, so treatment should be started at the time when the first signs of stress appeared.

Sometimes people try to numb the symptoms of stress on their own by using alcohol, drugs, or becoming a gambler. All these external influences can significantly aggravate the disorder and ruin the life of the patient.

Signs, as mentioned above, can be explicit and implicit, so relatives should carefully monitor the behavior and reactions of the patient 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 urinary incontinence during 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 childbirth it occurs due to the weakening of the muscles of the pelvic floor. Therefore, in cases where a woman experiences stress during pregnancy, this violation aggravated, and stress urinary incontinence becomes a frequent symptom of a pathological disorder. In general, stress during pregnancy itself can cause premature birth and miscarriage.

It is also important to remember that stress urinary incontinence occurs in children against the background of exposure to adverse factors and is important feature the fact that the child is experiencing psycho-emotional overload.

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 help from a good specialist, in other cases, you can try to drink stress pills on your own, 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, the ability to relax is also the prevention of stress.

At the same time, in medical practice, there are many techniques for dealing with this disorder, thanks to which the consequences of stress become imperceptible for a person. Without appropriate therapy (psychological counseling and medications prescribed by a doctor), the consequences of stress can be extremely severe for the body, up to the development of such somatic diseases as stomach ulcers, oncology, etc.

Prevention of stress consists in maintaining a healthy lifestyle, proper nutrition, proper alternation of rest and wakefulness. Giving up alcohol, drugs, tobacco and other bad habits also increases the body's resistance. external influences. A positive attitude makes it possible to “disarm” stress at the initial stage.

If you think that you have stress and symptoms characteristic of this disease, then doctors can help you: a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a psychotherapist.

We also suggest using our online disease diagnostic service, which, based on the symptoms entered, selects probable diseases.

Danger of emotional stress

Every person experiences stress. Emotions that we experience in life: unpleasant surprises, mental and physical strain, quarrels with loved ones - all this affects the psycho-emotional state of people. Emotional stress takes a person out of the comfort zone and requires physiological and psychological adaptation to new conditions.

Negative emotions are the main cause of myocardial infarction

The psychological state is directly related to human health: myocardial infarction in 70% of cases occurs precisely because of stress.

Stress factors

The concept of "emotions" is characterized in psychology as an experienced attitude of an individual to various external factors (facts, events, etc.). Such an experience is manifested by various signs: fear, joy, horror, pleasure, etc. Emotions are closely related to the somatic and visceral sphere. Appearing facial expressions, gestures, a distinct increase in heart rate and breathing - all this is subject to the psycho-emotional state of a person.

Emotions are generated in the limbic system of the brain. Their influence on the body is comparable to a certain probability of satisfying the individual. A low probability characterizes negative emotions, and a high probability characterizes positive ones. All emotions are regulators of behavior and act as an "evaluation" of any psychological influences per person.

Emotional stress is a psycho-emotional stress that occurs due to a negative assessment of external factors by the brain. They have their strength if it is impossible to activate the body's defense reactions to threats, which depends on the person's resistance to stress.

It is important to understand the difference between positive and negative stress. Strong experiences caused by positive emotions are called eustress. The state of the body under the harmful influence of negative emotions is distress. It is characterized by disorganization of human behavior and psyche.

Fear is a stressful emotion

Causes

Stress conditions are a natural phenomenon, characteristic not only for humans, but also for other animals. The frequency of cases depends on technological progress, the pace of life, ecology, urbanization. But the main factors influencing stress are social behavior and the characteristics of individual events.

The main reasons for this emotional state:

fears, resentment, quarrels;
social and domestic factors;
life problems related to work, death of a loved one, divorce, etc.;
potentially dangerous situations;
physiology.

Physiological factors are almost not related to the external environment. They are the result of a person’s mental activity, assessment of his own condition, because in case of illness, you worry more about your own well-being.

Common physiological factors influencing the appearance of emotional stress:

mental and physical overwork;
sleep problems;
pathological disorders of the nervous system;
endocrine pathologies;
hormonal disruptions;
post-traumatic disorders.

One of the most common types of emotional stress is "burnout" (overwork). The risk group includes representatives of the labor sphere. The psychological stress that workers experience contributes to the loss of a large amount of physical and mental energy. Prolonged loss of energy leads to fatigue.

Do not confuse emotional and informational stress. The latter is characterized by a protective barrier of the body as a reaction to a large flow of information received for a long time.

The most common professions prone to burnout are socially responsible positions (teachers, business leaders, doctors, etc.). Causes of burnout: responsibility, inconvenient work schedule, low wages, etc.

Symptoms

Psycho-emotional stress can be determined by physiological and psychological signs. The most common symptoms:

psycho-emotional reactions (irritability, anxiety, fear, despair, etc.);
increased heart rate and breathing;
loss of concentration;
muscle strain;
fatigue;
memory problems.

Sometimes the symptoms of stress can be confused with infectious or viral diseases. Internal factors that depend on the assessment of a particular situation can cause:

digestive disorders;
muscle weakness;
temperature increase;
headaches and dizziness.

Often these symptoms appear due to the expectation important events in or during a person's life: final exams, job interviews, creative performances, etc. Severe stress can be seriously detrimental to health.

Fatigue is one of the symptoms of the disorder

The danger of stress

The physiological nature of stress is fraught with danger to humans. Poor regulation of one's own state contributes to the release of adrenaline and norepinephrine into the blood. In a certain amount, these hormones negatively affect the functioning of internal organs and systems and contribute to the occurrence of chronic diseases. Like information stress, emotional stress often leads to diseases such as:

peptic ulcer;
heart failure;
ischemia;
angina;
asthma;
oncological diseases.

Strong prolonged stresses affect the functioning of organs and systems, lead to nervous breakdowns and mental disorders, and contribute to a decrease in immunity. People who are most susceptible to psychological stress are more likely to suffer from viral and infectious diseases.

Prolonged stressful conditions provoke heart disease

Stages of emotional stress

It is human nature to experience and express their emotions. In a stressful situation, the moment of its peak is most often felt, characterized by an increase in heart rate and respiration. You can also feel gradual relief. Phases of emotional stress:

Perestroika. Physiological reaction characterized by the release of hormones into the blood. The person feels intense tension and emotional arousal.
Stabilization. The production of hormones is balanced, but the psycho-emotional state does not change.
Exhaustion. It manifests itself with severe or prolonged stress. There is a loss of control over the situation, which leads to a malfunction of the internal organs and systems.

The stage of exhaustion occurs only if the psycho-emotional state of the individual is in prolonged tension or continues to succumb to additional stress.

There is an imbalance of glucocorticoid hormones and insulin. As a result, a person feels a decrease in performance, weakness and other signs of stress.

Features of prevention

Prevention of stressful situations is to prepare the body for upcoming changes in external conditions. It is necessary to anticipate the inevitability of a stressful situation and try to maintain emotional balance with its onset. There are several preventive methods:

Rationalization of the event. Modeling a possible situation down to the smallest detail (clothes, dialogues, behavior, etc.). This helps to reduce the level of uncertainty and will reduce the increased level of emotions.
Selective positive flashback. It is necessary to recall an example of a situation in which a person could find a way out on his own. This will add decisiveness before the upcoming stressful situation.
Selective negative flashback. Analysis of own failures and substantiation of conclusions. If you identify your own mistakes, it will be easier to approach solving new problems.
Visualization of the end of the event. Presenting several options for an unfavorable outcome and planning a way out of it.

Fighting methods

Psycho-emotional disorders require careful diagnosis and treatment. Methods of dealing with them may be different. Most often, the normalization of the psychological state depends on the systematic nature of the methods used and their complexity. No less important are individual characteristics - the stress resistance of the body, the severity of the psychological disorder. The most effective are the following methods:

autogenic training;
physical exercise;
meditation;
drug therapy;
psychotherapy.

Polysystemic stress reactions should be reduced even before the manifestation of certain pathological conditions. Usage medications rarely produced. They are prescribed if other methods are not effective. Antidepressants and tranquilizers are more commonly used.

The patient is often prescribed antidepressants and tranquilizers.

Outburst of emotions

The American physiologist W. Frey put forward the theory that tears help the body to better endure stressful situations. As an experiment, he did biochemical analysis tears of people of different emotional states. The result showed that the tears of those who were under stress contained more protein.

There are many supporters and opponents of Frey's theory, but everyone confirms one thing - crying gives vent to emotions and allows you to restore the psychological state faster.

Tears as a protective function of the body are underestimated by modern society, so you should not treat them as a weakness: this is just a way to quickly restore the psycho-emotional state.

Tears help restore psychological balance

Conclusion

The main danger of emotional stress is that its appearance and development can lead to health problems. Myocardial infarction, hypertensive crisis, circulatory disorders - this is only part of the possible threat. The risk of sudden cardiac arrest cannot be ruled out.

All people are subject to stress. To save life and health, you should always be prepared for sudden stressful situations or avoid them. In the event of the inevitability of stress, it is important to be able to model in your head possible ways problem solving, which will mitigate the impact of sudden factors. You can always seek help from a psychologist. It will help to safely restore the psycho-emotional state of the patient.

emotional stress

Stressful situations cannot be avoided. Not always such a manifestation is negative. You can also experience stress in a positive environment, on positive emotions. Stress is nothing more than a protective reaction of the body to a change in the conditions in which a person is accustomed to exist. The so-called "comfort zone", leaving which we experience inconvenience. Psycho-emotional stress occurs in conditions of negative emotional influences. These include:

Arriving in this state, a person cannot satisfy the primary biological and social needs.

Emotional stress goes through several stages:

anxiety stage. At this stage, there is a sharp reaction to stimuli;
stage of resistance. Man has adapted and adapted to the conditions of existence. He may live in a state of constant depression;
exhaustion stage. The level of adaptability is reduced, which further leads to death.

Physiology

Emotional stress affects all functional systems of the body. It has a greater effect on the vegetative system. The latter, in turn, weakly resists negative influences, and is very easily unbalanced. The autonomic system is part of the nervous system.

Now about what happens at the moment of psychological stress:

the cerebral cortex receives a signal from the external environment. Irritants begin to act;
the signal, regarded as a threat, is transmitted by neural pathways in the departments of the hypothalamus;
the body releases a powerful adrenaline rush.

Signs of emotional stress

You can diagnose yourself with stress by the following indicators:

possible increase or decrease in body temperature;
rapid pulse, palpitations;
sweating;
headache and dizziness;
fatigue;
irritability;
anxiety, fear, feeling of despair;
inability to hold back tears;
uncontrolled behavior.

A feature of the manifestation of emotional stress is that emotions "go wild" and are difficult to control. A person can show an inadequate reaction to what is happening, “break loose” on others, thereby freeing himself from an excess of energy.

The state of emotional stress in any case is treatable. The most effective and popular options are as follows:

Laugh more often and believe that everything that happens is only for the best.

Stress can be called such a reaction when, after processing by the consciousness of some external or internal circumstance, a special state of the nervous system arose, which changed the work of all internal organs. Everyone can have such a factor: external - moving, job change or death of a loved one, internal - some kind of own illness that spoils the quality of life. Stress occurs only when the impact of this circumstance has exceeded the personal threshold of stress resistance.

Stress can be acute, developing as a single impact, the consequences of which in some cases may pass spontaneously. He is programmed by nature to fight or run away from danger. More often in the modern world, chronic stress occurs, when psychotraumatic circumstances “layer” one on top of the other. This process is the cause of many chronic diseases.

Why stress is dangerous

Scientists say: more than 150 thousand people from 142 countries of the world now have health problems precisely because of stress. The most common of them are heart diseases (angina pectoris, hypertension, myocardial infarction). So, according to the Russian Academy of Sciences, after it ceased to exist Soviet Union, for 13 years the number of patients with cardiovascular diseases has increased from 617 to 900 people per 100 thousand people.

At the same time, the number of smokers, people who consistently take alcohol, people with obesity and high cholesterol levels - that is, those reasons due to which pathologies of the heart and blood vessels develop - remained within the previous values. Then scientists seriously thought about the impact of the psycho-emotional state on health.

Mental illnesses are in second place for the consequences of a life of constant tension, and obesity is in third place. Chronic stress does not bypass the organs of the digestive and genitourinary systems, but the changes occurring in them are not so fatal. In addition, a person living in constant psycho-emotional stress greatly reduces their own immunity, becoming defenseless in the face of many diseases.

How stress develops

For the first time, the processes that occur after a person encounters a traumatic situation were described by the psychologist Cannon in 1932. A wide discussion of this issue, as well as the term "stress" itself, appeared only in 1936, after an article by the previously unknown physiologist Hans Selye, who called stress "a syndrome that develops as a result of exposure to various damaging agents."

Selye found that when the psyche is affected by an agent that exceeds the adaptive resources of the organism of this person (in other words, exceeding the threshold of stress tolerance), the following reactions develop:

the adrenal cortex increases, where the “stress hormone”, the main glucocorticoid hormone cortisol, is produced;
the number of lipid granules in the adrenal medulla decreases, the main task of which is to secrete adrenaline and norepinephrine into the blood;
the volume of lymphatic tissue, which is responsible for immunity, decreases: the thymus (the central organ of immunity), the spleen, and lymph nodes reverse development;
the mucous membranes of the stomach and duodenum are damaged up to the formation of ulcers on them (stress ulcers).

Under the influence of the hormones cortisol, adrenaline and noradrenaline, not only stress ulcers occur on the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines, but also:

the level of glucose in the blood rises and at the same time the sensitivity of tissues to insulin decreases (that is, due to chronic stress, you can “earn” type 2 diabetes mellitus);
blood pressure rises;
heartbeat becomes more frequent;
increased deposition of adipose tissue in the subcutaneous tissue;
tissue proteins break down, glucose is formed from them;
sodium is retained, and with it water in the tissues, and potassium, which is necessary for the functioning of the heart and nerves, is excreted faster than necessary;

Due to the decrease in the volume of lymphatic tissue, overall immunity decreases. As a result, the body's resistance to infections decreases, and any virus can cause severe illness and be complicated by bacterial infections.

The threshold of stress resistance is individual for each person. It depends on:

the type of nervous system (it is one of two strong or two weak), which is determined by the speed of reactions and decision-making, the severity and nature of human emotions;
a person's life experience;
resistance of the psyche to the influence of adverse factors.

So, choleric and melancholic people are easily stressed, a balanced sanguine person is less, a phlegmatic person is even less (he needs a large stress factor).

Classification

Stress is the general name for the reactions described above, when the work of the adrenal glands is activated under the influence of the psyche. He can be:

positive. This is eustress. It is caused by sudden joy, for example, from meeting an old friend or from an unexpected gift, inspiration, thirst for competition. Does not adversely affect health. It was in a state of eustress that records were set, discoveries and feats were made;
negative called distress. It will be discussed further, as it can destroy health.

According to the nature of the impact, stress, or rather, distress, can be:

Neuropsychiatric or psychological. This is the main view, which is divided into 2 types:
- information stress, which occurs as a result of an overabundance of information. Usually develops in people whose job is to constantly process a large amount of information;
- psycho-emotional stress that occurs due to strong anger, resentment or hatred.
Physical, which is divided into:
- temperature (for example, in response to exposure to heat or cold);
- food (when hungry or forced to eat those foods that cause disgust;
- pain (due to pain, injury);
- light (if a person is forced to stay in an illuminated space all the time: at work, lying in a hospital, if he got into the conditions of a polar day).

Distress can be caused by extreme conditions (war, hurricanes, floods, landslides) or extremely strong psychological events (this is the death of a relative, the breakup of a relationship, passing an exam).

There is also a classification of a stressor (stressor). As such it can be:

A life event is a long-term event: moving, business trip, divorce, death of a loved one.
Catastrophe. This includes trauma, accident, war, death of a friend.
Chronic emotional stress. It arises as a result of unresolved constant conflicts with family members or colleagues.
Small life difficulties, which, accumulating like a "snowball", can destroy normal relationships in the family.

These stressors are the causes of distress.

How stress flows

Hans Selye identified three stages in the body's response to any stress. The speed of their occurrence depends on the strength of the stressor and the state of the central nervous system of a particular person:

Stage of anxiety. A person ceases to control his thoughts and actions, prerequisites are created for the weakening of the body. Behavior becomes the opposite of that which is characteristic of this person.
resistance stage. The resistance of the body increases so that a person can make some decision and cope with the situation that has arisen.
Exhaustion stage. It develops during prolonged stress, when the body is "not able" to maintain the stage of resistance anymore. It is at this stage that lesions of the internal organs develop - each is different.

There is also a more extended description of the stages, made after the work of Selye. There are 4 stages here:

Mobilization: the attention and activity of a person is increasing, forces are still being spent sparingly. If at this stage the process fades, then it only tempers, and does not destroy a person.
Sthenic (active) negative emotion. Anger, aggression, rage arise. To achieve the goal, forces begin to be spent uneconomically, and the body takes the path of exhaustion.
Asthenic (that is, passive) negative emotion. It arises as a result of the excessive expenditure of one's own forces at the previous stage. The person is sad, does not believe in his own strength and that this situation can be resolved. He may become depressed.
Complete demoralization. It occurs when the stressor continues to act on the body. A person resigns himself to defeat, becomes indifferent, does not want to solve either the stressor task or any others. A person in this stage of distress is said to be "broken".

What can cause stress

What causes stress in an adult has already been discussed above. These are injuries, and moving, and separation / divorce, and the death of a loved one, and money problems, and the constant lack of time to complete the work on time, and illness - one's own or close. Women experience stress at the birth of a child, even if they thought that they had prepared for it in 9 months (particularly vulnerable to stress are women in labor who had a difficult pregnancy, suffered a break with a loved one or had constant conflicts during this period).

Factors that increase the chance of developing stress are chronic diseases, lack of sleep, lack of friendly environment or friends. More vulnerable to stress are people who are true to their beliefs and the given word.

The causes of stress in children may not be so obvious:

hypothermia;
problem with treatment in kindergarten;
the problem of communication with peers;
change of residence;
increased workload at school or in the last year of attending kindergarten;
communication problems;
imposing hobbies by parents;
the lack of a person with whom you can discuss your problems;
sending to sanatoriums or pioneer camps without parents;
frequent stays in the hospital without parents;
initial sexual experience;
unfavorable situation in the family;
loss of a pet
a sharp change in the daily routine;
change of time zone;
the content of the cartoon, film, computer game(scenes of murders, violence, erotic character);
casual observation of the intimate communication of parents or strangers;
abrupt change in weather conditions.

How to know if a person is stressed

Distinguish between acute and chronic stress. They manifest themselves in different ways, and we will analyze them in detail later.

There is also a diagnosis of "Acute reaction to stress." This is the name of a disorder that occurs in mental healthy person in response to a very strong psychological and / or physical stressor, when there was a direct threat to the life of this person or someone close to him. It can be noted after:

natural disaster (hurricane, tsunami, flood);
house fire;
rape, especially if it was especially cruel;
death of children;
car accidents;
how a person was taken hostage in a terrorist attack;
participation in hostilities, especially bloody ones.

Such severe stress is a short-term disorder, lasting several hours or 1-2 days. After it, urgent help is needed (within the first 48 hours) from a competent psychiatrist or psychotherapist, otherwise the stress will either end in a suicidal attempt, or go into a chronic form with all the ensuing consequences.

Higher risk of developing a reaction to severe stress in people:

emaciated after illness or hard work;
having a brain disease;
who are over 50 years old;
who do not see help from the outside;
for whom what happened was a complete surprise;
when other people die around.

An acute reaction to stress is evidenced by symptoms that begin a few minutes after the incident (less often - tens of minutes):

Such clouding of consciousness, when a person ceases to navigate in what is happening, but can pay attention to small details around. Because of this, a person can do strange, meaningless acts, as a result of which it may seem to others that he has lost his mind.
The person may express delusional ideas, talk about non-existent events, or talk to someone who is not around. This behavior lasts a short period of time, it can end abruptly.
A person with an acute reaction does not understand or poorly understands the speech addressed to him, does not comply with requests or does it incorrectly.
Extreme retardation of both speech and movement. It can be expressed to such an extent that a person freezes in one position and answers questions only with some kind of sound. Less likely to be backlash: verbal flow that is difficult to stop, as well as pronounced motor restlessness. There may even be a stampede or attempts to inflict serious injury on oneself.
Reactions from the autonomic nervous system: dilated pupils, blanching or redness of the skin, vomiting, diarrhea. There may even be such a sharp drop in blood pressure that a person dies.
Often there are also such symptoms of stress as: confusion, inability to answer (with full understanding of speech), aggressiveness, despair.

If a person with an unhealthy psyche (but not mentally ill) got into a similar situation, the body's acute reaction to stress may not be the same as described above.

If these symptoms persist for more than 2-3 days, this is not an acute stress reaction. An urgent need to contact a neurologist, infectious disease specialist, psychiatrist or narcologist to find the real cause of this condition.

After suffering an acute reaction, the memory of such behavior disappears partially or completely. At the same time, a person remains tense for some time, his sleep and behavior are disturbed. For 2-3 weeks he is exhausted, he has no desire to do anything, and even the will to live. He can go to work and do it mechanically.

How to relieve stress - 20 ways read in our article

acute stress

The fact that stress has taken place in a person’s life is indicated by the following symptoms that occur immediately or shortly after a collision with a stressor:

emotional "explosion", which is combined either with a feeling of uncontrollable anxiety or fear, or with excitement close to aggression;
nausea, there may be a single vomiting (we are often shown this in films);
feeling of tightness, discomfort in the chest;
heart palpitations;
sweating;
rapid breathing, which may be accompanied by a feeling of lack of air;
chills or feeling hot;
abdominal pain;
numbness, feeling of "cotton" limbs; stress urinary incontinence.

If the stress was strong, but not reaching a critical point (when there was a threat to life, after which an acute reaction to stress usually develops), a person, in addition to the symptoms listed above, may have:

convulsions (muscle contractions) without loss of consciousness;
skin rash, identical to urticaria that occurs in response to the intake of an allergen;
headache;
painful urge to empty the bowels, after which loose stools are observed;
pronounced feeling of hopelessness, despair

chronic stress

This condition is much more common in modern people with a rapid pace of life. The symptoms of chronic stress are not as pronounced as those of an acute stress response, so it is often dismissed as fatigue and ignored until it leads to various diseases. When the same last man turns to doctors and begins treatment, which does not lead to proper results because the cause - a life of chronic stress - remains unresolved.

The fact that a person suffers from chronic stress will be indicated by signs that can be conditionally divided into several groups:

Associated with changes in human physiology

Due to stress, a person can experience quite physical suffering, which makes him look for the cause, visit doctors of various specialties, and take a large number of medications. But the presence of the following symptoms, when they develop in a person experiencing frequent or constant stress, does not mean that he does not have peptic ulcer or angina pectoris. Therefore, we will list them, and you will know that if you find some of them, you are examined, but the doctor says that he does not find anything in you, these are signs of a stress disorder, and they should be treated accordingly.

Physiological symptoms of chronic stress include:

heartburn;
belching;
nausea;
pain in the stomach;
bruxism (grinding teeth during sleep);
chest pain;
frequent urination;
stuttering
tinnitus;
dry mouth;
cold hands;
difficulty swallowing;
periodic muscle spasms: spasm of the muscles of the hands, incomprehensible and moving muscle pains;
"twisting" the joints;
hot flashes, redness of the face;
frequent infectious diseases respiratory tract accompanied by cough, runny nose;
loss of appetite;
weight loss or gain;
headache;
backache;
during the next stress, the temperature may rise by several tens;
"jumps" in blood pressure;
increased sweating;
severe trembling of the upper limbs;
tics and obsessive movements;
a rash in the form of red spots or vesicles that arose "from scratch";
erectile dysfunction, decreased libido.

Emotion related symptoms

The presence of chronic stress in a person is evidenced by changes in the character of a person, when a previously balanced person has:

underestimation of self-esteem;
capriciousness;
irritability;
anxiety;
tearfulness;
outbursts of anger;
impulsive actions;
hostility towards others;
suspicion;
deceit;
the disappearance of goals, incentives, interests in life;
guilt;
constant criticism of loved ones;
pessimism;
feeling of unreality of what is happening;
touchiness;
focus on unpleasant events;
lowering the anxiety threshold;
tendency to command shouts;
a feeling of loneliness, hopelessness, inexpressible longing;
the appearance of thoughts of suicide;
change in the length of sleep and a violation of its quality (nightmares);
increased sensitivity to loud sounds, bright or flashing lights;
memory impairment;
even the slightest trouble can cause panic, anxiety or aggression.

Socio-behavioral symptoms

The fact that a person has chronic stress will be prompted by changes in his behavior and communication. This is:

inattention;
loss of interest in appearance;
loss of former interests: to work, to a hobby;
nervous laughter;
addiction to alcohol, drugs, medications;
trying to be isolated;
constant lack of time;
workaholism and constant stress at work and at home independent attempt"get away" from the situation;
the person becomes conflicted;
makes many small mistakes in his usual work;
while driving, he often behaves inappropriately, speaking rudely in relation to other drivers.

Intelligent signs

These include:

memory impairment: a person does not remember well and quickly forgets, there may be memory lapses;
difficulties with the analysis of new information;
repetition of what was said before;
obsessive thoughts, often negative;
viscosity of speech;
difficulty making a decision.

Features of the course of stress in women

Women are more vulnerable to stress. In addition, in an attempt to be an ideal wife and mother, they try not to talk about their experiences, but “store” them in themselves. This causes the appearance of certain symptoms, most of which are described above, not differing from "male". Of these, if you do not pay attention to it in time, gynecological, cardiac, endocrine disease or obesity can “grow”.

Signs of stress in women, by which it is not always possible to guess that she is stressed, are:

headache (most often felt in half of the head);
pain in the joints;
"failure" of the monthly cycle;
sudden, not characteristic of a woman before, mood swings;
twitching of the eyelid in one eye, which lasts for several minutes;
back pain;
the appearance of "incomprehensible" red elements of the rash and / or ulcers;
spasms, accompanied by pain, then in one, then in another part of the abdomen;
panic attacks;
pain in the stomach;
deterioration in coordination;
addiction to certain types of food (often sweets and dairy products) and alcohol;
according to the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, often recurrent vaginal thrush can become a sign of stress that develops under the influence of cortisol;
hair loss (it may not be immediately, but 3-6 months after stress);
"noise", "whistling", "clicking" in the ears;
decrease in working capacity;
decrease in the instinct of self-preservation;
thoughts of suicide;
irritability;
a change in attitude towards oneself and loved ones (feelings of guilt, emotional coldness).

Especially it is necessary to pay attention to such (mainly the last 4) symptoms after childbirth. They indicate that postpartum depression or the more dangerous postpartum psychosis may begin.

Features of the course of stress in children

Signs of stress in a child are also not very noticeable, especially if the baby is not yet at a conscious age.

If the child is less than 2 years old, the fact that he has suffered stress will be evidenced by refusal to eat, tearfulness and irritability. The same symptoms will develop with any inflammatory or non-inflammatory process, so they must be excluded in the first place.

A 2-5-year-old child “declares” the shock of the return of old habits: thumb sucking, pacifiers, refusal to self-feed, urinary or fecal incontinence. The baby may begin to cry under changing circumstances (for example, from the fact that they start waking him up at night to use the toilet) or when new people appear. He may also start to stutter.

Stress in a child of 2-5 years old will be indicated by hyperactivity or, conversely, a decrease in activity, unreasonable short-term temperature rises, vomiting, frequent mood swings, the appearance of many fears (darkness, loneliness, dogs or people of certain professions). A stressed baby does not sleep well.

In a child of 5-9 years old, stress is manifested by the following symptoms:

fatigue;
decrease in academic performance;
nightmares;
behavior, as in younger children (the child begins to “lisp”, caress, become like a baby);
aggression;
causeless fears, anxieties;
attempts to run away from home or, conversely, the child tries not to leave the house, avoids other children, does not want to go to school;
increase or, conversely, decrease in appetite;
nausea and even vomiting;
headaches;
pain in the chest;
seizures in the corners of the mouth;
stratification of nails;
the child may partially forget stressful events;
nervous tics or the appearance of habits of biting nails or other objects (rulers, rubber bands, pens), pulling out hair, picking your nose, combing your skin;
defiant behavior for several days;
if a child begins to lie, this can also be a sign of stress.

What are the symptoms of stress

The main symptoms after stress indicate the exhaustion of the body. This is:

the appearance of heat intolerance;
causeless nausea;
fatigue that appears faster than before, may not go away even after a long rest;
insomnia at night, drowsiness during the day, but may be constant sleepiness sick;
loss of appetite;
decreased libido;
indifference to one's own appearance;
deterioration of attention, memory;
indecision;
difficulty concentrating;
negative thoughts;
a person becomes quick-tempered, irritable;
the pulse is speeded up, arterial pressure is either increased or decreased, sweating is increased, headaches, sweating.

But if the irritant was strong enough, then if an acute reaction to stress did not develop, then after a few weeks or months (up to six months), a person may develop a syndrome of post-traumatic stress disorder. It shows up:

alienation from others;
distrust of others;
aggressiveness;
anxiety;
inadequate (usually very weak or its complete absence) reaction to current events;
a person “lives” in his problem: during the day he thinks about the stressor, at night he dreams of it in the form of nightmares;
if it seems to a person that a traumatic situation followed after a combination of some phenomena, then when they reappear in his life, he becomes aggressive, experiences a panic attack;
panic attacks can occur on their own, they decrease when communicating with other people, so at such moments the patient willingly makes contact even with strangers;
a person may experience pain in the abdomen, in the heart, in the head. On this occasion, he is sometimes examined, but nothing is found on him. This makes him look for a "competent" doctor, turn to many specialists. If none of the medical professionals correlates the symptoms with the stress experienced, the patient may lose faith in medicine, start self-treatment, and take alcohol or drugs “to calm down”.

Thus, the symptoms caused by stress are very similar to diseases of the internal organs. It is possible to suspect that this is stress due to the fact that the signs affect several body systems at once (for example, joint pain and heartburn occur). You can clarify the diagnosis only with the help of an examination: then with the help of instrumental (fibrogastroscopy, cardiogram, ultrasound of the heart, X-ray of the gastrointestinal tract) and laboratory (these are analyzes) studies, no changes will be detected or they will be minimal. The presence of stress will be confirmed by a psychotherapist or psychiatrist on the basis of a conversation with a person and some oral tests. Blood levels of cortisol and the hormone ACTH will also indicate a stress response.

Among the huge number of scientific publications devoted to stress, which are replenished every year (mostly these works are of a physiological and medical orientation), in recent years there have been more and more works concerning the psychological manifestations of the stress reaction. As noted in his study by L.A. Kitaev-Smyk, the library of the International Institute of Stress has collected more than 150,000 publications on this issue.

In 1980, the "Selye Foundation" began publishing a thematic magazine "Stress".

The main problems that are discussed both on the pages of printed publications and at various conferences and psychological forums are: stress and life, sociological problems of stress, students and stress, psychological and demographic problems of stress, etc.

The psychological disorders most often associated with excessive stress are causeless anxiety, manic behavior, sleep disturbances, depressive manifestations, etc. Thus, a number of researchers have shown that an increased level of anxiety can result from symptomatic and proprioceptive impulses to the cerebral cortex.

As noted by J. Everly and R. Rosenfeld, excessive excitation associated with stress, ascending through the reticular activating system to the limbic region and neocortex, leads to the emergence of unorganized and non-functional nervous impulses, manifested in the presence of symptoms of sleep disturbance, vague anxiety, and in some cases and little purposeful manic behavior. At the same time, it should be noted that the activation of a psychological stress reaction always precedes the manifestation of diffuse pointless anxiety.

Another psychological manifestation of excessive stress is depressive reactions. It has been established that stressful events that lead a person to the idea that he is in a hopeless situation are associated by scientists with psychophysiological stressful arousal. The activation of the manifestation of this stressful excitation is depression.

There is also evidence of a link between stress and schizophrenia (i.e. organic brain changes). One of the behavioral hypotheses of schizophrenia considers this disease as a disturbed adaptive avoidance mechanism when faced with an anxiety-provoking situation.

Questions for self-control

What are the main issues discussed in the study of the psychology of stress.

What functional disorders can lead to stress.

Emotional stress and mechanisms of its development

Human emotions as a factor in the regulation of behavior. The most studied in the field of psychological manifestations of stress is emotional stress. At the same time, it is impossible to understand the essence of emotional stress without understanding the essence of a person's emotional manifestations. After all, emotions continuously accompany a person's life, they are powerful incentives for a person to satisfy both social and biological needs. At the same time, it should be noted that for most people (due to the socio-social nature of human activity), social needs have reached the greatest development, with which most emotional experiences are associated. If the goal is achieved and the need is thus satisfied, positive emotions arise that contribute, as K.V. Sudakov, the cessation of purposeful activity and cause a "state of peace of mind."

If the need remains unsatisfied, then the emergence of negative emotional states is quite natural.

As proved by physiologists and psychophysiologists, on what emotions a person experiences (positive or negative modality), his mental and physical state largely depends.

Turning to studies devoted to the study of the emotional sphere of personality (the works of L.S. Vygotsky, V.P. Zinchenko, A.G. Kovalev, A.N. Leontiev, A.A. Lyublinskaya, A.V. Petrovsky, P.M. Yakobson et al.), it should be noted that in their studies, scientists note that emotions and feelings are a special class of mental processes determined by the influence of the environment.

Studying the features of the emotional-personal sphere, in their research, scientists, first of all, make an attempt to define this concept. So, A.A. Lyublinskaya notes that emotions should be understood as relatively short-term processes that are clearly expressed, i.e. clearly demonstrating a person's attitude to various situations, to their activities, to actions, etc.

A.V. Petrovsky proposes to understand emotions as a direct, temporary experience of some more permanent feeling and defines emotions as "spiritual excitement, spiritual movement."

One of the fundamental studies of psychologists in the field of studying emotions and feelings is the study of P.M. Jacobson. Having studied the nature of the emergence of emotions and feelings, the scientist concludes that the root cause of their occurrence is needs (which we pointed out earlier). The development and change of the need sphere entails changes in the sphere of feelings and emotions, a change in human experiences. In this case, not only the strength of these experiences, but also their direction is of great importance. Experiences can often become a stimulus, motive for an act, active actions of a person.

The predominance of emotions of positive or negative modality of emotions, according to S.L. Rubinstein, will have an impact on all spheres of life and activity of an emerging personality, on the activation of the entire system of human relations with the world. Moreover, the researcher sees this activity not only in the manifestation of the activity of thought, but also in the active manifestations of emotions and feelings. The scientist considers sensory cognition not only as the starting point of cognition, but also as its necessary component.

L.S. also adheres to the position on the regulatory function of emotions. Vygotsky, who notes that it is emotions that organize human behavior. According to the researcher, this happens by analogy with the “stimulus-response” mechanism. The scientist believes that emotions should be considered as a system of preliminary reactions that tell the organism the immediate future of its behavior and organize the forms of this behavior.

In the studies of scientists, an attempt was made to determine approaches to the classification of emotions and feelings of a person (studies by G.I. Baturina, B.I. Dodonov, P.M. Yakobson). Thus, P.M. Jacobson takes the idea that human emotions and feelings are a synthesis of individual-typical (innate) and socio-cultural (acquired) experience. The scientist notes that a person's feelings, being his personal "response" to the environment, are generated in their content primarily by the nature of that phenomenon, that side of reality, to which they are directed. Then they are determined by the nature of the attitude that people have developed towards this side of reality in the process of long-term social practice. And, finally, they are determined by the nature of individual human needs. Based on this, the author proposes to distinguish between feelings:

according to the object of reality to which they are directed (real, imaginary, etc.);

At the same time, P.M. Jacobson proposes to allocate higher feelings into a separate category. He refers to them: moral, aesthetic, intellectual and praxic.

The problem of classification of emotional states is also devoted to the study of B.I. Dodonov. The author divides all emotional states into specific, which reflect the nature and state of a specific, specific need, and non-specific, which are a reflection of the general state of a person and characterize his need sphere as a whole. In turn, the scientist refers the following ten emotional states of a person to the number of specific emotions:

1. Altruistic emotions. These are experiences that arise on the basis of the need for assistance, help, patronage of other people. As the author notes, it is possible that this need is genetically derived from the “parental instinct”. Altruistic emotions can be experienced by people without really helping others, but only by identifying themselves in the imagination with one or another noble hero. The inventory of altruistic emotions is the desire to bring joy to others, a sense of concern for the fate of someone, care, empathy for the good luck and joy of another person, a feeling of tenderness or tenderness, a feeling of devotion, a feeling of participation and pity.

2. Communicative emotions. These emotions arise on the basis of the need for communication. However, the author points out that not any emotion that arises in the process of communication can be considered as communicative. Communicative emotions should include only those that ensure the realization of the need for emotional intimacy with other people. The inventory of these emotions stands out: the desire to communicate, share thoughts and experiences, find a response to them, a sense of sympathy, location, a sense of respect, a sense of gratitude, gratitude, a sense of adoration, a desire to earn approval from loved ones and respected people.

3. Emotions of self-affirmation and ambition. These emotions are associated with the need for self-affirmation, fame.

4. Praxic emotions. As noted by B.I. Dodonov, the term "praxic feelings" was introduced by P.M. Yakobson, who proposed to call so the experiences caused by activity, its change in the course of work, its success or failure, the difficulties of its implementation and completion. The inventory of this type of emotions B.I. Dodonov identifies the following manifestations: the desire to succeed in work, a sense of tension, enthusiasm for work, admiring the results of one's work.

5. Emotions of struggle. According to the author, these emotions come from the need to overcome danger, and the inventory of these emotions is a thirst for thrills, intoxication with danger, risk, determination, a feeling of strong volitional and physical tension, mobilization of one's physical and mental abilities.

6. Romantic emotions. According to the researcher, these emotions can be viewed as a desire for the unusual, the mysterious. However, B.I. Dodonov notes that the feeling of mystery as a typical "romantic emotion" appears in us not in connection with any mystery, but only where we vividly "feel" our inclusion in the number of objects that are affected by the mysterious factor, especially when a conscious factor is attributed to it. will, spirituality. The feeling of the mysterious almost always includes the expectation that something is about to happen. These emotions are manifested in the pursuit of the extraordinary, the unknown; expectation of something unusual and very good, a feeling of special significance of what is happening, etc.

7. Gnostic emotions (or intellectual feelings). According to the researcher, these categories should not be juxtaposed. The author notes that a person connects gnostic emotions not just with the need to receive any new information, but with the need for “cognitive harmony”. Its essence is to find the familiar, familiar, understandable in the new, unknown, thus bringing all available information to one common denominator. The tools of these emotions can be: the desire to understand something, to penetrate into the essence of the phenomenon, a feeling of surprise or bewilderment, a feeling of conjecture, etc.

8. Aesthetic emotions. Despite the fact that this category of feelings has been studied for a long time, as B.I. Dodonov, the question of the nature and even the very composition of aesthetic experiences is still far from being clarified. The complexity of the issue, according to the researcher, lies in the fact that the aesthetic attitude to the depicted is manifested through all other feelings: joy, anger, longing, disgust, suffering, grief, etc. However, it is not clear what constitutes an aesthetic feeling in its purest form, without the feelings that accompany it.

9. Hedonic emotions. This includes emotions associated with satisfaction of the need for bodily and spiritual comfort. The inventory of these emotions is: enjoyment of pleasant sensations from delicious food, warmth, etc., a sense of carelessness, a sense of fun, etc.

10. Emotions of acquisition, accumulation. As the author notes, these emotions arise in connection with the interest in the accumulation, "collection" of things that go beyond the practical need for them. Perhaps this passion is genetically related to the instincts of animals that encourage them to stock up for the winter.

However, as B.I. Dodonov, this classification can be called open and, if necessary, supplemented with new categories of emotional experiences.

The result of psychological research was also the study of the properties of emotions: reactivity, that is, the ability to respond to stimuli; sharpness and depth perceived and experienced; longevity impact when a person does not leave his strong feelings for a long time; stability, the result of which is the difficulty of replacing some emotions with others (especially for preschool children); differentiation.

Systemic organization of emotions and its role in human behavior. According to the theory of functional systems P.K. Anokhin, emotions play a decisive role in the organization of purposeful human behavior. Continuously "coloring" different stages of behavior, emotions, as we noted above, first of all, mobilize the body to satisfy the leading biological or social needs. The biological significance of emotions has not only been preserved and consolidated by emotions, but has also received the greatest development in the behavioral and labor activity of a person. This is objectively due, first of all, to the development of social forms of motivation for behavior and activity.

The biological meaning of emotions, as scientists believe, is as follows. Emotions make it possible to subjectively assess the need existing in the body, its magnitude, qualitative characteristics, and allow us to determine, in relation to biological or social needs, both favorable and harmful factors for human life that affect his body. It is emotions that make it possible to single out the most significant needs from the various needs that simultaneously exist in the human body and direct the behavioral activity of a person precisely to satisfy them.

According to K.V. Sudakov, on the basis of the need in the human brain, motivation (motivation of excitation) is formed, which is a specific informational neurophysiological equivalent of the existing need. Motivation as a specific state of the brain induces a person to action, that is, to the formation of purposeful behavior, which, ultimately, is designed to satisfy this need.

Theory of the functional system P.K. Anokhin characterizes various key mechanisms of human behavioral activity and allows you to determine those stages of behavior that are accompanied by distinct emotional reactions.

According to the scientist, the first stage of a behavioral act should be considered the most emotionally charged. afferent synthesis, in which the complex of motivational, situational and triggering stimuli interacts in the central nervous system based on previous experience. According to the "information theory of emotions" P.V. Simonov, the severity of the emotional reaction depends on the predicted probability of satisfying the existing need. According to the scientist, in the event that there is a lack of information and the previous experience of a person does not allow a decision to be made on an expedient behavioral act that guarantees the achievement of the desired result, then in this case a negative emotional reaction appears, the severity of which will be inversely proportional to the probability of achieving the result.

In the case when, on the basis of previous experience, when making a decision, the absolute possibility of achieving a useful result is predicted, emotional reactions do not arise and the behavioral act acquires an automated character.

Thus, already when making a decision, the organism predicts in the acceptor of the results of action not only the parameters of the future result, but also the probability of its achievement.

As noted by P.V. Simonov and K.V. Sudakov, the analysis of the subsequent stages of a purposeful behavioral act shows that the most pronounced negative emotional reaction occurs when there is a “mismatch”, a discrepancy between the results obtained and the result predicted and necessary to satisfy the biological or social needs of a person. According to K.V. Sudakov, the degree of disagreement and, consequently, the emotional reaction in this case depend on the initially predicted possibility of achieving the desired result with the help of the implemented behavioral act. The lower the initially estimated probability of achieving the result, the less pronounced the reaction of mismatch and the emotional manifestations associated with it.

Thus, it should be noted that in the stage of evaluating the effectiveness of behavior, the greatest emotionality is manifested with maximum confidence in success.

Turning to the research of P.K. Anokhin, it should be noted that with his work, the scientist proved that in a case favorable for the body, when the parameters of the result achieved correspond to the properties of the acceptor of the result of the action, an emotion of a positive modality arises, which, as it were, “crowns”, is the completion of a successful behavioral act, especially in the case , when initially there was and was not predicted the absolute probability of achieving an adaptive result.

Strong negative emotions, therefore, arise in the process of behavior formation when the probability of satisfying the need is low and the behavior is ineffective, or when certain obstacles appear on the way to the goal. In this case, a conflict situation arises that does not allow to lead to a positive achievement of a behavioral result.

At the same time, scientists who study this problem believe that the stronger negative emotions are at the stage of formation and implementation of behavior, the more pronounced positive emotions will be in case of successful completion of the behavioral act and satisfaction of the dominant need.

At the same time, it should be noted that emotions of a positive modality cannot arise without negative emotions preceding them. Under natural conditions, a person's desire for positive emotions means the formation, under the stimulating influence of negative emotions, of such purposeful behavior, with the help of which, despite a large number of obstacles, it is still possible to achieve the necessary or desired result.

The foregoing indicates that emotions accompany different stages of the systemic organization of behavioral acts: the process of afferent synthesis, decision-making, and evaluation of the effectiveness of behavior (when comparing back afferentation from a result with an emphasis on the results of an action). In the process of a purposeful behavioral act, there is a certain relationship between positive and negative emotions. Emotions are a specific subjective state of a person, entirely (both qualitatively and quantitatively) depending on the nature of a social or biological need, the possibility and reality of its satisfaction with purposeful behavior and characterized by a complex of somatovegetative reactions. The main biological meaning of emotions is that they contribute to the achievement of a behavioral result and the satisfaction of a social or biological need associated with it. These ideas formed the basis of the synthetic theory of the occurrence of positive and negative emotional reactions at different stages of behavior, developed by E.A. Yumatov.

Emotional stress: general characteristics . As noted above, for the first time the idea of stress as a general non-specific adaptation syndrome of the body was formulated in the works of G. Selye. According to scientists, stress- this is a stress reaction that occurs as a non-specific response of the body to the action of emergency, unfavorable environmental factors - stressors - which are various pathogenic, toxic and foreign substances, physical factors, etc. According to G. Selye, stress, by its biological nature, has an adaptive orientation and activates the protective mechanisms of the human body to prevent pathogenic effects on it from these adverse factors. As noted above, stress is characterized by a number of stages (states) successively replacing each other:

resistance;
exhaustion, after which the death of the body may occur.

Along with the general concept of stress, science has formed an idea of emotional stress as the subject's primary psycho-emotional reaction to the action of stressors, which is also characterized by a complex of non-specific (in relation to the initiating factor) manifestations.

The foundations of ideas about emotional stress were laid by W. Cannon and subsequently developed by K. Levy. Their studies showed that emotional stress activates sympathetic-adrenal mechanisms, which at a certain stage of stress development have an adaptive function, and then, in the case of sequential development of stress phases, they turn into their opposite, characterized by a violation of somatovegetative functions.

Thus, it should be noted that already in the first studies devoted to the study of emotional stress, its dual nature was discovered, which manifests itself, on the one hand, in an adaptive, and, on the other, in a pathogenic meaning.

As for domestic research, it should be noted that the problem of emotional stress (the history of the formation and development of scientific ideas about emotional stress, its mechanisms, prerequisites for its development, etc.) is disclosed in detail in the works of K.V. Sudakova and E.A. Yumatova. As a methodological basis for their studies of emotional stress, scientists use the functional approach proposed by P.K. Anokhin.

In contrast to the reflex approach, the theory of functional systems focuses not on physiological reactions that occur in response to the action of appropriate stimuli, but on the achievement of adaptive results by the body. It is on the basis of the theory of functional systems that the idea of the decisive role of the conflict situation in the genesis of emotional stress is formulated. It should be noted that a conflict is understood as such a situation in which the subject, if he has a strong need long time cannot satisfy her. Systematic dissatisfaction with the need and the associated dissatisfaction with the results of behavior, due to the lack of the ability for the subject to achieve an adaptive result, gives rise to a long-term continuous negative emotional stress, which scientists refer to as emotional stress. At the same time, emotional reactions lose their adaptive nature and, as a result of summation, cause and stimulate a violation of the physiological functions of the body, which leads to the emergence of various psychosomatic diseases.

Thus, the analysis of studies on the psychology of emotions allows us to conclude that weak, short-term and diverse emotions that lead to mild stress can have a positive effect on almost all organs and systems of the body. Scientists even introduce the term "emotional organ massage." At the same time, emotions that are strong in magnitude and short in duration, as well as weak and long in time, emotions can be considered as the cause of various functional disorders in the human body. So, strong anger can lead to liver damage; a constant feeling of fear, sadness affects the kidneys; prolonged melancholy - lungs; a constant feeling of anxiety causes organic changes in the spleen and pancreas; excessive, irrepressible joy, jealousy or envy negatively affects the functioning of the heart.

Scientists also pay attention to the fact that it is emotions that are the most important stimuli of human behavior, and the behavior itself is maximally focused on achieving positive emotions. Associated with the vital needs of a living organism, emotions, scientists believe, were formed in the process of evolution as an essential component of the survival of living beings.

At the same time, the rapid development of civilization, scientific and technological progress have led, paradoxically, to undesirable disharmony in human life. As we noted above, a number of scientists consider technological progress as the main prerequisite for a significant increase in the psycho-emotional stress that falls on a person. And this is no coincidence. Modern life is characterized by rapid pace, information overload, decreased physical activity, a certain monotony, on the one hand, and the need to work, sometimes in extreme situations, increased levels of noise and social conflicts, etc. with another. Systematic dissatisfaction with oneself, uncertainty, and sometimes hopelessness in solving the tasks set, a socially conditioned need to restrain one's emotions and feelings, etc. led to the fact that a modern person quite rarely acquires a state of peace of mind and psycho-emotional balance. His modern life “leads” to an increase in psycho-emotional stress, and as a result, to a change in the spiritual world of a person and emotional stress. In a person, for no apparent reason, negative emotional states begin to prevail, he develops an imbalance between positive and negative emotions. In addition, emotional stress leads to disruption of the functioning of various organs and systems of the human body. The consequence of emotional stress, as shown by modern research, are immunodeficiency, hormonal, oncological and other psychosomatic diseases. It is emotional stress that is considered by physicians and physiologists as one of the main reasons for the increase in mortality.

By definition, O.V. Dashkevich, M.A. Kostyukhin, K.V. Sudakov, emotional stress is an integral state of the body, which is a "visceral syndrome" and is formed as a result of the summation of long-term negative emotional states generated by conflict behavioral situations and is characterized by a complex of somatovegetative disorders.

Social factors in the development of emotional stress . At the heart of the emergence and development of emotional stress, according to scientists, there is always a conflict behavioral situation in which a person cannot satisfy his social or biological needs (we have already discussed this above).

The emergence of a conflict behavioral situation is always subjective, since it depends on the individual's initial need, motive, and ability to satisfy and implement it in a certain environment.

Thus, the most important prerequisite for the development of emotional stress is conflict between human needs and real opportunities to meet them. At the heart of the conflict may be clashes of different public interests. Many conflict situations are provoked by the low socio-cultural level of people, the inability to defend their interests without resorting to emotions and feelings, the unwillingness to take into account the opinions of others, to objectively evaluate the results of their behavior and control their emotions.

At the same time, a number of “internal” conflicts can be distinguished, in which a person painfully experiences already irreparable, dramatic events in his life, experiences remorse, remorse, and a certain dissatisfaction with his life.

The second prerequisite for the development of emotional stress is significant expansion of the spectrum of social communication. The intensification of socio-economic activity at the present stage of development of society has led to a sharp increase in interpersonal influences, activation and enrichment of the spectrum of forms of social communication, which involves a wide exchange of information, coordination with a large number of people, solving complex, often contradictory tasks, etc. All this required a sharp increase in the level of emotional activity of a person, gave rise to many conflict situations (leadership, rivalry, self-doubt, etc.).

Another significant factor in the emergence and development of emotional stress, tension is lack of time to solve important tasks against the background of high interest in achieving the goals.

The next factor is inconsistency of modern production conditions with the physiological capabilities of a person. For example, when working on a conveyor with complex technical installations, a person is forced to “adjust” to the rhythm of production imposed on him by the machine, which is not always individually optimal for him, which naturally causes mental and physical overwork and, as a result, constant emotional overstrain.

The lack of fixed, ordered periods of rest among people in a number of professions also affects; the load throughout the working day is constant and maximum.

It should also be noted that emotional imbalance and, as a result, stress, causes the need (due to the specifics of professional activity) to constantly switch attention from one type of activity to another (for example, concentrated work with documents and forced distractions for phone calls).

As the next factor to be noted special susceptibility to stressful conditions of the urban population. As we noted above, increasing urbanization, a rapid increase in the volume of information, countless forced contacts with other people, lack of time - all this sharply reduces a person's stay in a state of emotional balance, peace. The peace is also disturbed by such urban factors as noise, air pollution, etc. According to such scientists as P.K. Anokhin, G.I. Kositsky, A.L. Myasnikov, E.I. Sokolov, K.V. Sudakov and many others, the accelerating rhythm of life, the complication of social relations, the violation of phylogenetically established biorhythms, the emergence of many chemical and physical factors that adversely affect the body, the need for rapid adaptation to these factors also play a certain negative role in the development of emotional overstrain.

Another stress factor scientists identify a significant decrease in the motor activity of modern people(hypokinesia). It has been established that hypokinesia, causing a decrease in energy metabolism, affects various functions of the body, including reducing the possibility of an adequate physiological response of the human body to emotions.

Another factor contributing to the development of stress, scientists identify personal dramatic events occurring in a person's life. Scientists have established a direct relationship between prolonged psychological discomfort, neuropsychic trauma and the development of emotional overstrain.

It should also be noted that the development of emotional stress contributes to narrowing the circle of communication, closing a person to his own daily needs and interests.

Essential features of emotional stress. So, as a special mental state, stress is directly related to the emergence and manifestation of human emotions and feelings. G. Selye, the founder of the scientific approach to studying the problem of stress, drew attention to this relationship and interdependence, who distinguished three types of emotions and feelings that underlie the manifestation of a stress reaction:

positive;

negative;

indifferent.

If we turn to the studies of various scientists, it should be noted that the term "emotional stress" is used to denote various states of the body and personality: from states that are within the physical and mental boundaries of psycho-emotional tension, to states on the verge of pathology, mental maladjustment and developing as a consequence prolonged or repeated emotional stress.

In the studies of G.N. Kassil, M.N. Rusalova, L.A. Kitaev-Smyk and other scientists understand emotional stress as a wide range of changes in mental and behavioral manifestations, accompanied by pronounced non-specific changes in biochemical, electrophysiological and other indicators.

Yu.A. Aleksandrovsky connects the tension of the psychological adaptation barrier with emotional stress.

According to A.V. Voldman, M.M. Kozlovskaya, O.S. Medvedev in the phenomenon of emotional stress should be distinguished:

a) a complex of immediate psychological reactions, which, in general form, can be defined as a process of perception and processing by a person of significant information contained in a signal (impact, situation) and subjectively perceived as emotionally negative (a “threat” signal, a state of discomfort, awareness of a conflict, etc.);

b) the process of psychological adaptation to an emotionally negative subjective state;

c) the state of psychological maladaptation, caused by emotional signals for a given person due to a violation of the functional capabilities of the system of mental maladjustment, which leads to dysregulation in the behavioral activity of the subject.

Relationship between emotional state and stress state. As the results of experimental studies show, many people, due to certain objective (a person falls into extreme situation) and subjective (individual-typical and personal characteristics) reasons are prone to a rapid change in emotional states.

However, along with rapidly changing, operational, as they are called, emotions, higher animal organisms, to which man also belongs, have a system for providing sufficiently long-term emotional states, which are called "emotional background" and characterize the mood of a person. Stable emotional states arise as a result of responding to long-term, unchanging, stable effects of the external or internal environment.

According to V.M. Crawl, mood is a certain constant component of emotions, that is, a value against which emotional fluctuations occur. The scientist sees the role of mood in the process of regulation of behavior in the addition of some rather long-term component of positive or negative modality to the magnitude of current operational emotional reactions.

It is customary to single out periods of cheerful, cheerful, optimistic, elevated mood, emotional state and periods of sad, depressed, pessimistic mood, which, due to certain circumstances, a person can experience.

A frequent consequence of long periods of oppressed emotional background are stressful conditions. It is no coincidence that R. Lazurs says that psychological stress is an emotional experience caused by a “threat” that affects a person’s ability to effectively carry out their activities.

Thus, it is possible to trace a direct, immediate connection between the emotional state and the stress response.

As the results of clinical studies have shown, stressful conditions, as a rule, develop as a result of prolonged exposure to difficult living conditions, shock mental stress and emotional overload. Long-term stress is considered as the cause of disorganization of human activity, nervous breakdowns, stable neurotic states and manifestations, various functional disorders of the organs and systems of the human body. That is why stress is considered by modern scientists as one of the main risk factors, the attention of many scientists (psychologists, sociologists, physiologists, etc.) is drawn to the problem of stress.

At the same time, scientists believe that the emotional reaction to stress in different people will be different. Turning to the history of psychological thought, it can be noted that even Hippocrates noted that with mental excitement and frustration, some people are prone to manic, others to depressive behavior. Differentiation of individual differences of this series corresponds to the concept, widely spread in the East, about two principles - "yang" and "yin" in a person. The first (“yang”) is realized in the activity of behavior, in the strength of character; the second ("yin") - in passivity or, with the excess of its manifestations, even in depressiveness.

A similar dichotomous division of individual differences in behavior can be found in the works of modern researchers. So, as the results of research by V.A. Kitaev-Smyk and his colleagues, one of the indicators of the state of emotional stress in people is a change in emotional and behavioral activity during stress, its strengthening or weakening. At the same time, the purpose of active behavioral reactions is to contribute to the prevention of the unfavorable development of a stressful situation due to accelerated and enhanced protective (aggressive) actions. At the same time, as the results of the study showed, excessive activation of behavior can lead to erroneous actions and even to a complete disorganization of activity.

It should also be noted that the activation of behavior under stress, as scientists note, can be both adequate and inadequate to solve the problem of getting out of a stressful situation and preventing the adverse effects of a stressor.

Questions for self-control

What is the problem of emotional stress related to?

Name the social factors that stimulate the occurrence of emotional stress.

Expand the essential features of emotional stress.

What is the relationship between stress and conflict?

What is the relationship between emotions and stress?

What determines the activity or passivity of a person's behavior under stress?

Usually this condition develops against the background of uncomfortable situations that do not allow the realization or satisfaction of basic physiological and social needs. Researchers have identified a number of causes that can trigger psycho-emotional stress, including:

feeling of fear;
difficult circumstances;
cardinal changes due to relocation, job change, etc.
anxiety.

Various situations that cause negative feelings can contribute to the emergence of this state. The resulting emotions and emotional stress can be most pronounced in the child. Children have a hard time enduring their failures, conflicts with peers, divorce of parents, etc. The intensity of emotions in this social group usually does not decrease for a long time, which contributes to the development of severe stress.

The appearance of psycho-emotional overstrain is often observed against the background of situations that pose a potential threat to life. Strong emotions and stress, as their continuation, can also appear under the influence of external stimuli, for example, excessive physical activity, infections, various diseases, etc. Against the background of these conditions, the effect of psychological stress appears. Some physiological causes can also provoke psycho-emotional stress. These factors include:

disorders in the work of the nervous system;
insomnia;
hormonal changes in the body;
chronic fatigue;
endocrine diseases;
adaptation reaction;
personal decompensation;
unbalanced diet.

All factors that provoke stress can be divided into external and internal. It is very important to identify what exactly led to strong experiences. The first group of factors includes conditions or conditions of the external environment, which are accompanied by strong emotions. The second can be attributed to the results of mental activity and human imagination. They usually have no connection with real events.

Risk groups of people exposed to emotional stress

Each person encounters this state many times, and its manifestations quickly disappear when the conditions in which they arose softened or the body adapted to them. However, scientists distinguish certain groups of people who have some features of psychological regulation that make them more susceptible to the effects of factors that cause an increase in emotional tension. They are more prone to stress, which manifests itself in them in a more pronounced form. People at risk include:

Those who constantly experience psychological discomfort and pressure caused by a combination of different circumstances often experience their emotions in themselves without showing them. This contributes to the accumulation of emotional fatigue and can cause nervous exhaustion.

Classification of forms and stages of emotional stress

The appearance of this state can be observed under a variety of conditions. There are 2 main varieties. Eustress is the result of a reaction that can activate the adaptive and mental abilities of the human body. Usually it occurs with any positive emotions. Distress is a kind of pathological condition that causes disorganization of a person's behavioral and psychological activity. It negatively affects the entire body. Usually this condition is caused by emotional stress in conflict situations. Various psychotraumatic situations can also cause the development of this disorder.

Psycho-emotional stress usually proceeds in 3 main stages. The first phase was called perestroika. First, with increased psychological stress, a number of biological and chemical reactions. During this period, there is an increase in the activity of the adrenal glands and the release of adrenaline. This contributes to increased excitation, leading to impaired performance and reduced reactions.

This is followed by a stabilization phase. The adrenal glands adapt to the existing situation, which causes the stabilization of hormone production. If the stressful situation does not disappear, its third stage begins. The last phase is characterized by the development of exhaustion of the nervous system. The body loses the ability to overcome psycho-emotional stress. The work of the adrenal glands is severely limited, which causes the failure of all systems. Physically, this stage is characterized by a critical decrease in glucocorticosteroid hormones with an increase in insulin levels. This causes a weakening of immunity, a decrease in working capacity, the development of mental maladaptation, and sometimes various pathologies.

Manifestations of emotional stress

The presence of this disorder cannot proceed without any symptoms. Thus, if a person is in this state, it is extremely difficult not to notice it. Developing emotional stress and regulation of emotional states are always accompanied by a number of characteristic psychological and physiological signs.

These manifestations include:

increased respiratory rate;
tension of individual muscle groups;
tears;
increased irritability;
increased heart rate;
decreased concentration;
sharp jumps in blood pressure;
general weakness;
increased sweating.

Often, emotional stress is manifested by severe headaches, as well as bouts of lack of air (oxygen deficiency). There is a sharp increase or decrease in body temperature. Often a person under stress may show inadequate reactions. Against the background of a surge of emotions, the ability to think and act rationally is often lost, so the subject cannot sometimes reasonably assess his behavior and adequately respond to the current situation. Usually, physical manifestations as a reaction to stress are observed over a short period of time.

What is the danger of emotional stress?

The influence of psychological factors on overall health has already been proven. Many pathological conditions can be caused precisely by stress. Against the background of various psycho-emotional failures, an increase in the level of adrenaline is observed. This can cause sudden spikes in blood pressure. This phenomenon often leads to spasm of blood vessels in the brain. This can lead to the development of a stroke. There may be damage to the walls of blood vessels. Because of these physiological features such a psychological state increases the risk of developing diseases such as:

hypertension;
malignant tumors;
heart failure;
arrhythmia;
angina;
heart attack;
coronary artery disease.

Severe and prolonged stress can cause severe consequences. Neurosis, heart attacks and mental disorders can be observed. Emotional stress can lead to exhaustion of the body and lower immunity. A person begins to suffer more often from viral, fungal and bacterial diseases, and they proceed in a more aggressive form. Among other things, medical workers have found that against the background of emotional stress, there is often an exacerbation of such conditions as:

migraine;
asthma;
disorders of the digestive system;
decreased vision;
ulcers of the stomach and intestines.

It is very important for people who have a predisposition to these pathological manifestations to constantly monitor their psychological state. In a child, severe stress can lead to even more serious consequences. In children, against the background of psychological overstrain, a variety of chronic diseases develop.

Methods for managing emotional stress

In psychology, a lot is already known about the dangers of this condition. Many modern people also have the concept of emotional stress, as they face a similar problem quite often due to increased psychological stress, including when dealing with work issues. The accumulation of negative emotions and tension can have the most negative impact on all aspects of a person's life, so this must be dealt with by all possible methods.

If stressful situations are a constant companion of life, or a person experiences any troubles too acutely, it is best to immediately contact a psychotherapist. Working with a specialist allows you to learn to get rid of negative emotions. When emotional stress is manifested and the regulation of emotional states by a person is impossible on his own, it is necessary to use auto-training. They improve emotional stability. In some cases, a psychotherapist may recommend the use of certain sedatives and medicinal herbs, characterized by a pronounced sedative effect. This allows you to reduce the manifestations of stress.

If a person is difficult to tolerate psychological discomfort, physiotherapy is also recommended. In addition, learning meditation techniques that allow you to quickly eliminate all existing negative emotions can bring significant benefits. It is necessary to learn to be distracted from unpleasant thoughts and in any adverse situations not to become discouraged, but to look for ways to solve existing problems.

Prevention of emotional stress

In order to suffer less from the manifestations of this psychological state, it is necessary to correctly schedule your day. Some people experience emotional stress precisely because they do not have time to do something and are constantly forced to rush somewhere. In this case, the prevention of the development of this condition should be given special attention. Be sure to get at least 8 hours of sleep. Naturally, you need to use your own relaxation methods in life. This moment is personal. For some people, dancing or going to the gym helps to get rid of unpleasant emotions, while others do yoga, listen to music or draw.

Certain prevention is also necessary to prevent the development of emotional stress in children. This age category is characterized by strong experiences in a different range of problems, but it is very important that parents have contact with their children and be able to provide timely support and suggest the right ways out of this or that situation. This will avoid the development of many somatic disorders of this condition.

Emotions and emotional stress

Emotions are the subjectively experienced attitude of a person to various stimuli, facts, events, manifested in the form of pleasure, joy, displeasure, grief, fear, horror, etc. Emotional condition often accompanied by changes in the somatic (facial expressions, gestures) and visceral (changes in heart rate, breathing, etc.) spheres. The structural and functional basis of emotions is the limbic system, which includes a number of cortical, subcortical and stem structures of the brain.

The formation of emotions is subject to certain patterns. Thus, the strength of emotion, its quality and sign (positive or negative) depend on the characteristics of the need and the probability of its satisfaction. The time factor also plays an important role in the emotional reaction; therefore, short and, as a rule, intense reactions are called affects, but long and not very expressive - sentiments.

A low probability of satisfying a need usually leads to negative emotions, increasing the probability - positive.

Emotions perform an important function of evaluating an event, an object, and annoyance in general. In addition, emotions are behavioral regulators, since their mechanisms are aimed at strengthening the active state of the brain (in the case of positive emotions) or weakening it (in the case of negative ones). And, finally, emotions play a reinforcing role in the formation of conditioned reflexes, and positive emotions play the main role in this.

A negative assessment of any impact on a person, his psyche can cause a general systemic reaction of the body - emotional stress(tension) caused by negative emotions. It can arise due to exposure, situations that the brain evaluates as negative, because there is no way to protect yourself from them, get rid of them. Consequently, the nature of the reaction depends on the person's personal attitude to the event.

Due to the social motives of behavior in a modern person, emotional stresses of tension caused by psychogenic factors (for example, conflict relations between people) have become widespread. Suffice it to say that myocardial infarction in seven cases out of ten is caused by a conflict situation.

A sharp decrease in physical activity had a noticeable effect on the mental health of a modern person, which violated the natural physiological mechanisms of stress, the final link of which should be movement.

When stress is applied, the pituitary and adrenal glands are activated, the hormones of which cause an increase in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system, which in turn cause an increase in the work of the cardiovascular, respiratory and other systems - all this contributes to the growth of human performance. This initial stage of stress, the restructuring stage that mobilizes the body to act against the stressor, is called " anxiety". During this stage, the main systems of the body begin to work with great tension. In this case, in the presence of pathology or functional disorders in any system, it may not withstand, and a breakdown will occur in it (for example, if the walls of a blood vessel are affected by sclerotic changes, then with a sharp increase in blood pressure it may burst).

In the second stage of stress - " sustainability» - the secretion of hormones stabilizes, activation sympathetic system maintained at a high level. This allows you to cope with adverse effects and maintain high mental and physical performance.

Both first stages of stress are a single whole - eustress - this is a physiologically normal part of stress, contributing to the adaptation of a person to the situation that has arisen through an increase in his functional capabilities. But if the stressful situation lasts for a very long time or the stress factor turned out to be very powerful, then the adaptive mechanisms of the body are exhausted, and the third stage of stress develops, “ exhaustion”, when efficiency decreases, immunity falls, ulcers of the stomach and intestines form. This is a pathological form of stress and is referred to as distress.

Reduce stress or its unwanted effects can motion, which, according to I.M. Sechenov, (1863), is the final stage of any brain activity. The exclusion of movement noticeably affects the state of the nervous system, so that the normal course of the processes of excitation and inhibition is disturbed, with the former predominating. Excitation, which does not find a “way out” in motion, disorganizes the normal functioning of the brain and the course of mental processes, due to which a person develops depression, anxiety, and a feeling of helplessness and hopelessness arises. Such symptoms often precede the development of a number of psychosomatic and somatic diseases, especially stomach and intestinal ulcers, allergies, and various tumors. Such consequences are especially characteristic of highly active people who capitulate in a seemingly hopeless situation (type A). And vice versa - if you resort to movement under conditions of stress, then there is a destruction and utilization of hormones that accompany stress itself, so that its transition to distress is excluded.

Another way to protect against negative consequences stress is change in attitude. To do this, it is necessary to reduce the significance of the stressful event in the eyes of a person (“it could have been worse”), which allows creating a new focus of the dominant in the brain, which will slow down the stressful one.

At present, a particular danger to humans is information stress. The scientific and technological progress in which we live has given rise to an information boom. The amount of information accumulated by mankind is approximately doubling every decade, which means that each next generation needs to assimilate a much larger amount of information than the previous one. But at the same time, the brain does not change, which, in order to assimilate the increased amount of information, has to work with more and more stress, and information overload develops. Although the brain has enormous possibilities for assimilation of information and protection from its excess, but in the conditions of a shortage of time for processing information, this leads to information stress. In the conditions of school education, the third factor often joins the factors of the amount of information and lack of time - motivation associated with high requirements for the student on the part of parents, society, and teachers. Diligent children experience particular difficulties. No less information overloads create and different kinds professional activity.

Thus, the conditions of modern life lead to excessively strong psycho-emotional stress, causing negative reactions and conditions leading to disruptions in normal mental activity.

Shabanova Vika

Abstract research work

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MUNICIPAL BUDGET GENERAL EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTION GYMNASIUM №1

Stress

Abstract - research work

Performed:

Shabanova Victoria Andreevna,

10th grade student

Supervisor:

Khizhnyak Natalya Lvovna,

biology teacher

Khabarovsk

2012

Introduction 3

"Characteristic of stress" 5

1.1. Concept and history of the term 5

1.2. Forms of stress 6

1.3. Stages of stress as a process 7

1.4. Stress concepts 8

1.5. Phases of development of stress 9

1.6. Emotional intensity 11

1.7. Stress hormones 13

1.8. The effect of stress on the human body 14

1.9. What are the possible reactions of the human body

to stress? fifteen

1.10. What happens in the body during stress

2.1. Student survey 17

2. 2. Which person is more stressed? eighteen

Chapter 3

3.1. Causes of Stress 19

3.2. Methods that mobilize intellectual

Opportunities for students in preparation for the exam

Exams 20

3.3. How to get rid of stress 21

3.4. Health care under stress 22

Conclusion 23

References 24

Introduction

Relevance.

Each person is exposed to stressful situations, losing their strength and nerves, many of them do not think about the fact that this adversely affects their body. Many people are exposed to stressful situations, from which you need to be able to find a way out correctly, having fully explored stress, you can most competently deal with a stressful state.

Already the great philosopher of antiquity Socrates 2,400 years ago said: "There is no bodily disease apart from the soul." These words resonate with what the famous Russian doctor M.Ya. wrote in the 19th century. Mudrov: "Knowing the mutual action of the soul and body on each other, I consider it my duty to note that there are spiritual medicines that heal the body and are drawn from the science of wisdom, more often from psychology."

Indeed, the human body is a unity of soul and body. And any disease is a problem of the entire personality of a person, consisting not only of the body, but also of the mind, feelings and emotions. That is why one of the founders of Russian oncology, Academician N.N. Petrov, drew the attention of oncologists to the fact that it is important to understand the suffering of the patient as a person and treat the patient, not the disease.

Physicians are well aware that the effectiveness of medical treatment largely depends on the patient's belief in recovery and trust in the attending physicians. An optimistic attitude towards life and a positive inner attitude are sometimes more effective than drugs in promoting recovery.

Negative emotions, caused, as a rule, by various psychological stresses, contribute to the development of various diseases. Moreover, in recent decades, the role of psychological and social factors in the origin of diseases of Russian citizens has increased dramatically. This is especially true of the so-called psychosomatic (from the Greek words psyche - soul, soma - body) diseases, in the development of which, along with biological factors, the so-called psychological stress takes part.

Target - to reveal the essence of the concept of stress and find ways to relieve stress in high school students.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following tasks:

Examine the scientific literature on stress as a physiological phenomenon.
Make a course of dealing with stressful situations.

The research project used the following methods :

collection of information
study of popular science literature,
interviewing
analysis
generalization

An object - are teenagers studying at our school.

Thing stress in high school students.

Chapter 1. Review of scientific literature on the topic:

"Characterization of stress"

Concept and history of the term

Stress (from the English stress - pressure, pressure, pressure; oppression; load; tension) - a non-specific (general) reaction of the body to an impact (physical or psychological) that violates its homeostasis, as well as the corresponding state of the nervous system of the body (or the body as a whole ).

Stress is a complex process, it certainly includes both physiological and psychological components. With the help of stress, the body, as it were, mobilizes itself entirely for self-defense, for adaptation to a new situation, and activates non-specific defense mechanisms that provide resistance to the effects of stress or adaptation to it.

"Stress" is a state of severe emotional overstrain associated with a mental disorder, with an inability to think clearly and make decisions.

The Canadian physiologist Hans Selye was the first to define stress. According to his definition, stress is everything that leads to rapid aging of the body or causes disease.

The Encyclopedic Dictionary gives the following interpretation of stress: "A set of protective physiological reactions that occur in the body of animals and humans in response to the impact of various adverse factors."

Walter Cannon first coined the term "stress" into physiology and psychology in his classic work on the universal "fight or flight" response.

Forms of stress

Stress is divided intopositive form and negative.

positive form- this is the state of a person who is able to feel the presence of problems around him and be able to solve them; positive stress, reverse stress.

negative form- stress associated with pronounced negative emotions and having a harmful effect on health.

Stages of stress as a process

The famous foreign psychologist Hans Selye, the founder of the Western doctrine of stress and nervous disorders, defined the following stages of stress as a process:

1) direct reaction to the impact (anxiety stage);

2) maximum effective adaptation (resistance stage);

3) violation of the adaptation process (depletion stage).

Stress is an integral part of everyone's life, it cannot be avoided. The stimulating, creative, formative influence of stress in the complex processes of upbringing and learning is also important. But stressful influences should not exceed the adaptive capabilities of a person, since in these cases there may be a deterioration in well-being and diseases - somatic and neurotic.

Stress concepts

The beginning of the creation of the concept of stress was laid by G. Selye accidentally discovered in an experiment in 1986 by the “damage response syndrome as such, called the “triad”:

Increase and increase in the activity of the adrenal cortex;

Reduction (wrinkling) of a thymus (thymus) and limf. Glands, pinpoint hemorrhages and bleeding ulcers in the mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines.

G. Selye compared these reactions with symptoms characteristic of almost any disease, such as feeling unwell, diffuse pain and aches in the joints and muscles, gastrointestinal disorders with loss of appetite and weight loss. Combining them into a single system was justified only if there was a single mechanism for managing these reactions and a common cumulative process of development.

G. Selye proposed to distinguish between "superficial" and deep adaptive energy. The first one is available “on demand” and is replenishable at the expense of the second one - “deep”. The latter is mobilized by adaptive restructuring of the body's hollostatic mechanisms. Its depletion is irreversible, according to Selye, and leads to death or to aging and death.

The assumption of the existence of 2 mobilization levels of adaptation is supported by many researchers.

With the ongoing action of a stress factor, the manifested “stress triads” change in intensity.

Extreme situations are divided into short-term, when response programs are updated, which are always “ready” in a person, and long-term, which require an adaptive restructuring of a person’s functional systems, sometimes subjectively extremely unpleasant, and sometimes unfavorable for his health.

Short-term stress is like a comprehensive manifestation of the onset of long-term stress.

Under the action of stressors that cause prolonged stress (and only relatively light loads can withstand for a long time), the onset of stress development is erased, with a certain number of amusing manifestations of adaptive processes. Therefore, short-term stress can be considered as an enhanced model for the onset of long-term stress. And although short-term and long-term stress differ from each other in their conspicuous manifestations, nevertheless, they are based on identical mechanisms, but operating in different modes (with different intensities). Short-term stress is the rapid expenditure of “surface” adaptive reserves and, along with this, the beginning of the mobilization of “deep” ones. If the “surface” reserves are not sufficient to respond to the extreme demands of the environment, and the rate of mobilization of the “deep” reserves is insufficient to compensate for the expended adaptive reserves, then the individual may die with completely unused “deep” adaptive reserves.

Prolonged stress is the gradual mobilization and expenditure of both “superficial” and “deep” adaptive reserves. Its course can be hidden, i.e. reflected in the change in adaptation indicators, which can be recorded only by special methods. Maximum tolerated long-term stressors cause severe symptoms of stress. Adaptation to such factors can be provided that the human body manages to “adjust” to the level of long-term extreme environmental requirements by mobilizing deep adaptive reserves. The symptomatology of prolonged stress resembles the initial general symptoms of somatic, and sometimes severe disease states. Such stress can turn into illness. The cause of long-term stress can be a repetitive extreme factor. In this situation, the processes of adaptation and readaptation are alternately “turned off”. Their manifestations may seem merged. In order to diagnose and predict the course of stressful conditions, it is proposed to consider as an independent group the conditions caused by long-term intermittent stressors.

At present, the 1st stage of stress development is well studied - the stage of mobilization of adaptive reserves (“anxiety”), during which the formation of a new “functional system” of the organism, adequate to the new extreme requirements of the environment, basically ends.

With a long stay in extreme conditions, a complex picture of changes in the physiological, human and socially human characteristics of a person arises. The variety of manifestations of prolonged stress, as well as the difficulties of organizing experiments with many days, many months, etc. human being in extreme conditions are the main reasons for its insufficient knowledge. A systematic experimental study of long-term stress was initiated in connection with preparations for long-term space flights. Research was originally conducted to determine the limits of human tolerance of certain adverse conditions. At the same time, the attention of experimenters was drawn to physiological and psychophysiological indicators. An important direction in the study of long-term stress was social research.

Phases of stress development (stress subsyndromes).

Psychological and psychophysiological studies of stress under experimental factors of different nature and duration made it possible to identify a number of forms of adaptive activity, i.e. forms of the “general adaptation syndrome”, which can be considered as subsyndromes of stress. With a long course of stress, its subsyndromes can alternate, repeat or combine with each other with alternate dominance of individual symptoms. Under conditions when maximum tolerable stress factors act on a person for a long time, these subsyndromes one after another in a certain order, i.e. become phases of stress development. Differentiation of these subsyndromes was possible due to the fact that during the development of stress under these conditions, various forms of adaptive activity became manifest (mostly pronounced and noticeable, both for researchers and subjects) in turn. It can be noted that under stress factors that are subjectively assessed as maximally tolerable, the change in the manifested stress subsyndromes indicated a consistent transition from the dominance of the subsyndrome, which marks a relatively low functional level of adaptation, to the subsyndrome, the symptoms of which are witnesses of mobilization hierarchically more high level adaptation.

So, 4 subsyndromes of stress were identified:

1. Emotional-behavioral syndrome.

2. Vegetative syndrome (subsyndrome of preventive-protective vegetative activity).

3. Cognitive subsyndrome (subsyndrome of changes in mental activity during stress).

4.Socio-human subsyndrome (subsyndrome of changes in communication under stress).

It should be said about the conditionality of such a division of stress subsyndromes. It may be different. In this case, predominantly human grounds were chosen to analyze the manifestations of stress that occur at a relatively constant level of subjective extremeness of the stressor.

Emotional tension

One of the stress factors is emotional tension, which is physiologically expressed in changes endocrine system person. For example, in experimental studies in patient clinics, it was found that people who are constantly in nervous tension are more difficult to tolerate viral infections. In such cases, the help of a qualified psychologist is needed.

The main features of mental stress:

1) stress - the state of the body, its occurrence involves the interaction between the body and the environment;

2) stress - a more tense state than the usual motivational one; it requires the perception of a threat in order to occur;

3) stress phenomena occur when the normal adaptive response is insufficient.

Since stress arose mainly from the perception of a threat, its occurrence in a certain situation may arise for subjective reasons related to the characteristics of a given person.

In general, since individuals are not similar to each other, a lot depends on the personality factor. For example, in the "man-environment" system, the level of emotional tension increases as the differences between the conditions in which the subject's mechanisms are formed and those newly created increase. Thus, certain conditions cause emotional tension not because of their absolute rigidity, but as a result of the inconsistency of the individual's emotional mechanism with these conditions.

With any violation of the “man-environment” balance, the insufficiency of the mental or physical resources of the individual to meet actual needs or the mismatch of the system of needs itself is a source of anxiety. Anxiety, referred to as

Feeling a vague threat;

Feeling of diffuse apprehension and anxious expectation;

vague anxiety,

represents the most powerful mechanism of mental stress. This follows from the already mentioned sense of threat, which is the central element of anxiety and determines its biological significance as a signal of trouble and danger.

Anxiety can play a protective and motivational role comparable to that of pain. An increase in behavioral activity, a change in the nature of behavior, or the inclusion of intrapsychic adaptation mechanisms are associated with the onset of anxiety. But anxiety can not only stimulate activity, but also contribute to the destruction of insufficiently adaptive behavioral stereotypes, replacing them with more adequate forms of behavior.

Unlike pain, anxiety is a signal of danger that has not yet been realized. The prediction of this situation is probabilistic in nature, and ultimately depends on the characteristics of the individual. In this case, the personality factor often plays a decisive role, and in this case, the intensity of anxiety reflects the individual characteristics of the subject rather than the real significance of the threat.

Anxiety, which is inadequate in intensity and duration to the situation, prevents the formation of adaptive behavior, leads to a violation of behavioral integration and a general disorganization of the human psyche. Thus, anxiety underlies any changes in mental state and behavior due to mental stress.

stress hormones

Under stress, the level of activity of the functional systems of the body changes - cardiovascular, respiratory, immune, digestive, genitourinary ... An important role in maintaining this new status is played by hormones, the release of which is under the control of the hypothalamus. The most active gland of internal secretion during stress are the adrenal glands.

Hormones released by the adrenal glands during stress:

The hormones of the adrenal medulla are catecholamines.

Catecholamines are biologically active substances, they include

Adrenalin . A hormone whose secretion increases sharply during stressful conditions, borderline situations, a sense of danger, anxiety, fear, trauma, burns and shock states. The action of adrenaline is associated with the effect on α- and β-adrenergic receptors and largely coincides with the effects of excitation of sympathetic nerve fibers. It causes vasoconstriction of the abdominal organs, skin and mucous membranes; to a lesser extent, it constricts the vessels of the skeletal muscles, but dilates the vessels of the brain.
Norepinephrine. The action of norepinephrine is associated with a predominant effect on α-adrenergic receptors. Norepinephrine differs from adrenaline in a much stronger vasoconstrictor and pressor effect, a significantly less stimulating effect on heart contractions, a weak effect on the smooth muscles of the bronchi and intestines, and a weak effect on metabolism (the absence of a pronounced hyperglycemic, lipolytic and general catabolic effect).
Dopamine. An increase in the level of dopamine in the blood plasma occurs during shock, trauma, burns, blood loss, stressful conditions, and various pain syndromes, anxiety, fear, stress. Dopamine plays a role in the adaptation of the body to stressful situations, injuries, blood loss, etc.

Corticosteroids - hormones of the adrenal cortex:

Glucocorticoids (cortisol, corticosterone). Start protein metabolism to fight stress. The hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropin) travels with the blood stream through the adrenal gland, where it triggers the release of cortisol. Cortisol causes an increase in blood sugar levels and speeds up the metabolic process in various ways.

Mineralcorticoids (aldosterone)

Doctors consider cortisol to be a key stress hormone and use the amount of cortisol in the blood as a measure of stress levels.

1.8. The effect of stress on the human body

Stress has a negative impact on both the psychological state and the physical health of a person.

Stress disorganizes a person's activity, his behavior, leads to a variety of psycho-emotional disorders (depression, neurosis, emotional instability, low mood, or, conversely, overexcitation, anger, memory impairment, etc.).

Stress, especially if it is frequent and prolonged, has a negative impact not only on the psychological state, but also on the physical health of a person. They are the main risk factors for the manifestation and exacerbation of many diseases. The most common diseases of the cardiovascular system (angina pectoris, hypertension), gastrointestinal tract (gastritis, peptic ulcer stomach and duodenum), decreased immunity.

Hormones that are produced during stress, which are necessary in physiological quantities for the normal functioning of the body, in large quantities cause many undesirable reactions leading to illness and even death. Their negative effect is exacerbated by the fact that modern man, in contrast to primitive man, rarely uses muscle energy. Therefore, biologically active substances circulate in the blood for a long time in high concentrations, not allowing the nervous system or internal organs to calm down.

In muscles, glucocorticoids in high concentrations cause the breakdown of nucleic acids and proteins, which, with prolonged action, leads to muscle dystrophy.

In the skin, these hormones inhibit the growth and division of fibroblasts, which leads to thinning of the skin, its easy damage, and poor wound healing. In bone tissue - to the suppression of calcium absorption. The end result of the prolonged action of these hormones is a decrease in bone mass, an extremely common disease - osteoporosis.

The list of negative consequences of increasing the concentration of stress hormones above the physiological ones can be continued for a long time. Here, the degeneration of the cells of the brain and spinal cord, growth retardation, reduced insulin secretion ("steroid" diabetes), etc. A number of very reputable scientists even believe that stress is a major factor in the occurrence of cancer and other oncological diseases.

Not only strong, acute, but also small, but long-term stressful effects lead to such reactions. Therefore, chronic stress, in particular, prolonged psychological stress, depression can also lead to the above diseases. There was even a new direction in medicine, called psychosomatic medicine, which considers all kinds of stress as the main or concomitant pathogenetic factor of many diseases.

1.9. What are the possible reactions of the human body to stress?

1. Stress reaction. Adverse factors (stressors) cause a stress response, i.e. stress. A person consciously or subconsciously tries to adapt to a completely new situation. Then comes alignment, or adaptation. A person either finds balance in the situation and stress does not give any consequences, or does not adapt to it - this is the so-called maladaptation (poor adaptation). As a result of this, various mental or physical abnormalities may occur.

In other words, stress either lasts long enough or occurs quite often. Moreover, frequent stresses can lead to depletion of the adaptive protective system organism, which, in turn, can cause psychosomatic diseases.

2. Passivity. It manifests itself in a person whose adaptive reserve is insufficient and the body is not able to withstand stress. There is a state of helplessness, hopelessness, depression. But such a stress response can be transient.

The other two reactions are active and subject to the will of man.

3. Active protection against stress. A person changes the field of activity and finds something more useful and suitable for achieving peace of mind, contributing to the improvement of health (sports, music, gardening or gardening, collecting, etc.).

4. Active relaxation (relaxation), which increases the natural adaptation of the human body - both mental and physical. This reaction is the most effective.

1.10. What happens in the body during stress.

Under normal conditions, in response to stress, a person experiences a state of anxiety, confusion, which is an automatic preparation for active action: attacking or defensive. Such preparation is always carried out in the body, regardless of what the reaction to stress will be - even when there is no physical action. The impulse of automatic reaction can be potentially unsafe and puts the body in a state of high alert. The heart begins to beat faster, rises blood pressure muscles tense up. Regardless of whether the danger is serious (threat to life, physical violence) or not so much (verbal abuse), anxiety arises in the body and, in response to it, a readiness to resist.

Chapter 2. Research part

2.1 Student survey

Usually, students are most susceptible to stress during the exam, since this time is the most difficult, since everyone understands that their future life depends on the exams, writing tests comes second, and usually students do not succumb to stressful situations during the holidays.

2.2. Which person is more stressed?

Adults are usually the most stressed, as their lives are more difficult and responsibility and care fall on their shoulders.

In second place are teenagers, it is during this period that puberty occurs. An increased capacity for critical reflection on the developing personality and one's future may seem to increase the risk of developing depression when adolescents fixate on possible negative outcomes. Poor school performance, of course, leads to the development of depression and behavioral disorders in adolescents.

In third place are children, as they are usually not stressed at all.

Chapter 3

3.1. Causes of stress

Main sources of stress:

Conflicts, or communication with unpleasant people;

Obstacles that prevent you from achieving your goal;

Pipe dreams;

Or too high requirements for yourself;

Noise;

monotonous work;

Constant accusation, reproach to yourself that you did not achieve something, or missed something;

Hard work;

Strong positive emotions;

Quarrels with people and especially with relatives (observation of quarrels in the family can also lead to stress).

3.2. Methods that mobilize the intellectual capabilities of students in preparation for exams

During stress, severe dehydration occurs. This is due to the fact that nervous processes occur on the basis of electrochemical reactions, and they require a sufficient amount of fluid. Its deficiency sharply reduces the speed of nervous processes. Therefore, it is advisable to drink a few sips of water during exams. For anti-stress purposes, drink water 20 minutes before or 30 minutes after a meal. Mineral water is best because it contains potassium and sodium ions.. Organize your workspace properly. Put objects or a picture in yellow-violet tones on the table, as these colors increase intellectual activity.

How to prepare mentally:

1. Start preparing for exams in advance, little by little, in parts, keeping calm;

2. If it is very difficult to gather strength and thoughts, you should first try to remember the easiest, and then move on to studying difficult material;

3. Daily perform exercises that help relieve internal tension, fatigue, and achieve relaxation.

4. Perform auto-training before exams, saying the following phrases:

I know everything.
I studied well all year.
I'll do well on the exam.
I am confident in my knowledge.
I'm calm.

How to memorize a large amount of material

Repeat material for questions. First, remember and be sure to briefly write down everything you know, and only then check the correctness of the dates, the main facts.
When reading a textbook, highlight the main thoughts - these are the strong points of the answer. Learn how to write a short answer plan separately for each question on small pieces of paper.
On the last day before the exam, look at the sheets with short plan response.
The best way to relieve stress in students is the holidays.

3.3. How to get rid of stress

Seek help from a psychotherapist who will help you understand how you entered this state, and what to do so as not to end up in it again; remove psychological and emotional clamps;

Seek help from a doctor who will prescribe you the necessary tranquilizers, antidepressants and other medications;

Drink a soothing complex of herbs (chamomile, valerian, motherwort, hawthorn, peony);

Take daily walks in the fresh air;

Visit the bathhouse, swimming pool;

Harden the body.

3.4. Medical help for stress

Stress is a protective reaction of the body to environmental influences. Excessive stress can destroy the body. One stress can be superimposed on another, so frequent stress loads are especially dangerous.

At first, under the influence of stress, a disease called neurosis can occur. Neurosis also serves as the beginning for a number of other diseases, the main of which are:

Hypertonic disease

Atherosclerosis

Coronary artery disease

heart attack

Stroke

Ulcer of the stomach and duodenum.

If symptoms of stress do not improve within a few weeks, a diagnostic test should be performed.
In the absence of any obvious physiological causes of stress, educational psychotherapy is recommended, which will help to master the skills of overcoming difficult life situations and extract useful developmental experience from them.

Antistress programis a set of techniques to help cope with the negative effects of stress. It can also be a preventive measure.

The purpose of the antistress complex- help a person to remain calm and balanced in any life situations. Designed for a modern person living in a tense rhythm. Program components: Breathing exercises, sauna, massage, relaxation, aromatherapy.

Conclusion

The most powerful manifestation of emotions causes a complex physiological reaction - stress. It turned out that to adverse effects of various kinds - cold, fatigue, fear, humiliation, pain and much more - the body responds not only with a protective reaction to this effect, but also with a common, uniform complex process, regardless of which particular stimulus acts on it. At the moment. It is important to emphasize that the intensity of developing adaptive activity does not depend on the physical force of the impact, but on the personal significance of the acting factor.

Stress is not only evil, not only trouble, but also a great blessing, because without stress of a different nature, our life would become like some kind of colorless and joyless vegetation.

Activity is the only way to end stress: you can’t sit it out and you won’t oversleep it. A constant focus on the brighter sides of life and on actions that can improve the situation, not only preserves health, but also contributes to success.

Nothing discourages more than failure, nothing encourages more than success.

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