Why is stress detrimental to our health, and how to deal with it?

Any competent doctor will tell you that you need to control your psycho-emotional state; if you can’t do it yourself, you can even be prescribed medications. Why is this so important? When stressed, the hormone cortisol is released. It affects the functioning of all body systems. Because of this, the functioning of the cardiovascular and nervous systems is disrupted, which can lead to deterioration in well-being, sleep problems, and problems with the gastrointestinal tract.

People who know how to cope with stress and avoid conflict situations tend to lead fulfilling lives. They have enough energy for work, friends and hobbies. Mentally balanced people have happy families, give birth to healthy children and raise them to be just as psychologically balanced.

Why do we worry

The root of excessive sensitivity to what is happening lies in various reasons. Psychologists identify several main sources:

• Frequent exposure to stress in childhood and adolescence.
• Excessive parental care, which does not allow the development of protective mechanisms.
• Genetic predisposition to reduced stress resistance.
• Constant negative atmosphere at home, at work and in the company of friends.

Stress. Twenty-one reasons and what to do with them

Preface by Lakhta Clinic. In the twentieth century, several theories appeared that can rightfully be called popular science. Not in the sense that they are primitive, understandable to everyone, liked by everyone and discussed competently by everyone. Alas, the opposite is true: only a few narrow specialists working in the relevant fields truly understand the essence of the problems, the formulation of the questions and the proposed methods for solving them, and only a handful of people on the globe are able, “standing on the shoulders of the titans,” to develop revolutionary ideas and theories to move forward. The rest of humanity gets along just fine without even an approximate understanding. This is not a reproach at all; This has always been the case and, apparently, it will be so in the coming centuries. Another thing is more interesting: some terms and expressions, borrowed from a variety of sciences, for some reason seem intuitive and universally explanatory, as a result of which they become so well-known, popular, and commonly used throughout the world that they begin to live their own lives at the level of everyday language and collective consciousness. At the same time, the scope and content of terms, as a rule, expand to infinity, going far beyond the initial clear framework and extending to any everyday situations. “Action is equal to reaction”, “everything in the world is relative”, “conditioned reflex and Pavlov’s dog”, “Schrödinger’s cat” (thanks to its difficult fate, this animal became the hero of jokes and memes on the Internet), “black hole”, or, say, “subconscious” (by the way, did you know that not a single truly competent psychologist with a university education uses the vulgarized term “subconscious”, preferring to study the “unconscious”?). The names of Wilhelm Roentgen, Albert Einstein, Ivan Pavlov, the same Erwin Schrödinger - and all these are Nobel laureates - are constantly heard, they are known, in general, to everyone. It's not about the awards, however. For various reasons, Isaac Newton, Sigmund Freud, Stephen Hawking and many, many others, whose influence on the culture of the Earth is enormous and undeniable, did not become laureates. These include Hans Selye, whose research is responsible for the worldwide popularity of another meta-concept, which, in terms of frequency of use, probably occupies one of the leading, if not the first, positions among similar “everyone understands” words. This refers to the concept of “stress”.

As if Providence itself had prepared universality and cross-culturalism for Hans Selye: by birth Janos Scheie, he was the son of a Hungarian and an Austrian, born in Austria-Hungary (1907), studied in Czechoslovakia, Italy, the USA, and then lived until his death (1982). and worked in Canada. He did not receive the Nobel Prize, although he was nominated at one time: apparently, bad proceedings regarding the sources of funding for the main direction of his research had an impact. But all this no longer matters: the main thing is that the whole world today complains about “stress” - although Selye himself, God knows, is not at all to blame for our stress. In general, he meant something slightly different compared to the meaning that most of us give to this word. Actually, it was not Selye who came up with this term, but the American psychologist of the classical school Walter Cannon, just as the notorious “subconscious” was proposed not by Freud, but by Pierre Janet.

The original meaning of the English word “stress”, be it a noun or a verb, is semantically related to pressure, load, imprinting, shaking, impact (if you remember, on the first PCs running MS-DOS, “Strike...”, or “Press...” were often offered. , or “Hit...”, or “ Stress any key”). In the late, final version of Selye’s concept, stress is understood as any external influence that threatens to remove the body from equilibrium homeostasis (constancy of internal conditions). In another meaning, stress is “a set of nonspecific adaptive reactions.” Non-specific, i.e. the impacts can be different (infection, injury, unpleasant situation, etc.), and in response to them the same, for example, the temperature rises, the heartbeat and breathing become more frequent. It is important that Selye was not a psychiatrist or psychologist; his medical specialty was endocrinology, and thus stress is not a household concept, but a neuroendocrine and psychophysiological one. In the early stages of his research, Hans Selye did not use this term at all; he dealt with the so-called. general adaptation syndrome, developing and arguing this concept in detail. In particular, Selye’s ideas about the three phases or stages of the adaptation reaction are widely known: mobilization-resistance-exhaustion. According to Selye, stress for the body is not just normal, it is the most important evolutionary mechanism of “fine tuning to a specific situation,” allowing us to survive without any special consequences where a less flexible, nimble, resourceful, quick-reacting biological machine would simply die. And not immediately did Selye begin in his works to differentiate physiological, normal stress, leading to the accumulation of useful experience and additional “training” of the body, from pathological stress, which leaves certain negative consequences, dysfunctions, maladaptive disorders (“diseases of adaptation,” as he called their author). Selye called “good” stress eustress, and “bad” stress – distress. Ideas about distress closely resonate with another important medical theory of the twentieth century - the concept of psychosomatic diseases (see, for example, “Bronchial asthma”, “Gastroduodenitis. Peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum”, “Neurosis”). What we will talk about next is, of course, not stress in general, but specifically distress, and almost exclusively distress of the information type.

And what do we understand by stress - we, who are “well-almost-already doctors”, “who have read a lot on medicine” or “also some kind of specialists” - when we use this red word where it is necessary and where it is not necessary? Whatever. It seems that any doctor who sees patients will now smile and nod his head with great knowledge of the matter: if a person complains about the stress he has experienced (especially in the formulation “I had nervous stress, doctor... well, you understand...”), this phrase may hiding psychosis, and neurosis, and depression, and a dented bumper, and a panic attack, and an acute reaction to stress, and a surgical operation, and a family scandal, and a lack of money, and claims to the government, and our mediocre lost semi-final... in a word, anything. Everything that we don’t like or makes us nervous, distracts, disturbs, excites, angers, frightens, suddenly makes us happy. Everything that seems stressful to us. Anything that is even remotely similar to this word or consonant with it. Soon it will be possible to consider him originally Russian.

This is the property of universal meta-concepts.

The material published below is translated. For the editors of the Lakhta Clinic website, it is always interesting and useful to turn to the experience of foreign colleagues - and how they supposedly cope with one of the main common problems, as they explain in simple words to their readers (ranging from a housewife and a schoolchild to an academician inclusive) very, very difficult things. It is obvious that any medical information resource must master this art perfectly. The healthy lifestyle portal with the simple name Health is extremely popular and is visited by a huge English-speaking audience. Let's see what exactly this audience reads about stress and its main causes. Both in the modern world are hardly very different in different countries and on different continents. Over to Amanda McMillan and Corinne Miller.

And lastly, so as not to be distracted later: the vocabulary and style, if possible, are preserved by the author, and the notes and clarifications where they were needed are ours.

What is stress, exactly?

As long as you remain a living, breathing human being, you will face stress at certain points in your life. This is your body's response to challenges or demands placed on it, as defined by MedLinePlus (website of the US National Library of Medicine).

These are completely normal sensations, and in some cases they can be of benefit to you (for example, they help you avoid dangerous situations). But if they drag on for a long time, they can put you at risk for quite serious health problems, such as depression or anxiety, or even become a source of, for example, chronic skin problems.

You may be very aware of what your specific stress triggers are—working against a deadline or fighting with your spouse—but these factors can also creep into your life in other, sometimes unexpected, ways. Twenty-one of the most common factors that can cause unwanted stress are discussed here.

Significant other

Even if you are simply blissfully living together and in a relationship with your partner or spouse, you are both doomed to sometimes do something that gets on the other’s nerves. “Early in a relationship, there tend to be issues with space and habits, such as whether you squeeze the toothpaste from the middle or the bottom of the tube,” says Ken Yeager, Ph.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. . “Later, you may have conflicts about raising children or financial problems, and you will need to learn to present a united front to solve these problems together.”

So what is the key to a long and happy life together? In finding balance, K. Yeager answers: in spending the right periods of time together (not too short and not too long); in the ability to compromise, remain honest and open with each other, and remember and acknowledge daily why you love each other.

Everyday irritants

We're constantly told to "not sweat the small stuff" and "not to sweat the small stuff," but it's often the little things that have the greatest negative impact on our mood: endless phone calls with the insurance company, the rude cashier at the grocery store, the unsuccessful 20-minute search for an empty seat. for parking.

“We allow these things to irritate us because they trigger unconscious fears,” notes Ken Yeager, “of being seen as irresponsible, of being bullied or ridiculed, or, say, of being late for something. Sometimes you just need to take a step back and really appreciate the fact that you are now doing the best you can do under the circumstances.”

Other people's stress

In 2014, a study was carried out in Germany, the results of which indicate that stress is contagious and contagious. In a series of experiments, the majority of those participants who simply watched other people perform stressful tasks also found increased secretion of cortisol, the “stress hormone.” This phenomenon is known as empathic stress. You may also become stressed if someone you know is the victim of a traumatic situation, such as a car accident or serious illness. As Dr. Yeager says, “...you start to worry: oh my God, this could happen to me! Usually we try not to think about such things, and we don’t even think about it until trouble happens somewhere near our home.”

Social media

It may seem like social networks like Facebook or Instagram are the only way to maintain friendships with people you don't see regularly - and during particularly busy periods, you see almost none of your friends. But the same social networks, according to numerous studies by the Pew Research Center, can also have the opposite effect: thanks to them, you instantly learn about all the stressful situations and events happening in the lives of your friends, and thereby add stress to your own life. Although the Pew Research Center failed to conclusively prove this as a general rule in 2015, earlier studies have shown that frequent use of social media can lead to, at the very least, negative body image and a significant prolongation of the period of “mental pain.” in case of relationship breakdowns.

Abstraction

Shifting your attention can be a great thing to do to help you take your mind off a stressful situation or a difficult decision—for example, taking a break from your busy work to meet a friend for lunch. However, this also works in the opposite direction, namely: you may find that you are intensely thinking about something stressful and this prevents you from fully enjoying what is happening around you “now and here”. This type of distraction can be called one of the recipes for stress.

“Various practices for increasing alertness, thoughtfulness, and focus ensure that your brain is refreshed and at peak productivity when needed,” says Richard Lenox, director Student Advisory Center at Texas Tech University. And he adds: “Being completely focused on your surroundings when you're walking or driving is a good idea. Stress and anxiety tend to dissolve when the focus is on the present.”

Your childhood

Traumatic events you experienced as a child may continue to increase your stress levels and negatively impact your health as an adult. In 2014, specialists from the University of Wisconsin-Madison conducted a study, the results of which showed that negative childhood experiences can actually change the functioning of those parts of the brain that are responsible for processing stress and emotions. The conditions in which you grew up can still influence your daily level of anxiety (one of the meanings of the English term “angst” is existential anxiety, which in this case is more accurate). Also in 2014, this was confirmed by researchers from Johns Hopkins University. It has been shown that those children whose parents suffer from social anxiety disorder have a higher risk of developing the so-called. downward, “trickle down” anxiety - not only due to genetic factors, but also due to the characteristics of parental behavior, in particular, a lack of emotions and warmth, or a high level of criticism, doubts, demands, etc.

Tea and chocolate

You probably know that you shouldn’t drink too much coffee if you feel “on edge.” Dr. Ken Yeager reminds us: “Caffeine always makes stress worse, that's what we know. But you may not realize that several cups of tea or a candy bar in a row contain almost as much caffeine as a cup of strong coffee. Chocolate, for example, is a powerful source of caffeine, and I personally know some people who don’t drink coffee at all but eat six chocolates and bars in two hours because they unconsciously crave an extra jolt.” In other words, caffeine abuse in any form can lead to irritability and emotional instability, sleep and digestion problems.

Your expectations

When things don't go a little differently than you planned, do you tend to get frustrated, discouraged, and defensive, or do you respond to fate by adapting as you go and developing a new plan?

If the first, then you drive your own thinking onto pessimistic tracks and develop the psychology of a “victim of circumstances,” which gradually weakens you, even if in reality the situation is not as bad as it might seem to you. “Your level of serenity and tranquility is inversely proportional to your expectations,” K. Yeager succinctly formulates. This doesn't mean, of course, that you shouldn't set ambitious goals for yourself or settle for less than you deserve, but being realistic in your expectations and assessments of opportunities is actually very important.

Your reaction to stress

If you tend to try to cope with stressful situations by working continuously for long hours, skipping regular exercise and/or eating large quantities of unhealthy food, then the bad news for you is that you are only making things worse for yourself. And again, let's turn to a specialist for explanations: “We all know that physical activity and a healthy diet help the body cope better with stress, and yet we often neglect this method when it is most needed,” says K. Yeager . “People should really think about this stress vortex that it’s so easy to get sucked into, and do something meaningful to counteract it.”

Multitasking

Think you're super efficient if you're trying to solve four problems at once? Rather, it's just the opposite: it only reduces your productivity, while at the same time increasing your stress levels. You can refer, for example, to a 2012 study at the University of Irvine (California). Among other things, the findings suggest that people who respond to emails all day while trying to work are more likely to experience heart rate variability (a strong indicator of mental stress) than those who put off correspondence and do not try to immediately respond to everyone who writes. Focusing on one task at a time can ensure that you do the job to the best of your ability and ability, and you won't have to worry about the outcome or go back and forth to fix it. And don't worry: you will always have enough time to get everything done. Actually, you yourself can easily see that you have much more time than you think.

Favorite sport

If you're a fan and your favorite team is playing hard, it can be stressful—even if your team is winning. “The body doesn't always differentiate between the 'bad' stress associated with life or a demanding job and the 'good' stress and excitement on the day of a big game,” says Jodi Gilchrist, a nurse practitioner at the University of Alabama Birmingham Cardiovascular Clinic. Binge-watching sports can even activate the sympathetic nervous system (see Adie Syndrome), releasing increased amounts of adrenaline and reducing blood flow to the heart. These temporary, transient effects are usually not a cause for concern, but over time, chronic stress can lead to persistent increases in blood pressure and generally increase the risk of serious illness. And of course, drinking alcohol and gluttony only aggravate the situation, which is already stressful for your body. “The outcome of the match is not up to you,” says J. Gilchrist, “but you can at least limit the adverse effects for your own sake.”

Digital devices

“Whether it's for work or play, technology can be very bad for your mental health,” says Ken Yeager. – Using computers or e-books immediately before bed can cause various dyssomnias, i.e. Sleep disorders, as well as a passion for virtual communication, can turn real human interactions into something stressful. On top of this, typing away at yourself incessantly does not activate the same “feel good hormones” that are released in a face-to-face conversation.

Finally, sooner or later, a catastrophic “work failure” will occur if employees are tied to their work via smartphones, even during breaks or on weekends. People say, for example, that they just need to stop by for a second and check their email, but in reality the messages you receive fill you with new responsibilities, new tasks and dilemmas, and all this remains in your head for hours, where it is difficult to isolate or block anything during the rest period.

Your (good) health

It may not be as stressful as having a chronic illness or hearing bad news at the doctor's office, but even people in great shape worry about their health, diet, fitness level, etc. In fact, people who take their commitment to a healthy lifestyle to the extreme are at risk of experiencing some unhealthy side effects. Thus, adherents of low-carbohydrate diets are more likely to report feeling sad or signs of stress, while adherents of any restrictive diets feel more tired than usual. And it is by no means unique for someone to become completely obsessed with healthy eating (orthorexia) or exercise (hymorexia). Like any other form of perfectionism, such extremes can be stressful to say the least and, in the worst cases, very dangerous.

Household

Does folding and folding laundry calm you down, or does it make your blood boil with anger?

If you are in a situation in life where you feel responsible for doing an unfair amount of housework, then even the tasks you once enjoyed may now feel like torture. Dividing household duties and parental responsibilities fairly can be difficult, especially if both parents work outside the home. And your attitude towards homework depends on whether you consider the current division to be equal or unequal.

Uncertainty

According to Ken Yeager, stress can be interpreted as any perceived or real threat, and any doubts that plague you can contribute to increased anxiety levels on a daily basis. “When you know that something can change at any moment, you are constantly on guard, and it is difficult for you to even just relax, let alone enjoy reality.” Financial uncertainty may be the most obvious example of such a stressor: not knowing whether you'll keep your job during the next downsizing, or not knowing how you'll pay all your mortgage bills. Lack of security in other areas of your life, such as close relationships or a place to live, can also literally eat away at you.

Pet

It doesn't matter how much you love your furry friends, but there's no doubt that their presence adds extra responsibility to a cup that's already nearly overflowing. Even a healthy animal must be fed and walked, cleaned up after it and given regular attention; if the pet is sick, then this is a completely different story. “Pets can be the most positive source of unconditional love, but they also require a lot of energy,” says Yeager. “In addition, people tend to underestimate the stress they face when they lose a pet. More than once or twice in my office people told me that they cried more about their dead dog than about their dead parents. It's a very intense emotional connection."

Your education

Having a higher education increases your chances of getting a well-paid job. So while there may be less risk of stress and anxiety that may be associated with your financial future, questions about your education may put you under a different type of stress. This is stated in a research report conducted in 2014 by the team of Professor Scott Schieman at the University of Toronto. It was found that highly educated people are more susceptible to stress, which is caused by pressure from functional duties and responsibilities, overload, and conflicts between work and family. “High levels of power and responsibility come with much heavier interpersonal burdens, such as the need to monitor other people's work or make decisions about their career advancement,” says S. Shiman. “People with such responsibilities begin to perceive certain things, such as someone’s incompetence or shirking of duties, as their own personal problem, which ultimately increases their stress levels dramatically.”

Noise

If you live on a busy street in a big city, you are chronically exposed to acoustic pollution.

Numerous studies have shown that even low levels of constant noise can cause sleep disturbances, which in turn is a stress trigger. Noise can also directly cause stress if you voluntarily or involuntarily fixate your attention on it (hello, who would enjoy a day spent listening to the sound of jackhammers?). “The most stressful thing is an unpredictable, high-pitched noise,” says Frank Ghinassi, Ph.D., president and CEO of the Center for Behavioral Therapy at Rutgers University. – In general, this is any noise that you can hear in an urban environment. It can interfere with concentration and thus require increased energy expenditure to overcome this frustration.”

Psychologist John Mayer, Ph.D., owner of the podcast “Anxiety's a B!tch,” adds: “Specifically, your amygdala, the brain structure that Normally regulates emotions. And if the noise is detected, the amygdala activates the release of cortisol.”

Get stressed. Should you wrap it?

Life during a pandemic

It's easy to give up and convince yourself that you're doing everything right during a global pandemic. However, J. Mayer believes that it is much more difficult not to fall victim to at least one of the factors of the COVID-19 crisis, be it irritation about the inability to carry out a normal lifestyle, anxiety about the place of work or the real fear of contracting the coronavirus. “First of all, a person’s defense mechanism of denial is triggered,” says Mayer. – And if it seems to you that the stressors are somewhere out there, far beyond the boundaries of your own life, this means that this psychological defense mechanism is already involved. You can continue to live in denial until you or someone close to you suffers the immediate consequences of the pandemic, but the stress remains with you all the time.”

“The problem here is that stress accumulates over time, leaving you feeling completely exhausted,” adds F. Ghinassi.

Nagging

On the one hand, if you whine and complain about fate, then you get rid of the painful thoughts that have accumulated inside, as if in a corked bottle. But on the other hand, you once again double-check and repeat everything that has already become a source of constant tension, and again you get upset.

Frank Ghinassi recommends reconsidering the manner of wording, while trying to make the reason for whining less scary. One example: call something “annoying” (meaning it's something you can live with) rather than calling it “horrible” (which sounds borderline catastrophic).

Alcohol

Of course, sometimes a glass of wine after a long hard day can help you relax. But sometimes this can also work against you. Alcohol can actually cause the stress hormone cortisol to be released, leaving you even more groggy when it comes to coming out of your relaxed state. According to John Mayer, if you drink too much, you'll later struggle with things like memory problems and difficulty verbalizing judgment, which don't do anything to reduce your stress levels.

Based on materials from the Health website

See also Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.

What does stress lead to?

Anxiety and constant stress lead to the fact that a person becomes unable to control his own life at a sufficient level. Added to this are other unpleasant consequences.

• Tendency to use substances that can make you temporarily forget that you have a problem. This could be alcohol, special medications, or excessive smoking.
• Loss of life goals. Fear of failure makes you abandon your plans and implement your ideas.
• The development of chronic fatigue provokes the appearance of various diseases, which the body does not have the strength to fight.
• The brain, overloaded with processing constant stress, loses tone and performance.

What is stress and where does it come from?

We are accustomed to perceiving stress as something negative, but in fact it is simply a reaction of the body, a response to overstrain, strong emotions, both positive and with a negative connotation. In this condition, the hormone adrenaline is actively produced, forcing a person to think about the situation and look for a way out of it. Causes of stress can be :

• conflicts with colleagues, relatives, friends;
• dissatisfaction with yourself, your achievements or appearance;
• constant lack of money, debts;
• routine lifestyle without vacation, proper rest;
• illness or death of a loved one;
• job loss;
• loneliness.

Recently, stressful conditions have often developed against the backdrop of the coronavirus pandemic. This is caused by a constant fear of getting sick, a strong concern for loved ones, and the inability to maintain the usual way of life.

Irritation and discomfort

When we are nervous, we begin to get lost, when we are lost, we become nervous. You need to be able to break this vicious circle. Make it a habit to breathe deeply whenever you feel irritated. This will help you calm down quickly enough to make the right decisions.

Pay attention to yoga. This activity is designed to ensure internal harmony, and this is precisely what is lacking in people exposed to stress. A few tens of minutes a day, and you are already quite capable of controlling your emotions and easily escaping discomfort. Breathing techniques, correct postures and thoughts are all aimed at enabling you to achieve absolute calm.

Evening yoga for stress

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

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

Analysis and analysis of fears

To get rid of the constant worries that are so annoying every day, you need to do a lot of work on yourself. If you don’t do this, you will interfere with the lives of not only yourself, but also those around you. To live without worrying and without spending a lot of energy on stress, learn to deal with all your fears. Divide them into two lists: solvable and unsolvable.

Let's start with the problems that can be solved. If you understand that with due effort you can easily cope with them, then you should not waste your nerves worrying about this. Now let's look at another list. Ask yourself, can I change anything? And if the answer is no, then stop worrying about something that has nothing to do with you.

How to understand that things are bad?

If you have chronic stress, you will experience the following symptoms:

• sleep disturbance (insomnia or constant drowsiness),
• fatigue and apathy,
• inability to concentrate on something,
• forgetfulness and absent-mindedness,
• constant errors at work,
• worry for no reason
• desire to eat all the time or lack thereof completely,
• headache,
• digestive problems,
• sudden mood swings,
• reluctance to see anyone,
• irritability or tearfulness,
• craving for alcohol or drugs.

If you find any signs of chronic stress, this is a reason to think about your health and do something to improve the situation. All areas of our lives are interconnected. If one thing suffers, for example, work, then it will automatically lead to problems in your personal life, health, and so on. And to deal with this problematic snowball, you will have to put in a lot more effort than if you stopped it at the very beginning.

Childhood trauma

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

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

Diagnosis and treatment of stress at Expert Clinics

Expert Clinics is a European-level clinic in Moscow, which fundamentally and comprehensively deals with the diagnosis and treatment of stress, as well as its consequences.

First of all, you should make an appointment. Next, based on the patient’s complaints, a treatment plan is prescribed.

It is important to understand that stress is not cured with one or two visits to the doctor. Recovery occurs in stages. It is important that this path becomes conscious for you. And correct and timely diagnosis of stress will be an important step towards a happy life.

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Live without looking back

In order not to look for unnecessary pitfalls and not worry about anything at all, learn to live for today. Remember that our past is far behind us, those events will never touch us again. It is very important to realize the abstractness of those times and stop clinging to them.

The same advice applies to the future. The situation you imagine may never happen. You won't know until you try something. But if you constantly fear failure, failure and condemnation, you will never be able to happily exist in the present. What surrounds you every day is your life.

Dance

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

Photo by David Hofmann on Unsplash

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

No need to feel sorry for yourself

Quite a lot of people, at the first signs of fatigue, give up and begin to complain about their problems with all their might. This behavior results in despondency and uncertainty consuming you entirely. Self-compassion is the body's response to any effort. Under no circumstances should you allow self-pity to manifest itself in any way.

You need to firmly believe that you will cope with all the tasks and questions that arise. It is worth forcing yourself not to be distracted by momentary impulses. Believe me, as soon as you divert your attention from the irritant, it almost immediately ceases to have any effect on you.

Why do we panic

Any unpleasant, potentially dangerous or simply incomprehensible situation always causes severe anxiety, that is, stress. This is how it happened evolutionarily: negative thinking once helped humanity survive. Imagine an ancient monkey sitting in the bushes - and then there’s a rustling sound. What behavior model is safest for her? Positive - a ripe banana fell from a branch, you need to go look, or negative - a saber-tooth tiger is sneaking and you need to run? Pessimists survived more often.

Therefore, when something goes wrong, it is human nature to expect bad things. This is fine. Our psyche has a whole arsenal to combat anxiety and stress. For example, isolation, denial or rationalization of what is happening (searching for reasons why an unpleasant situation can be useful).

When anxiety is too strong, the deepest mechanism is activated - “fight or flight”. The body prepares for this reaction - tension is transferred to the muscles. But in modern life, as a rule, it is not clear who to hit and who to run away from. And then the only desire is to hide, but it doesn’t work. There is no immediate solution. The stress gets even worse.

As a result, due to severe and prolonged stress, panic sometimes begins. We are either on edge, or frantically rushing around the room, or falling into a stupor and crying, huddled in a corner. The more panicking people there are, the stronger the panic.

Don't invent problems

Many people tend to inflate a simple obstacle into a whole pile of insurmountable problems. As a result, they seek advice and help even for the simplest decisions. The development of self-esteem and independence suffers from this. Such people do not know how to set goals or go towards them. Inert and passive, for them life becomes dull and dull.

There is no need to try to find additional pitfalls in any situation. Excessive thinking leads to the fact that the brain begins to give you the most negative scenario for the development of the situation. As a result, you accept it as reality and are already set up for failure.

How does chronic stress manifest?

The development of this condition takes months. Most often, the start of treatment for chronic stress is delayed due to erroneous diagnoses and untimely contact with psychiatrists.

The patient gradually develops:

• a constant feeling of fatigue, weakness, heaviness in the body, which is not relieved either by a short rest or a regular vacation lasting 2-3 weeks;
• progressive apathy, reaching depression, a desire to withdraw into oneself, irritation from communicating with people. The patient experiences uncertainty and dissatisfaction with himself, which may give way to hopelessness;

• symptoms of physical illness - dizziness, headaches, poor sleep, impaired appetite, constipation alternating with diarrhea, increased heart rate, high blood pressure, problems in sexual life;
• sudden changes in mood - irritability quickly replaces indifference, panic attacks and fears occur, the patient experiences constant anxiety;
• decreased mental abilities, memory, emotional narrowing;
• vegetative problems - fear of light and noise, trembling in the body and hands.

It is not always easy to determine whether a person has developed chronic stress, because... Such complaints can imitate various diseases. Therefore, a person suffering from chronic stress often has to “run around” to different specialists while doctors correctly diagnose the existing pathology and prescribe appropriate therapy.

How to get out of a stressful situation

With severe stress, it seems that this state can consume you for a long time. Believe me, this is absolutely not true. There are several simple techniques to get rid of the unpleasant influence of irritants.

• Turn your thoughts into a positive direction. The cause of your stress needs to be presented in a funny, even ridiculous way.
• Take a break for 5 minutes. Move away from the voltage source for a short time. This will give you the opportunity to calmly breathe and pull yourself together.
• Don't raise your voice. No matter how much you want to scream, when you find yourself in a stressful situation, remain calm. You can scream and let off steam later, alone with yourself.
• Promise yourself a reward for endurance and patience. Waiting for a quick treat or something new will put you in a calmer and more peaceful mood.

Exercises to relieve stress

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

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

Day of rest

Do you have plenty of days off, but still feel tired and overwhelmed? This means you don’t know how to completely relax and let go of all problems. Give yourself a day of rest by following a few simple conditions.

• Change your usual weekend routine. At work, take the whole day off during the week, send your children to relatives or hire a nanny. Changes should also affect the style of relaxation. If you are used to spending weekends at home, go out of town. On the contrary, it will be useful for avid travelers to stay at home.
• Wake up not by an alarm clock, but when you want. After waking up, take a relaxing bath.
• Find some nice company for your morning coffee or tea. Remember, moments like these help you deal well with stress.
• Treat yourself to delicious food. You can either order it or cook it yourself.

How to cope with depression on your own - 5 ways to help with depression

The first step to self-recovery is recognizing that you need help—it's the hardest step in taking action and getting the support and resources you need. But once you get past that barrier, you'll be glad you did it.

Here are five starting points:

1. Talk to those around you: family or friends with whom you feel most comfortable.

You do not need to formally tell someone that you feel you have clinical or long-term depression.

Indeed, this can have the intimidating effect of deterring someone from talking to you further because, as much as they might want to give you advice and help you manage your illness yourself, when you start using formal terminology they may feel unqualified. in order to give any advice, or will not want to take responsibility for something about which they know little.

Instead, you can simply say that lately you've been having a hard time living and feeling the way you used to, and that you're struggling to cope. Ask if they can listen to you for a while without judging you, and then tell them how you feel and what you're going through. You may be surprised how responsive, empathetic, or understanding your relative or friend can be.

Even the process of verbalizing your inner turmoil, on its own without any outside advice, can help you take steps to combat depression without antidepressants or medications. Because now your feelings are open.

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2. Support groups

There is nothing better than being able to talk to people who truly understand what you are going through, those who are also living with stress, apathy and depression. There are special groups that help cope with depression, stress, apathy or bipolar disorder, as well as those that support mental health problems.

Three aspects to consider when choosing a support group:

• Is the group leader (moderator) empathetic and caring and able to create a positive environment?
• Does the group conduct meetings in a way that meets your preferences and is consistent with good mental health?
• Does the group strive to encourage people not only to discuss their problems, but also to take action?

3. Call Help Desk or find help online

Complete anonymity and support from trained counselors or people who have been through depression and recovered.

Most countries have a free dedicated hotline that you can call for advice or to speak to a qualified counselor who can help you cope with acute stress or depression, for example:

Crisis helpline. Around the clock. For free.

8.

All-Russian psychological helpline

8

Emergency medical and psychological assistance in crisis situations

Helpline for adults +7 (24 hours a day)

Helpline for children +7 (24 hours a day).

Emergency psychological assistance from the Ministry of Emergency Situations of Russia

24-hour toll-free hotline +7 (495) 989-50-50

Moscow psychological assistance service

+7 (5 free consultations)

24-hour psychological assistance in Moscow

051 (from mobile numbers)

Additionally, if you prefer to put your thoughts into writing, consider an online forum where you can register and post anonymously, and receive public and private advice from other users who are or have suffered from depression and stress and can offer mutual support and advice.

4. Read other people's stories

When it comes to depression, reading other people's documented struggles with it from all walks of life can help you gain both perspective and the scope of the affliction. Not only are you not alone, there are many more people facing this problem than you thought at first!

There are many stories available on the internet. You may find optimism and inspiration in how some of those interviewed dealt with depression and turned it into a foundation for a thriving life, or used their own experiences as the basis for advocacy to inform and support others.

5. Advice from a psychologist on how to cope with depression

If you understand that you are depressed, experiencing stress and apathy, you can always turn to an experienced psychologist for advice and help. Today, the easiest way to get advice from a good psychologist is to contact an online psychological help service without leaving your home. You can get qualified advice and an answer to the question of how to cope with depression through an online video session or online correspondence with a psychologist.

You're not alone if you don't want to be alone

Depression is like being in an invisible prison cell, but you have the key to escape. Take action and seek advice and support, you may find the above options useful for getting out of a stressful state on your own, you may want to find more qualified, paid help on a specialized resource such as Helppoint, in any case, use the key and get out of the depression chamber to the light.

The information presented in this material is for informational purposes only and does not replace professional advice from a physician. If you notice signs of depression, consult a specialist!

Author: Editorial staff of the Help-Point.net portal

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Changing the daily routine

How can you not worry about anything all day long? It’s very simple, add a few pleasant moments to your usual schedule. This will help you get distracted and get a good dose of positive emotions. They will help you cope with almost any stress.

• Breakfast should be delicious. Yogurt, natural, chocolate with tea, oatmeal with honey and dried fruits - it doesn’t matter what you start your day with, the main thing is that it brings you a feeling of happiness.
• Don't skip exercise, it gives you vigor and strength to withstand stress all day.
• Learn to distract yourself from unpleasant situations. At such moments, think about what brings you peace.
• In particularly difficult situations, look at the flowing water. Is there a river nearby? No problem, just a water tap is enough.
• Write down your concerns on paper. Then just tear it up and throw it away. Imagine throwing away your problems along with the scraps.

How to cope with depression and stress

Depression can occur for various reasons, for example, after a breakup, after the death of a loved one, after losing a job or after childbirth, so-called postpartum depression in women.

Many people believe that depression is a shameful disease—they are the only ones who suffer from it. And it is difficult for them to tell others and ask for help; they do not consider it necessary to do this, because they do not understand how to cope with it.

The problem is that many people have tried to cope with depression and stress on their own, but when they wanted to find someone to talk to, they found that people didn't want or couldn't hear about it.

Like all of these people, you may find that trying to cope with long-term depression on your own makes the process extremely difficult.

There is not only real or perceived stigma that needs to be addressed; There is also the stress and isolation that results from a decreased desire to socialize and practical difficulties in this process.

Of course, we may not show our true feelings if we wear a mask while communicating, but then communicating with others becomes tiring and sometimes unbearable, and we get tired very quickly and are afraid of the next meeting. These are not the experiences that a person suffering from depression needs.

What's the result? You feel more lonely and isolated than ever before, depression becomes more overwhelming, and you lack the contact and context that will provide hope and perspective. You have negative feelings, so you get negative feedback and the feeling that you are the only one unlucky enough to be stuck in this depressive swamp and you just can’t figure out how to cope with it.

You are not alone - no matter how bad you feel.

What if we told you that you can look at things differently?

There are ways to directly or indirectly call on the help of other people who will give you the advice you need to cope with feelings of depression on your own, without antidepressants and medications. Whether it's through conversation, counseling, a support group, or the experiences of others, you can rebuild your resilience and this will help you overcome your depression.

Living stress-free is easy

We can't help but worry about the people who are close enough to us. But we can learn not to lead these worries to full-blown stress and nervous breakdowns. Living without the destructive influence of negativity is very simple, you just need to follow a few pleasant rules for this.

1. Take daily walks in the fresh air, this will give you the opportunity to relax, the main thing is to let only pleasant thoughts come to you.
2. Try any sport. This will strengthen your body and increase self-esteem.
3. Be sure to give yourself a good rest. Even if the schedule is too busy, there should be room for respite.

Stress Prevention

Of course, stress is an integral part of life. But we can learn to manage it and prevent its devastating effects on our health.

For this, it is important to practice prevention. For example:

• Include foods rich in beneficial microelements in your diet. For example, magnesium plays an important role - one of the main helpers in the fight against stress; it reduces cortisol levels. Magnesium is found in nuts (peanuts, almonds, hazelnuts), sesame seeds, seeds, seaweed, dark chocolate and buckwheat.
• Limit your alcohol consumption. It exacerbates the effects of chronic stress and leads to depression.
• Limit caffeine consumption after 15-00. Especially with high levels of cortisol, the stress hormone.
• Contact a psychologist. If you are worried about any fears or emotional experiences, then a consultation with a specialist who will help you understand yourself and guide you on the right path will be very effective.
• Limit the flow of information from the Internet. And it is highly advisable to stop comparing your life with ideal pictures from social networks.
• Normalize sleep. It is important that it lasts 7-8 hours.
• Exercise. It helps increase activity and concentration, improves overall cognitive function.
• Don't burden yourself with many complex tasks. Good time management is the key to preventing stress.
• Try meditation practices. Relaxation techniques provide the opportunity to step back, become aware of what is happening, and choose how to respond to stress.

The most important thing is to monitor your feelings and emotions and not put them in a “distant box.”

Specialist help

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

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

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

Treatment of stress

Do not delay making an appointment with a specialist if you feel that you cannot cope with stress on your own. Based on the patient's complaints, a treatment plan is prescribed.

An approximate treatment regimen looks like this:

• Therapeutic practice with a psychologist. At the moment, there are many psychological techniques that will help you cope with stress and return to normal life. The specialist will choose the one you need based on the patient’s condition and personal characteristics.
• Collection of analyses. Since stress can affect many organs, it is important to identify the problem early.
• Drug therapy. If the stress is not prolonged, then mild sedatives are prescribed that will reduce anxiety and anxiety. In more severe cases, patients are recommended to take tranquilizers and antidepressants.
• Relaxation. Healthy relaxation techniques include breathing techniques, massage and yoga.