Symptoms of stress: in what situations is it worth thinking about?

The symptoms of stress are obvious signs that always accompany the reaction of the human body to an unusual, extreme situation for him, disturbing the calm and emotional balance of a person. The cause of stressful situations can be any situation that causes unnecessary excitement and a flurry of emotions. Contrary to some opinions, the stress reaction of an organism can arise not only because of events with negative color, but also after testing sudden positive emotions.

The very concept of "stress" means pressure, tension. The body constantly experiences various kinds of environmental influences. When faced with any problem (physiological, psychological plan), the body first examines the problem (the difficulty of the problem), then goes into the stage of action. In practice, it looks like this: when faced with a virus or protozoa, immunity recognizes aggressors and makes decisions - destroy outsiders. In the case of the phenomenon of higher nervous activity in a collision with a new problem, an orienting reflex (active or passive) is included and additional data found are analyzed, after which the person passes into the decision and action stage. Various factors are pressing the modern person, and viruses and parasites are the most banal causes of physiological stresses, which, as a rule, do not particularly attract our attention. But the problems of the psychological plan, stressful situations that the body is not able to overcome due to the experience of centuries of evolution, just lead modern man into a state in which he seeks the help of specialists or engaged in self-medication.

So, the stress in a person in modern society arises only on the condition that the pressure experienced by the psyche exceeds the psychological resource of adaptation, in other words, the threshold of stress-resistance for each individual is different. This threshold is formed by the type of nervous system (strong, weak), its ability to recover and the life experience of a person.

Physicians define stress as a protective reaction of the body to extreme factors that occur at a time when a person does not expect. During this state, the hormone adrenaline begins to develop in the body, the effect of which causes the desire to fight with irritating factors.

The state of stress develops slowly enough, its manifestations can be noticed by others or by the person himself. If a stressful situation requires immediate resolution and emerged suddenly, then, as a rule, the more exits from a stressful situation the person sees, the easier it is to overcome stress. In the most optimal version, there should be more than 3 exits, when deciding on the possibility of only 2 ways out, you can talk about the neurotic personality (neurotic choice). Very often, the symptoms of stress can manifest as a "nervous shock" - in the form of loss of consciousness, hysterical attacks, loss of a brief period of memories, etc., etc..

However, sometimes the stress situations do not end completely, the conflicts are not exhausted and the loads do not decrease, the stress goes to the chronic state. So, what are the symptoms of stress can tell a person about its presence, if a person is practically used to living in a "stressful situation"?

In the presence of stress factors, the body reacts to them with increased readiness "for battle" - certain hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline) are released that help reduce the lumen of blood vessels, increase blood pressure, increase heart rate, reduce pain sensitivity, and so on. These ways of reacting for thousands of years have saved mankind in the struggle for survival in the wild world, but now this method of physiological response has become redundant, since almost all kinds of emerging problems are solved with the help of intellect.

According to the theory of Selye, our body reacts to provoking external stimuli in this way: 

• First, the body mobilizes all available resources - the reaction of anxiety; 
• Then the person tries to cope with the stimulus - the phase of resistance; 
• In the end, the adaptation resources are exhausted and the stage of exhaustion begins.

One of the problems in modern society is the absence of detente, because of which the symptoms of stress are smoothed out, transformed into a chronic form and destroy the body.

Experts share the symptoms of stress in several categories, depending on the causes that caused the body to respond with a non-specific response. Just like stress can be psychological, emotional, physiological, and the symptoms of stress can be divided into several groups.

Let us consider in more detail the simplest manifestations of chronic stress. So, if a person has insomnia (nightmares), pessimism, concentration problems, learning difficulties and decision making, forgetfulness and disorganization are all cognitive symptoms of stress.

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Symptoms of stress associated with physiology

If there is no discharge at the physiological level, a feeling of suffering is formed, a person can grind his teeth, suffer from diarrhea (constipation), experience urge to frequent urination, experience a "bouquet" of problems with the digestive tract (heartburn, flatulence, eructation, nausea), chest pain, sensation shortness of breath, often sickness, stammering, hearing ringing in the ears, blushing and sweating, feeling dry in the mouth and experiencing difficulty swallowing, suffering muscle spasms - all this list of problems is typical for the physical (physiological) symptom s stress.

Symptoms of stress associated with physiology are considered to be the most dangerous and harmful for the body. They are also most difficult to tolerate by a person, since they usually affect several functions of the body and negatively affect health. Isolate the symptoms of stress related to nutrition. One of the most common signs of this condition is a sharp decrease in appetite and weight loss, as a consequence. The back side can be uncontrolled absorption of any food and overeating. Nightmares during a night's sleep, the fear of falling asleep and, as a consequence, prolonged insomnia - are also vivid physiological symptoms of stress. If we talk about pain, doctors say that not only a headache can be a sign of stress, but also a pain in the back and cervical department. The body temperature has a property to increase by several degrees under stress: if you are sure that the body does not have inflammatory processes, pay attention to the emotional state. There may be such features of the body that the person did not know before: an allergic reaction to conventional products, blood pressure jumps, a sweating that is not associated with the temperature of the environment, severe tremor in the upper limbs, and slight convulsions. Problems with the digestive system are also symptoms of stress: heartburn, vomiting, rezi in the stomach. If in the absence of serious and chronic diseases there is a large part of the above symptoms, they can be considered the first signs of stressful conditions.

Physiological signs of stress: 

• Back pain, headaches, stomach cramps, not associated with typical physical illness; 
• Sudden changes in blood pressure; 
• Indigestion (diarrhea, constipation); 
• Chronic muscle tension; 
• Tremors, tremors, cramps of limbs; 
• Allergic rashes without contact with the allergen; 
• Change in body weight (decrease or increase); 
• Excessive sweating as a vegetative reaction; 
• Insomnia; 
• Violation, loss of appetite; 
• Loss of sexual desire, activity.

Symptoms of stress associated with emotional state

If suddenly the balanced person became capricious, irritable, panicked, anxious, began to complain of a feeling of loneliness, isolation, anxiety, guilt, began to concentrate too much on unpleasant details - these are emotional symptoms of stress.

Symptoms of stress associated with the emotional state of the patient are less dangerous than physiological ones, since experts believe that a person can cope with them even without medical support, they are controlled by a strong organism. Lack of incentives and goals in life, a sense of insecurity and unbearable loneliness or wanton anguish, attacks of anger, unmotivated anger directed at others - the main symptoms of stress with emotional coloring. In a person who is in a stressful situation, panic attacks and feelings of anxiety are possible, he becomes unsure of himself and constantly thinks about the possibility of an incorrect decision, about his own unproductive and hopelessness. A person who is in a stressful situation, gives a lot of trouble to others: he becomes capricious, unpredictable, dissatisfied with himself and everything that is nearby. The symptoms of stress are similar to the symptoms of depression: there are thoughts of suicide, a person continuously cries, an inferiority and insolvency complex is growing.

There are also behavioral symptoms of stress - a violation of the length of sleep, the desire for self-isolation, abuse of medical drugs, alcohol, the pursuit of gambling, obsessions, impulsive actions, suspiciousness and lies, slurred speech.

Particularly indicative in the course of chronic stress will be various somatic (bodily) symptoms. Such symptoms include muscle pain of unclear etiology (for example, often pain in the neck muscles, "writing spasm", "twisting" of the joints of the hands and feet are evidence of an internal protest of the body against excess loads), as well as voluntary and disappearing nervous tics, especially twitching of the eyelids. Some of the symptoms of stress are hiding under pseudoallergies, causing the immune system to work intermittently and appearing on the skin as a red rash or fluid bubbles.

Despite such a variety of manifestations, the symptoms of stress in one person are far from always diverse, as prizilo, the body is prone to some leading types of response, for example, a reaction to stress can be persistent disturbances in the housing and communal services, while other physical disorders will be absent. The constantly recurring situation of stress not only develops a pernicious reaction, but also fixes it to such an extent that it is often extremely difficult for a patient to get rid of his leading symptoms of stress. For example, everyone can easily imagine how difficult it is for a person to get rid of the habit of gnawing at the nails or committing obsessive movements.

Emotional signs of stress: 

• Sudden anger, chronic irritability; 
• Apathy, indifference, loss of interest in significant events, subjects, objects; 
• Depressive state; 
• Anxiety, restlessness; 
• Feeling of isolation, loneliness; 
• Unreasonable sense of guilt; 
• Unethically low self-esteem, discontent with their actions.

Social and behavioral signs of stress: 

• Atypical mistakes, an increase in random small errors in familiar work; 
• Inattention, absent-mindedness; 
• Loss of interest in appearance; 
• Active use of alcohol as a relaxant, cigarettes; 
• Increased level of conflict - in the family, at work, in society; 
• Chronic workload loading, workaholism as compensation, avoidance of inner reflection; 
• Loss of interest in previously favorite work, atypical disorganization, optional; 
• Constant time pressure, lack of time, inability to dispose of a temporary resource.

What if you have symptoms of stress?

Methods that are developed by specialists in order to help people who are stressed, are aimed at making it possible to manage negative emotions. If a person managed to find a way to control his own emotions, we can assume that he coped with stress on his own.

The symptoms of stress are obvious with considerable intellectual overload of the body. During the deadlines, examination periods, a person suffers because of the abundance of information and the nervous system often does not maintain tension. Most often, such symptoms of stress can be seen in adolescents who give too much attention to learning. Dissipation, the inability to concentrate on the question, the lack of perception of information are signs of intellectual fatigue, which can be eliminated by rest and relaxation from communication and sources of information. 

Intellectual signs of stress: 

• Problems with memorization, forgetfulness; 
• The viscosity of speech, the repetition of what has been said; 
• Obsessive thoughts, constant thinking, stuck on one thought; 
• Indecision, problems with making a decision; 
• Thoughts are mostly negative.

There are many ways out of stress situations, for example, full awareness of the causes of the event (rationalization), art therapy, psychoanalysis, gestalt therapy, psychodrama - all these methods lead to an understanding of the causes of somatic disorders, the connection of manifestations of diseases and being in a stressful situation. However, it should always be remembered that no stress can be the cause of all ailments and before you link the physiological disturbances to stress, you should exclude the true diseases of the same organs and systems that a person can suspect of realization of the symptoms of stress.