"Stress: Instructions For Use" Types Of Stress

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

Any stress is caused by some stimulus (stressor). Depending on the stressor, physiological and psychoemotional types of stress are distinguished. Stress is also divided into eustress and distress. Eustress helps us to mobilize our capabilities for solving the current task. This is a useful, necessary stress that raises vitality. But if the effect of the stressor is too long and exceeds the capabilities of the organism, the psyche, then distress develops. Its effect on the body is harmful, exhausting, leading to psychosomatic diseases.

The concept of physiological stress was introduced by G. Selye, which was described above. Physiological stress is caused by a response to physical pain. Mental stress is caused by painful emotions experienced as a result of thinking about unpleasant events. These include: divorce, participation in hostilities, death of a loved one, serious illness, etc.

It is important to note that negative events can take place in a person's life, but can only be assumed. But the body's reactions and the depth of experiences in both cases will be of almost the same intensity.

PROFESSIONAL STRESS, POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS, INFORMATION STRESS

Any psychological stress is informational in nature. V. A. Bodrov introduces the theory information stress … Information stress includes information about adverse events, as well as an excess of information. Call center operators are subject to information stress (professional stress). In my opinion, the modern world is mega stressful. An excess of conflicting information (ambivalent information about food, treatment, lifestyle, different worldviews, news), spread by the media, which cannot be dealt with, leads to information stress.

For a further understanding of information stress, concepts such as algorithms and heuristics are important.

Algorithmization involves following clear instructions, deviations from which can lead to serious consequences (blue-collar occupations, employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, workers on conveyors, etc.). Such professions have a high level of stress. Professions with a low level of algorithms - doctors, psychologists, specialists in the field of advertising and marketing, any creative professions require a high level heuristic (creativity) and a low level of algorithmization, and they also belong to professions with a high level of stress. These professions involve choosing from a diverse range of solutions, coming up with new non-standard ways of solving problems.

To date, occupational stress has been allocated a separate heading in the International Classification of Diseases. (ICD-10).

Today, the study by psychologists of the characteristics of human behavior in situations of military operations, in a collision with extreme incidents is relevant. The concept of psychological trauma, as a consequence of traumatic stress, today, it seems to me, is known to everyone who is interested in psychological health. PTSD is accompanied by such key psychological problems as anxiety, depression, and guilt.

Any stressful situation is caused by stressors. Allocate everyday stressors and chronic stressors.

Daily stressors include microstressors (quarrels with relatives and neighbors, conflicts at work, minor price increases, in general, the difficulties we face every day) and macrostressors (divorce, crises at work and in personal life). Adaptation to everyday stressors takes place from a few minutes to several days or weeks. They do not have a significant effect on our physical and mental health, but they tend to increase the effects of chronic stress, which leads to psychosomatic illness and depletion of the nervous system. Repetitive stressful life trials (relapses of chronic diseases, pathological experience of the consequences of divorce, death of loved ones, struggle with addictions of loved ones) lead to chronic stress. Adapting to these types of stress can take years.

Of the two parameters - duration and intensity, the duration of exposure to a stressor is the most harmful to human health.

It is necessary to pay attention to the fact that each person will experience the effects of stress in their own way, depending on the individual characteristics of the personality and personal history.

The main personality factors are

• emotional stability of the personality;

• locus of personal control;

• experience of overcoming similar stressful situations in the past;

• features of thinking that affect the perception of a stressful situation;

• readiness of a person to apply for social support, etc.

FRUSTRATION AS A FORM OF PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS

Frustration (from Lat. frustratio - deception, frustration, destruction of plans) - the mental state of a person caused by objectively insurmountable (or subjectively so perceived) difficulties arising on the way to achieving a goal or to solving a problem [Psychology. Dictionary, 1990, p. 434]. Thus, frustration is an acute experience of an unmet need. The severity of the experience of frustration depends on the degree of surprise. The surprise effect enhances the power of negative emotions when frustrated.

The reasons for frustration can be divided into 4 groups:

1. Physical reasons - restriction of freedom of movement by the walls of the prison, car breakdown on a deserted highway, acquired disability.

2. Biological causes - illness, poor health, severe fatigue, aging. Often athletes and artists experience professional stress due to biological reasons that limit the age barrier of their stay in the profession.

3. Psychological reasons- fears and phobias, self-doubt. Most often, these reasons are due to perceived failures associated with personal negative past experiences, or acquired fears in the process of education (parental fears).

4. Sociocultural reasons - norms, rules, prohibitions existing in society. In professional activity, any corporate culture has a set of open and unspoken rules. Hierarchy at the enterprise, special ways of communicating with management, adherence to in-house rituals - all these are the limitations of the manifestation of individuality.

With frustration, we experience aggressive emotions: anger, irritation, guilt.

Experiencing these feelings strongly can lead to maladaptive forms of behavior:

• aggressive reactions directed at another person or at oneself (auto-aggression, expressed in addictions, feelings of guilt, self-flagellation). But, in some cases, the manifestation of aggression can be an effective way of emotional release, necessary to stabilize the state.

• withdrawal from the situation, refusal of any activity, apathy;

• regression, when adults begin to behave like children - they refuse to eat after a quarrel, do not talk, take offense, do not solve the problem, but wait for the situation to magically resolve itself;

• overexcitement, when a person cannot control his external behavior and commits aimless and disordered actions. For example: continues to pull the door handle, knowing that the door is closed and he will not be able to enter the room;

• the inclusion of mechanisms of psychological defense, which in this case help to survive the severity of frustration ("Everything is for the better", "So so be it!")

Maladaptive forms of behavior during frustration do not solve the problem, but help relieve nervous tension.

Towards adaptive behaviors refers to ways to resolve the situation itself, which as a result leads to stress relief. This is:

• overcoming obstacles using other methods, a different strategy of behavior, new ways of achieving;

• compensation (sublimation) - the search for another area to meet your needs;

• abandonment of the intended goal, choice of a new goal, reassessment of values.

The parental scenario influences the way a person chooses to react to frustration. That is, in a stressful situation, a person reacts as his father or mother would behave in a similar situation.

Frustration is viewed by modern psychologists as acute stress. Experts offer the following methods for the formation of psychological stability in a situation of acute stress:

- " stop rule". When experiencing acute stress, we lose the ability to think adequately and productively, so you should imagine a red traffic light and say" Stop "to yourself.

- use self-regulation methods … (activation of the parasympathetic nervous system with the help of special deep breathing, pronouncing short forms of self-hypnosis on the exhale "I can handle it!" "I will succeed!" "Everything will be fine!"

- search for any solutions, even the most incredible ones, are better than being in a state of despair.

PRESET CONDITIONS

People in communication professions often experience great excitement before significant events - decisive deals, presentations, etc. Psychologists call such conditions pre-start. Anxiety is usually considered a negative condition, but this is not entirely true. There is an optimal level of "positive stress" that helps to mobilize personal efforts, without which it is impossible to cope with a difficult task. The complete absence of anxiety may indicate a specialist's emotional burnout, an inadequate overestimated self-esteem, or a low level of responsibility. At the same time, too strong psychological stress before the event can lead to a "tunnel" perception that interferes with an objective assessment of the situation, or even to the complete failure of the event.

Methods for regulating the pre-start state

1. The "Mirror" method, based on the biofeedback mechanism (BFB), which exists between the external expression of emotions and our emotional memory. Try to give your body the pose of a confident person, to create facial expressions of calmness and goodwill on your face.

2. The method of complete rationalization of the upcoming event. Imagine the upcoming event in great detail. To do this, you must have a good command of the issue, study the place where the event will take place. Unconscious anxiety associated with the unknown will be greatly reduced.

3. Method of selective positive retrospection. Remember the events in which you were at your best, where you managed to effectively cope with the tasks.

4. "Experience" method. Analyze your negative experience and draw conclusions: how you should definitely not react, behave.

5. Face your fear. Imagine, what the worst can happen and live it. Come up with what you will do with the most pessimistic outcome of events.

Mastering the listed methods and their use in "difficult" situations can help to avoid pre-start excitement at a crucial moment.

We explore these and other methods in the Effective Stress Management Program. The program is offered both group and individual. More details about the group program can be found at the link:

List of used literature:

G. B. Monina, N. V. Rannala training "Resilience resources"

A. O. Prokhorov - "Workshop on the psychology of the state"

EAT. Cherepanova "Psychological stress: Help yourself and your child"

R. Sapolski "Psychology of Stress"