Every second person lives better after stress
70% of people who experience a traumatic event will not have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This suggests that our psyche has incredible reserve capabilities.
***
According to scientific research, 52% of people who have experienced serious traumatic events have post-traumatic growth, that is, their quality of life improves.
***
When a major shock occurs, a person becomes more aware of his true resources. This leads to people starting to develop at a much faster rate. A difficult situation makes it possible to realize basic values, to be grateful for what is, makes a person more open to new things, and gives a feeling of inner strength.
***
Loved ones who have gone through difficult times have stronger bonds.
Severe emotional distress can affect anyone. Psychologists have developed a stress scale that includes the main traumatic categories. The first places on the scale are the death of a relative or friend, divorce and loneliness. In last place are family quarrels, promotions and weddings. Even positive life events can cause increased stress.
The main symptoms of severe stress:
- A person becomes fixated on negative events. His thoughts are occupied with disturbing experiences; the shock he has experienced cannot be removed by simple means, for example, physical activity.
- The expression of emotions is impaired. A person is irritated, prone to outbursts of anger and rage, symptoms of stress indicate a weakened nervous system. Some symptoms indicate dulling of feelings, the inability to experience joy, orgasm, or enjoy life.
- Interpersonal communication is destroyed. After suffering a trauma, an individual breaks off friendships, avoids communication, and strives for loneliness.
- Severe intensity of stress provokes the development of mental illness. People at risk include survivors of childhood violence, victims of violent crimes and others. In this case, the symptoms are associated with adaptation disorders. A severe shock is reflected in dreams and becomes a deep inner experience.
- Abuse of alcohol, toxic and narcotic substances.
- Suicidal thoughts.
Symptoms of severe stress are more acute in women and older people. In childhood, on the contrary, boys experience emotional trauma more painfully than girls.
How does extreme stress affect the body?
The consequences of acute experiences also affect health. It can be difficult to relieve symptoms after stress, since a person turns to specialized specialists, but does not treat the main cause - anxiety. The main signs of the effects of stress on the body:
- Increased blood pressure, headache, tachycardia.
- After experiencing a shock, the functioning of the immune system is disrupted and the body’s protective functions are reduced.
- The consequences of stress manifest themselves in the form of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Heartburn, gastritis, stool disorders, constipation - this is an incomplete list of stomach diseases due to severe anxiety.
- Women experience symptoms of thrush, dryness and burning during sexual intercourse. Some women experience menstrual irregularities.
- The skin suffers. Eczema, itching, rash of unknown origin are consequences after experiencing stress.
Symptoms may indicate deep trauma, such as pain during intercourse after abuse. You should not overestimate your strengths and capabilities to get out of stress on your own, since you are not able to adequately assess the situation, since you are under stress. In most cases, people who have experienced a tragedy need psychotherapeutic treatment, and this can only be done by a specialist psychologist with a medical education.
Use the services of a psychologist in the psychophysiological support laboratory of the State Budgetary Healthcare Institution “SOCMK”:
1. Psychophysiological examination for persons in hazardous professions
2.Psychological assistance in difficult life situations (accidents, injuries, grief of loss, etc.)
Having meaning helps you survive suffering
Stress resistance (or resilience) is not a given, but a quality that is trained through experience. Therefore, difficult situations are a simulator for developing stress resistance.
***
Cognitive flexibility—the ability to look at a situation wisely—is very important for proper adaptation to change. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions it caused can be perceived as follows: “We are in a cage! Everyone will get sick! There will never be stability again!” Or you can put it another way: “By limiting ourselves, we protect the more vulnerable,” “Quarantine time can be spent usefully,” “If you are open to this experience, you can find new opportunities,” “This experience will help find a new antiviral treatment,” etc. The first method is maladaptive, the second is adaptive.
***
Imagine an egg and a tennis ball. The shock causes the egg to fall and break. And the tennis ball falls, hits, gains momentum and flies further with even greater force. The peculiarity of our psyche is that it can react to a traumatic event, like this ball.
Good adaptation is also facilitated by effective behavioral strategies, for example, active actions instead of passive observation, step-by-step task planning, problem solving instead of avoidance and procrastination. If you are not in the mood, it is important to start doing something important without waiting for the mood to appear. When you start doing something, the mood gradually comes. That is, it works exactly in this sequence, and not vice versa.
***
It is important to learn to generate resourceful emotional states: joy, laughter, gratitude, inspiration, pride, intimacy, hope... Activities such as: time with loved ones, shared memories, meditation, creativity, humor, music, sports, retelling human stories to each other help with this. stories that inspire.
***
A great exercise is to create an alphabet of mental resources that will help you return to emotional balance: select one resource for each letter. And use at least 5 of these resource activities during the day.
***
You need to develop a happy inner child - the ability to celebrate life. Research on happiness has shown that during difficult times in life, a person can feel happy. Happiness and difficulties can coexist together.
***
A person is not allowed to be broken by his values, understanding of what we live for and are now going through a difficult stage. Historical changes, for example, are easier to survive if there is an understanding that this is for the sake of the future of children, for the sake of building a new country where every life and freedom will be valuable.
Two quotes from famous people on this matter:
Viktor Frankl , psychiatrist who went through a concentration camp:
“Having meaning helps you survive suffering.”
Carl Jung, psychiatrist:
“A person can survive any suffering provided he can give it meaning.”
Values are not what I want to have, but what I want to be. There are things inside a person that will always remain with him no matter what.
***
A person’s close environment is of great importance for good adaptation to difficulties. Support from family and friends is one of the most powerful protective factors. Therefore, you need to take care of close relationships and invest resources in them in good times.
Risk categories
There are several categories of people who are most susceptible to stress.
- Teenagers. During adolescence, when the body experiences hormonal changes, a teenager easily succumbs to emotions and is often in conflict with family, classmates and friends.
- Women. Due to hormonal processes, at certain periods of life they are especially vulnerable and sensitive, which is why they easily succumb to stress.
- Aged people. With age, problems with the blood vessels of the brain arise, so older people can react sharply and negatively even to harmless incidents.
- People leading an unhealthy lifestyle. Health problems arise due to bad habits.
Self-analysis training
If a stressful factor occurs and it is impossible to avoid its influence, you need to accept it as part of life, try to understand it and use it for your own benefit. For example, learn something new, let go of what cannot be held, correct your own shortcomings, or treat others with understanding.
Any stressful situation shows where the mistake is, where there is a lack of knowledge, and where skill or experience is, reveals the most vulnerable and weak points. And in this regard, there is no need to sprinkle ashes on your head, feel sorry for yourself and cry, but think about everything, analyze and begin to improve.
How to get out of anxiety on your own?
In cases of panic and anxiety, breathing exercises are widely used—most often, experts recommend diaphragmatic breathing, square breathing, or four-count breathing. These are all different options for breathing exercises that allow you to reduce anxiety and tension here and now. It is advisable to practice breathing before a stressful situation occurs. The mechanism is simple: deeper and rarer breathing allows you to normalize signals coming from peripheral organs to the brain and interrupt the acute stress reaction.
Speaking of other daily exercises that help reduce anxiety, let's analyze how much physical activity has decreased recently. Remote work, cars and other types of transport, online communication - all this makes us less mobile every day. Moreover, any physical activity has a whole list of beneficial effects - from switching attention and distraction to training the cardiovascular system and normalizing the psycho-emotional state (for example, due to the release of dopamine). Incorporating moderate-intensity physical activity, preferably one that you enjoy, is a good way to increase your resistance to stress. In this context, it doesn’t matter what you choose - dancing, cycling or the gym - all this with regular exercise (at least three to four times a week) will give the desired effect.
Source: https://www.glamour.ru/story/kakie-sposoby-borby-so-stressom-sushestvuyut-razbiraemsya-vmeste-s-vrac…
Back to list
What strategies help you get rid of stress?
To overcome stress, you need to get rid of worries and thoughts. This can be done in two ways - by “turning off” the body’s natural response to stress or by avoiding unhealthy habits.
We decided to delve deeper into this issue and carefully reviewed studies that comprehensively examined the process of internal experiences and their impact on healthy habits. Out of 10,500 papers, we selected 36 suitable ones. They are devoted to different methods, which can be divided into seven broad categories:
- Active planning. It means setting aside a special period of time for experiences.
- Stress management. These are therapies that reduce distress, for example by shifting the focus to aspects of life that are controllable.
- Rest and mindfulness - focusing on the present moment.
- Psychological “splitting off”. These are practices that help you switch from the source of stress to other objects or activities.
- Cognitive behavioral therapy, as well as acceptance and responsibility therapy. This is working on negative and unhelpful thoughts and independently finding strategies to deal with stress.
- Expressive writing is an honest recording of your thoughts and feelings.
- Managing internal pain. This category includes methods that help to dull the experience.
All of these techniques helped study participants cope with negative thoughts and stress, and also had a positive impact on their healthy habits. This proves that you can learn to worry much less and even turn stress management into rituals that support health.
The best results in activating healthy habits were shown by the tactics of active planning and psychological “dissociation.” We can conclude that when dealing with stress, it is important to instantly switch and put off worries for later, scheduling a suitable time for this.
Benefits of Stress
But all the problems are only in the heads of the people themselves, and if desired, these disadvantages can be turned into advantages, and the negative experience gained can be transformed into a positive one.
Here are 10 tips from the famous American psychotherapist, clinical psychologist Sherry Cambell.
She is the author of the very popular books all over the world, “Love Yourself: The Art of Being Yourself”, “Formula for Success: The Path to Emotional Well-Being.”
Is there a special diet to combat stress?
There is such a thing as “stress eating,” and most often the choice falls on not the healthiest food.
However, knowing which foods can reduce stress levels, we can protect ourselves from extra pounds or other related problems. Such products are meat, seaweed, chicken eggs, seafood (clams, mussels, oysters), fatty fish, herbs and vegetables (chard, parsley, garlic, broccoli) and berries such as blueberries. Herbal teas will also help reduce stress levels - chamomile (calms and improves sleep) and matcha (contains L-theanine, an amino acid with powerful anti-stress properties).
Help from specialists
Stress can become chronic, and your own efforts are not enough to return to normal life. Health problems appear: temperature rises, sleep problems arise, vision is impaired, arrhythmia develops, which is accompanied by a feeling of fear and increased anxiety. In this case, you definitely need professional help from a psychotherapist who will help you gain mental and physical strength and return to normal life.
Do not forget that it is important to learn how to cope with stress on your own, since it is constantly present in our lives.
