What stress is like, what are the signs of its different stages and what can be done in a stressful situation, psychotherapist Elena Solodkaya tells in an interview for probusiness.io.
Elena Solodkaya
– Stress is usually understood as any more or less pronounced tension in the body associated with human life. And, no matter how inspired we are by good goals and great achievements in business and at work, fatigue and exhaustion will sooner or later make themselves felt.
Back in 1936, Hans Selye created the biological concept of stress. Yes, yes, stress is about the fact that we are all biological organisms.
What is a nervous breakdown and what can cause it?
Irina Tishkevich
Medical psychologist, Gestalt therapist
– The concept of “nervous breakdown” as such does not exist in the scientific literature. It is rather an abstract designation for a number of mental states. In my practice, this was the name for crying out loud and gushing rage with the destruction of all things in the apartment in a state of psychosis.
But most often, “nervous breakdown” refers to a neurotic spectrum of experiences. Some sources, for example, define it as "an acute, temporary, reactive disorder with symptoms of neurosis and depression ." Others include symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder .
Most often, the causes may be severe or prolonged stressful events. Moreover, the same situation can cause different reactions in different people. For some, difficulties in a new job are an interesting challenge or adventure. And for some it is a serious test. And it’s not just about the team or the boss, but also about the adaptive abilities and stress resistance of the person himself, including his personal qualities, experience, age, physical and psycho-emotional state at the time of the event, and the presence of social support.
What to do?
In our case - no matter how banal it may sound at first glance, but these are “truths” that everyone forgets about - we can advise:
- Pay more attention to your physical condition (monitor the quality of sleep and nutrition, organization of proper rest).
- Use all types of support and assistance (from colleagues, superiors, family and friends).
- Delve into the specifics of your work and see and grasp its basic patterns and dependencies (even before they take on an emergency nature).
In order not to bring employees to a stressful state, and even more so to its third stage, it is important for managers to compare production tasks (volume, urgency, intensity and duration of work) and the psychophysiological capabilities of subordinates (general health, temperament, ability to work in a team, etc.) .d.).
The first will be helped by the good work of the planning department or the unit performing its functions, the second is a matter for the services responsible for working with personnel and direct managers. Knowledge and understanding of not only the business, but also the personal qualities of an employee can be helped by both classical surveys and trainings, and more “targeted” methods of psychological analysis: participant observation, experiments, creative tasks and competitions, etc.
The main thing, I repeat, is to prevent the third stage of stress - exhaustion.
If professional stress is a tense state that occurs in a working person (with relatively long and (or) intense exposure to emotionally negative and extreme factors associated with his professional activity), then the lines of its prevention will be as follows:
1. Optimization of work tasks and working conditions - this has already been described above.
2. Increasing personal stress resistance. In short, this is everything that normalizes and restores your health and mood: sports, friendly communication, various new impressions and aesthetic experiences.
The details and nuances of implementing anti-stress strategies are a separate conversation.
Are there “risk groups” who are more at risk of a nervous breakdown than others?
– In a sense, many of us are familiar or will one day become familiar with this condition in a mild form (in its neurotic interpretation), since life is not an easy thing, and we people are not made of iron.
But some are truly more vulnerable due to the innate sensitivity of the nervous system, weak self-regulation capabilities, lack of mature defenses, and traumatic experiences in early childhood. For example, a person who grew up left to his own devices with alcoholic parents will be more sensitive to stress than someone who comes from a prosperous family.
It is impossible to provide statistics on nervous breakdowns: this concept is not used in research. But, if we equate it with registered neurotic spectrum disorders, we can see their prevalence from 10 to 20% among the urban population , according to WHO.
The real figure is much, much higher than official statistics: most people either cope with such conditions on their own, or simply do not have the opportunity to seek help.
How can I tell if I'm having a nervous breakdown?
– Various sources include the following symptoms as neurotic manifestations of a “nervous breakdown”:
- increased emotional sensitivity, which was not there before, irritability, anxiety;
- feeling of helplessness, hopelessness, feeling small, weak, defective, wounded, bad;
- craving for a state of “oblivion” (you want to get drunk, fall asleep, “disconnect from life”);
- impulsive suicidal thoughts, acute desire to harm oneself;
- insomnia or, conversely, excessive drowsiness;
- complaints of cognitive failure (when it’s hard to think, remember, impossible to concentrate);
- a state of acute anxiety, panic, constant rapid heartbeat or frequent increase in heart rate;
- loss of interest in everyday activities, work, friends, hobbies, clothes, etc.;
- decreased or loss of sexual desire;
- loss of sense of humor;
- nervous and physical exhaustion, noticeable weight loss or gain;
- physical ailments, signs of decreased immunity,
- marked deterioration in social functioning, need for isolation;
- other individual reactions that were not there before with their negative subjective assessment.
Can you predict that I'm about to have a nervous breakdown? Or could it happen suddenly?
– I always encourage people to be aware of their condition. After all, then they can quickly understand what is happening to them and react more adequately, helping themselves to avoid unfolding painful dynamics.
Metaphorically, if I can clearly see the terrain under my feet and check the map, I can navigate it more safely and get to the desired point. In such a situation, I don’t need to predict; I need to make adequate and timely decisions. If by “prediction” we mean recognition, then we check the symptoms described above.
Sometimes a nervous breakdown may feel “sudden”, but it is always preceded by some external and reciprocal internal event or even a series of events. It’s just that a person might not realize it and not think about it. Some of the experiences were hidden from his consciousness and processed on a subconscious level, and when it became impossible to ignore or repress the information, obvious mental or physical phenomena appeared.
One of my patients cared for her bedridden mother-in-law for a very long time and with great difficulty. She was very tired and could not share it with anyone else until she eventually came down with depression herself.
How to treat neurosis?
First of all, you need to eliminate the cause of the disease. More on this below.
In order to quickly relieve the patient of symptoms, the doctor may prescribe antipsychotics, tranquilizers, and antidepressants.
The main type of treatment that produces long-term effects is individual, group and family psychotherapy.
Neuroses create many problems at work and in everyday life, often they simply plague and cause torment. But they respond well to treatment. It is important not to delay, but to consult a doctor as soon as you notice the first symptoms.
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It turns out that a nervous breakdown can lead to more serious consequences - for example, depression?
– Yes, most of the symptoms described above are a description of a depressive state. But usually the diagnosis of depression is made after two weeks with a clear decrease in mood (although there are exceptions when a person experiences depression rather “bodily”, without a conscious decrease in mood).
Therefore, if you do not pay attention to unpleasant signs in time and do not begin to work through them at the level of thinking, emotions and behavior, your mental state can really worsen.
What are the symptoms of professional neurosis?
There are “first signs” that you definitely need to pay attention to:
- Increased irritability, frequent and severe mood swings.
- Constant severe fatigue.
- There is no satisfaction from work, I often want to “give up everything.”
- Bad dream. I can’t sleep at night, but I want to sleep during the day.
- Violation of relationships with colleagues, friends, family.
- Headache.
- Chest pain.
- Feeling short of air.
- My head is constantly spinning with thoughts about work, unfinished projects, fears about possible dismissal or other negative events.
- After sleep there is no feeling of vigor, you still feel weak.
- It becomes difficult to maintain the same pace of life. It takes more time to do things and make decisions, fatigue sets in faster, and you constantly want to be distracted, lie down and relax.
Can a nervous breakdown be chronic?
– From the very definition of a nervous breakdown it is clear that this is a rather acute and temporary reaction. If a person fails to slow down the progression of the disorder, then it continues to deepen in a specific individual direction, depending on the characteristics of the individual and the functioning of the psyche.
As a result, even after successful treatment, there may be relapses of disorders, for example, after another distress (distress is a negative form of stress; the positive form is called eustress - Ed.). But everything is individual.
Who is most likely to experience professional neuroses?
Some people endure life's adversities with steadfastness, while others are unsettled by literally every little thing. The risks of neurosis depend on two factors: the force of external pressure and individual predisposition.
A person is made predisposed to neurosis by such personality traits as a tendency to worry, dramatize situations, an increased level of responsibility, inflated demands on oneself and others, anxiety, and suspiciousness. Sometimes genetic predisposition comes to the fore.
Poor health, frequent and chronic diseases, and low immunity play a certain role.
Usually, living in conditions of chronic stress, a person predisposed to neurosis resists for some time, but inside him, as they say, “accumulates.” One day a serious traumatic event occurs, and defense mechanisms do not work. The trigger can be anything: dismissal, a strong scolding from management, an emergency at work, a deadline for a large project, an event in your personal life.
Are a nervous breakdown and a nervous breakdown, psychosis the same thing?
– Nervous breakdown and nervous disorder are overlapping concepts. Nervous disorder is also synonymous with mental disorder, therefore, as a generalized abstract concept, it can have signs of a variety of conditions. That is, a person who is not yet aware of what is happening to him (from a clinical point of view) still notes changes in his psychological status that he does not have in a normal state.
When talking about his problems, for example, to himself, to his friends, or when going to the doctor, he may say: “I think I have some kind of nervous disorder.” But the specifics of a mental disorder, that is, a specific name for the state in which a person is, can only be given by a specialist.
Psychosis is also a mental disorder, only deeper and more severe. Psychotic disorders are characterized by a more severe impairment of reality testing and a distorted perception of oneself and the world. This includes symptoms such as delusions, hallucinations, a feeling of external and sometimes otherworldly or alien influence (remember the famous aluminum caps), a sense of personal greatness, inadequate fear of persecution, and so on.
What is the difference between nervous exhaustion and a nervous breakdown?
– Nervous exhaustion is the price to pay for living a life of wear and tear. When responding to stress, especially if it is severe and prolonged, our body's resources are depleted, and in this sense we consider it as a process. That is, we “spend” to a greater extent than we recover.
Many people notice that when there is a surge of stress hormones, they “hold on well,” react quickly, and the body functions at “high speed.” And then, at the moment of relaxation, they get sick. This means that, unbeknownst to them, they spent more energy than they could afford. Such overload and its result - nervous exhaustion - are felt by a person as severe fatigue, lack of energy, asthenia.
A nervous breakdown may or may not be part of the stress response. If the stress is strong enough and long-lasting, but the person copes with it emotionally (feels that he has defeated the “enemy” or at least is winning), then there will be no breakdown, but nervous exhaustion is quite possible later.
We will see a “full negative set” if the stress is serious and there is no feeling of coping with it. Then, at the exit or even along the way, a nervous breakdown and at the same time exhaustion may occur.
Nervous exhaustion is dangerous primarily because it can affect the health of the whole organism. A malfunction will put a person out of action for an indefinite period. It is unknown which system will fail or require attention, it is unknown what resources will be needed to recover, and it is impossible to predict what social and emotional consequences may occur.
I don’t want to force the picture, because often people “get off” with several colds in a row and move on with their lives. But in any case, timely self-care will not harm anyone and will help maintain health.
Stages of stress
The first stage of stress - the alarm stage, or the anxiety stage - is quite loved and respected in the business environment. With it, all the adaptive resources of the body are mobilized: attentiveness to the task, the so-called “return” becomes enviably high.
Again, psychosomatics pass - or fade into the background: migraines, gastritis, ulcers, allergies, etc. A person can “burn” at work, showing miracles of productivity, that is, be a management’s dream: don’t eat, don’t sleep, just work.
However, if the stress factor is too strong or prolonged (for example, the emergency at work has been prolonged), then the primary reaction to stress flows into the second stage - resistance (stability) .
Stimuli that caused increased reactions in the body are no longer considered significant. The person gets used to it and calms down as best he can.
Important! Your tasks at work may remain the same, but your reaction to them may change: it will become cooler, or, if you like, relaxed. It's all about the amount of resources:
1. Available for a specific nervous system.
2. Spent on adaptation to stress during its first stage.
If the work required – and still requires – extreme stress (deadlines are running out, suppliers fail, subcontractors break agreements), and physical and mental strength is scarce, then reducing the intensity of work effort is the body’s necessary response to the current situation. Sooner or later, “burning huts” become simply uninteresting. I want to pass by and not get involved in another adventure with an unclear ending.
Otherwise, if the adrenaline button is still working (and you cannot stop), the third stage of living stress begins - exhaustion. At the last stage of development of the general adaptation syndrome - this is what stress is scientifically called - physical and mental energies are exhausted. Those defenses that helped you adapt to stress in the initial stages of living with stress no longer work. There is nothing left to “burn” at work.
From the outside it looks like a complete loss of motivation. There is not even the strength to defend new rules of the game, change working conditions, or reformulate production tasks. Under certain conditions, this may even seem convenient: the employee is flexible and does not demand anything for himself.
However, low productivity will sooner or later make itself felt. Plus - which is a minus - indifference and defensive devaluation of work processes by one person, which negatively affects the general atmosphere in the entire team.
How to get out of this state? Will it take a lot of time?
– If a person understands that he has recently lived and worked at an accelerated pace, then the logical first aid would be to slow down the pace, normalize the rest regime, take a short vacation, and have a proper diet with a predominance of fruits and vegetables and easily digestible foods.
A great addition can be yoga, meditation, relaxation, pleasant communication with loved ones and pets. And for each person, recovery time is very individual.
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