By Emma 
Today’s hectic lifestyle makes it to where stress haunts a person constantly. But what is hidden behind this commonplace concept? Today, stress is called any emotional shock, painful experience, the bitterness of undue expectations
However, the medical interpretation of the term is much narrower – not every fear, pain or disappointment is stress.
Far from every person who happened to undergo a powerful emotional attack gets broken, loses vitality and gets depressed. Along with that, real stress is destructive and represents a risk to health. That is why it is so important to recognize it and start treatment on time.
Let us consider in more detail how to distinguish stress from nervous tension, what consequences this phenomenon entails and how to deal with it.
Stress or not stress: that is the question
An accurate description of stress was made 80 years ago. The Austro-Hungarian biologist Hans Selye (https://www.britannica.com/biography/Hans-Selye) pointed out that stress is a complex of adaptive reactions of the body to the requirements presented to it due to the influence of factors that led to a violation of homeostasis (the body’s ability to maintain a constant internal environment).
In other words, it is a tension that causes a combination of external, usually unfavorable, factors.
Any kind of change in a person’s normal routine can be a stress factor. Emotional shocks often provoke not only external circumstances but also a subconscious attitude to specific events.
Death of your member of the family, a breakup with your loved one, problems with the business, lack of confidence about the future, bustle of everyday life and constant feeling rushed – all these can bring out of balance.
The reasons can also be “internal” in nature: poor nutrition, deficiency of minerals and vitamins, disruptions in the functioning of the endocrine and immune systems, and allergies.
Nervous stress is much deeper than ordinary excitement, it is the physiological reaction of the body to an effect that has specific symptoms, phases, and consequences.
With adverse effects, the pituitary gland begins to actively produce adrenocorticotropin. This hormone, in turn, affects the adrenal glands, which are producers of “stress hormones” – cortisol, norepinephrine, adrenaline. There is an increased production of glucose, cholesterol, fatty acids.
In humans, blood pressure rises and heartbeat intensifies. In small doses, it is even useful – stress stimulates activity and induces action.
With prolonged stress, the level of cortisol in the blood is constantly overestimated. This causes hypertension, thyroid problems, and an increase in blood glucose.
Gradually the bones lose their strength, tissues begin to break down, and the immune system suffers.
The brain constantly sends a signal about the need to store fats, there is a craving for sweets, flour and fat, there is an increase in body weight. Although the reverse clinical picture may occur, leading to a lack of appetite and physical exhaustion.
Unfortunately, not everyone can immediately recognize the onset of chronic stress. The first signal of the problem is insomnia. Other symptoms appear later.
A person loses the ability to adequately respond to stimuli. For no apparent reason, he becomes furious or rushes into tears. The ability to concentrate is lost, important details fall out of memory. Gradually, interest in work and entertainment is lost.
Frequent headaches and ongoing anxiety are not ruled out. The risk of serious illness is increasing. The cardiovascular system and the gastrointestinal tract are more affected. Ulcer, hypertension, angina pectoris, stroke, and even oncology – all these are real consequences of a prolonged stay of the body in a stressful state.
Therefore, it is important to detect the problem in time and start treating stress before it destroys the body.
Treatment of stress without medication
Non-pharmacological methods are the first things to start fighting stress. These include:
- Psychotherapy. The therapist identifies the factor that caused the stress, determines the depth of the problem and the body’s reserves to withstand the situation. The therapy combines different techniques. Usually, this is a confidential conversation, during which the doctor can experiment, drawing the patient’s attention to his feelings, fears, and experiences.As a result, a person must look at various situations and life in general from an angle that allows one to see the possibilities of choice. This forms a desire to create the most comfortable conditions and avoid stressful scenarios. Hypnosis also belongs to this group.
- Relaxation, training. Relaxation helps reduce the psychophysical activity of the body while awake. There are many relaxation techniques: breathing and relaxation training, autogenic training, progressive muscle relaxation, and others.In the process of training, the patient’s muscle tension decreases, blood pressure decreases, and the heart rate calms down, which minimizes the negative effect of stress on physiology. Training is aimed primarily at relieving emotional stress, for example, through reducing the significance of problems, combating fear through humor, etc.
- Physical activity. Physical activity allows you to naturally “utilize” excess adrenaline. With prolonged workout (more than half an hour), “hormones of joy” – endorphins – begin to be released in the body. The sport and the number of training are selected individually: from outdoor walks to active work in the gym.
- Lifestyle correction. This is a prerequisite for recovery. Change must come in all areas. This includes the consumption of natural products, and a decrease in the amount of alcohol, and the fight against overweight, and a full-fledged work and rests regime with going to bed no later than 11 PM. A nutritional supplement like Balance of Nature may help keep your body nourished as well.
Therapy with natural antidepressants should not be underestimated. The human body has enormous potential, it can overcome stress if only the person himself realizes the need for this.
For example, in the case of parting with a loved one, you should not cry into your pillow around the clock.
You need to splash out aggression in sports, master breathing techniques and yoga, devote time to caring for your body, communicate with new positive people, travel, etc. All this gives a tangible effect, coupled with the pharmacology that underlies the healing process.
About guest author: Melisa Marzett is a freelance writer with much experience in this area let alone in the area of journalism as a former journalist, translation as a self-taught person, journeys as a traveler, much of a reader and practitioner in many aspects of life. Currently writing for www.essay-editor.net, she composes articles about anything and everything.
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