Modern people talk so much about stress that this alone can already cause stress. He is waiting for us everywhere – on the street, in transport and, of course, at work. Is the world so hostile? Or do we misunderstand what stress is?
1. You don’t want to do anything new and spend the whole weekend in front of the computer or TV.
It may seem strange, but in science, there is no single and generally accepted definition of stress. It is often said that stress is the body’s reaction to irritating stimuli, and in a broad sense, a reaction to novelty in general.
At the same time, a certain level of stress is necessary for the body to maintain a comfortable psychological state. This can be seen from the so-called stress curve – it shows where the well-known “comfort zone” begins and ends. If the stress level is too high, the body has to overcome it, be it a human or a snail.
It is customary to distinguish two forms of dealing with stress. The first is increasing predictability by changing the environment. If the level of stress in some situations goes off the scale, then it is quite natural to want to get away from this situation. For example, lock yourself in a room and not come out until Monday. If you experience this desire every weekend, this is clear evidence that you are spending the rest of the week away from the psychological norm.
We inherited such reactions from our evolutionary ancestors. They experienced stress not when working with a broken printer, but rather when meeting someone like a leopard on a nearby branch. Therefore, the stress withdrawal reaction is not a sign of weakness, but rather an indication that the situation is already plunging you into too much stress – and you do not have the moral strength to fight it. Perhaps it is worth leaving not from a stressful situation, but for the reason that regularly causes it.
2. You do aimless, repetitive activities.
You can increase the level of predictability not only by passive withdrawal, but also by influencing the situation itself – this is called the struggle for control. In this way, you not only increase the predictability of events, but also take advantage of the situation by forcing circumstances to act according to your will. A successful struggle for control leads to an increase in social status not only in humans, but also in animals.
The problem is that the workplace is full of situations where it is impossible to increase the degree of control for objective reasons. What does our cunning brain suggest in this case? Increase control in a situation that has nothing to do with stress!
Some researchers believe that this is where the popularity of gyms or computer games as a means of dealing with stress, and even anti-stress toys, is growing. Banal manipulations with an “obedient” object (spinners, lickers, and so on) can actually serve as an effective tool for relieving stress.
This behavior has been well studied in animals in zoos – they, too, in a stressful situation, can perform meaningless repetitive actions. Constant brushing or walking from corner to corner can be a sign of stressed pets. Such actions are called stereotyping.
Sometimes stereotypy begins to show an unhealthy character not only in an animal, but also in a person. If your work involves constantly pushing the button on a fountain pen, tossing a pencil, or, worse, non-stop walking around the office, you should consider whether you feel comfortable enough on it.
3. Terrible boredom is also a stress
The state when novelty and stimuli are completely absent is also stressful. It’s called “hypostress,” as opposed to “distress,” which happens with too much exposure. In the picture, this state is at the other end of the curve – from there it is as far from the optimum as it is with “classical” stress.
It is impossible to die from hypostress, but you can solve problems of a psychological and even physiological nature. Depression, lethargy, frustration, bad mood – all this can accompany hypostress. Some people think that a dream job is one where you can sit all day and do nothing. Obviously, this is a direct road to hypostress.
4. You get sick more often than usual
It is widely believed that stress is a purely psychological phenomenon and that it does not affect the incidence of a person in any way. It is not true. If short-term stress can be useful and motivate for active actions, then long-term and constant stress affects health in the most negative way.
Every experience has a physiological basis. In the case of stress, several specific hormones are usually released, the production of which increases during the corresponding experiences. The best known stress hormone is cortisol.
The bad news is that cortisol reduces a person’s immune defences, so during times of stress, the chance of catching a cold or other viral disease increases. If you get sick more often than usual, it may not be a draft in the workplace at all, but an increased level of stress.
On the other hand, if you sneezed a couple of times and felt weak, you should not immediately think: “Well, that’s it, now I’m definitely sick. No wonder my mother said, do not sit under the window. At this point, you provoke stress by increasing the production of cortisol, which prevents your immune system from responding to an encounter with a pathogen. Do not worry about trifles until the symptoms become too pronounced or until the body can cope on its own.
5. You have digestive problems
Stress adversely affects not only the nervous system, but also the digestive system. The influence of stress on the occurrence of digestive problems was proved by Ivan Petrovich Pavlov in his famous experiments on dogs. In humans, stress can cause heartburn, gastritis, esophagitis, irritable bowel, and other digestive tract diseases.
Poor digestion threatens not only with “delicate problems”, but also with a bad mood, communication difficulties, sleep problems, lack of sleep and, as a result, even more stress. Once in such a loop, it is important to seek medical attention in time and act on the symptoms by reducing the additional level of stress to return to normal.
It is helpful to have medications on hand to help combat the negative effects of stress. Headache pills or heartburn remedies are well known and often found in folk medicine cabinets. Irritable bowel, another common occurrence in stress, is less well known.
If every morning begins with discomfort in the lower abdomen, there are constant pains, cramps, you want to go to the toilet, and during the day the attacks are replaced by only temporary relief – this indicates an irritated intestine. There are medicines for this disease. At Abbott, this remedy is Duspatalin® 135 mg tablets. It fights a complex of irritable bowel symptoms (abdominal pain and cramps, bloating, stool disorders) and helps to restore bowel function.
It is important to remember that you can only rid yourself of the original cause of stress. Try to increase control over it in a stressful situation – this is the most profitable way to fight. If there is no other way, perhaps the best way is to change the situation. Like it or not but health is more important than a career.
Also read : How to organize yourself?