Stress hits us all. It begins very banal. The alarm clock did not ring, you were late for work, the boss looked at you crookedly, the child brought one from school … Crammed into our daily duties, driven, we get frustrated very easily. We then say that we are under stress.
Stressis a key word today, good for any occasion. For a biologist, it means the mobilization of the whole organism resulting from the need to respond to unusual situations. The psychologist will say that this is a picture of the relationship between a person and his environment. Regardless of the definition, stress is always associated with an unpleasant experience or difficulties for us.
Chronic stress causes a decline in immunity
All problems that violate family ties, lack of money, problems in professional life, smaller or bigger failures trigger neurotic reactions in us. We usually deal with them. Sometimes it is enough to just talk to a friend or go to the solarium, gym or beautician. It is worse when you have to endure the death of loved ones, loss of job, participation in a traffic accident, theft or robbery. These are traumatic experiences that bend our necks and do not allow us to recover quickly. We react to ordinary everyday stress with greater physical and mental activity. The blood pressure and sugar rises, and the heart rate increases. The body and mind are ready to act - fight or flight. We feelfear ,fear , anger or hostility. But the prolonged state of mobilization of the body's forces can lead to exhaustion and a decline in immunity. We can then catch, for example, an acute respiratory infection. Sometimes myocardial ischemia occurs, the heart is disrupted and its efficiency is reduced. What's more, living under constant stress increases the risk of developing cancer.
Stress reaction
It's a process that involves the central nervous, cardiovascular, and adrenal glands. In an emergency, the hypothalamus at the base of the brain starts secreting a substance that coordinates the course of stress, called CRF. It goes through the blood to the brain and stimulates the pituitary gland to produce the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) called corticotropin. Under its influence, the adrenal glands secrete steroids, i.e.substances determining the course of the stress response and its extinction. It is an individual matter. Much depends on genetic disposition and life experiences.
Causes of stress
We very often do not realize that lack of appetite, difficulty sleeping and concentrating is a normal reaction to stress. Of course, it's better not to have such troubles than to be able to deal with them. But we cannot count on such an ideal situation. Doctors believe that we put the most harmful stress on ourselves. The mechanism is very simple - we set ourselves more and more ambitious goals, we let ourselves be drawn (often against our own will) in the so-called rat race. We make a career, we gain we alth. Let's think about what we want and what makes us happy. When we answer these questions, it may turn out that we should change something in our lives, and thus eliminate many stressful situations.
Stress resistance
Stress resistance, according to psychiatrists, depends on our disposition. Whether we are convinced that life has order, that events can be explained, that all actions are worth the effort and commitment, and meeting new challenges is within our capabilities. Such an attitude towards life increases a person's resistance to diseases and affects his longevity. It can be said that the basis of survival is keeping a balance between what is brought to us by everyday life and how we react to events. When a stressful situation lasts for a short time, we are safe, because the balance between the functioning of individual organs in the body will not be disturbed. It gets worse when the difficulties arise and we are unable to free ourselves from them.
Stress causes and intensifies:
- alcoholism
- coronary artery disease and other heart conditions
- hypertension
- asthma and allergies
- back pain, joint pain, headache (tension and migraine)
- states of chronic fatigue
- diabetes
- eating disorders (the so-called stress eating or a complete lack of appetite)
- irritable bowel syndrome
- peptic ulcer disease
- irregular and painful periods
- overweight
- rheumatoid arthritis
- depression and sexual dysfunction
The most common causes of stress:
- loss of a loved one
- dissatisfaction with your appearance and body weight
- bad he alth of a loved one
- excess work and home duties
- financial, tax and property problems
- loss of something valuable
- involved in a crime (especially as a victim)
- job loss
- change of placeresidence
- upbringing problems and troubles with children