Stress management in a burning tank

Stress - the body's reaction to any unusual irritant, physical or emotional. In small doses, it is useful: stress is the main companion of unprecedented productivity a few hours before the deadline; it activates the inclusion of a working (operational) memory a few hours before the exam, which allows the student to get out of it somehow - even if using a “flea”. Stress overdose also leads to disruption of the autonomic nervous system - it is absolutely impossible to work productively or study with them. Let's see why, and what to do about it.

Stress biology

Hans Selye, the author of the concept of stress, defined it as the body's response to nonspecific effects - effects, in order to adapt to which the body must change. He also stated: the body experiences stress when adapting to any psychological or physical environmental factor. Grief and joy are diverse emotions, specific in their essence, but the body reacts to them in the same way.

In support of his hypothesis, Selye resorted to laboratory experiments. Rats were injected with toxic hormones, and, regardless of their type, the animals ’organism produced the same reaction: intensive work of the adrenal cortex, atrophied or deformed thymus gland and lymph nodes, ulcers in the gastrointestinal tract. Later it turned out that exactly the same internal changes occur in conditions of sudden changes in temperature, injuries or infections.
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How it works?

Imagine a teenager named Danio, who is returning home late. The lights have already gone out, so in the dark you have to move almost by touch - Danio has poor eyesight. Danio feels like he begins to “suck in the stomach,” his pulse accelerates and his pupils dilate. What else happens at the biological level?

• The stress factor (in this case, dark street and the prospect of getting from parents) activates the hypothalamus - the brain area at the base of the skull;
• The hypothalamus activates the pituitary gland - it starts throwing adrenocorticotropic hormone into the bloodstream, which starts the intensive work of the adrenal glands;
• The adrenal cortex begins to secrete corticoids (and if Danio also gets in touch with something or hears a loud noise, nerve impulses produce an adrenaline rush);
• Under the action of hormones in the body increases the level of glucose - an easily accessible source of fast energy.

Having reached the house, Danio will surely feel unusually vigorous - and for some time he will be in a “fight or run” state, sitting over a plate of evening soup.

If Danio walked down the street long enough - when the night is dark and full of horror, beware of every sound, if he came under the entrance door he found that he had lost the keys, if his mother launched a plate at him, and his father would run from the doorway - an unsuccessful family our Danio, and if everything — from the ill-fated night — continued in the same spirit, at some point his body would have been exhausted. The number of corticosteroids in the body would have exceeded a maximum, in Danio, the defense mechanisms would be disabled due to tired adrenal glands, the thymus gland would atrophy, and at some point he would die from shock or deadly fatigue, and his body would “close” cycle of general adaptation syndrome.

About burning tank

General adaptation syndrome (JSC) - stress cycle, an algorithm that our body drives around in a circle in any unclear situation:

1. Surprise or anxiety due to a new stress factor (Danio is dark and he cannot find the keys in his pocket)
2. Resistance to the stress factor - the solution to the problem (Danio took a deep breath and tried to calm down, carefully looks at his feet and found the keys in his backpack);
3. Exhaustion - the end of emotional and hormonal "consumption", fatigue (After a hot soup and half the Breaking Bad series, Danio falls asleep without hind legs).

In essence, a person passes through these phases daily. A cup of espresso - and your body is ready to shove at the barricades. The problem is that frequent or constant flashes of stress deplete the body, and the adaptation cycle is not always “activation” after caffeine or deadline. Sometimes its passage is a long and painful process for the organism.

Stress psychology: what happens and what to do about it?

• Under the influence of the stress hormone - the person's ability and self-perception changes.
• Stress often impairs learning ability and memory (especially spatial );
• Increased with constant stress, cortisol affects the libido and the work of the reproductive systems - the body needs to survive, not to continue the race;
• Stress blocks sensory perception and memories of it (for example, tactile memory).

Work or study at the stage of permanent resistance cannot simply be effective, and if a person is satisfied with its results, his body is far from being satisfied.

The modern “trend” of productivity served humanity a disservice: in addition to the constant noise of the big city, which interferes with sleep (and during sleep, the brain “clears up” the effects of stress), people, like mad people, stick to blue or deadline, often swimming in a tense sense of uncertainty. Uneven and inharmonious working rhythm, constant processing or team conflicts also do not make good weather, and methods to increase employee motivation are often ineffective.

What to do with the damn cortisol and how to make yourself a little better?

• The psychological law of Yerkes-Dodson suggests that the average level of motivation is ideal for high productivity, and its critical increase leads to a decrease in the quality of work. The number of efforts made with high motivation is extremely high, as are the following frustrated expectations: do not overdo it with goal setting - it will not help; installation of an equal working rhythm and regular rest will help;
• Reduce the load when you feel worse or better than usual: unrealistic, but possible. Bad is lack of sleep, nervousness, anxiety - everything that can be associated with a fight-or-flight response; since stress is a reaction to any, albeit a positive, irritant, you are in love with your neighbor or are angry with him, it’s okay to learn or not to work;
• Realize that thoughts generate emotions, and emotions are not facts; With this, Burns's book Feeling Good helps;
• How not funny, life is really largely about managing expectations; the lower the expectations, the faster the adaptation to the results of activities, whatever they may be;
• Since the effect of stress depends on the strength and duration of the stress factor, learn to distinguish between "good" and "bad" stress. Bad - long and exhausting, forcing infinitely spin in the wheel of JSC; good - sharp and mobilizing. It is important: you should not abuse them both (to the question of deadlines and their benefits for the organism);
• Learn something that you didn’t know before, in your free time: it helps to “clean up” old, non-updated data of neurons along with stressful baggage; new neural connections also increase the lifespan of the brain;
• Sleep well;
• Play sports, sex and meditate.

Stress management implies “concluding a contract” with stress: you may not feel tachycardia or a sharp desire to give your boss a face, but Valar Morgulis Cortisol already has control over the body, you can’t manage it. Your task is to reduce its impact on everyday life, and, if you cannot, to set the limits for what is permissible, after which - going down, visiting a specialist, relaxing with friends (without excesses!) Or some kind of retreat. This moment is important not to miss, otherwise - burn out.



Posted by: Yana Slemzina