Institute Satori
Institute for psychotherapy and counselling
What is stress?
Stress is an individual’s physiological, psychological, and behavioral response to any change that we have to adapt to. Stress can be positive when we experience change as a challenge. It is harmful and dangerous to health when we feel that the demands of the environment exceed our capabilities. When we find ourselves in a potentially dangerous situation, our body reacts by preparing for a fight-or-flight response like our ancestors or animals. Breathing becomes faster and shallower, which provides more oxygen to the muscles. The heart pumps faster, blood vessels dilate, blood supply to the brain and muscles increases. Blood vessels and capillaries dilate near the surface of the skin to cool the body through sweating. All the larger skeletal muscles contract. Digestion slows down or stalls because blood is directed away from the stomach. Cortisol, adrenaline and norepinephrine are released.
However, since today a person cannot flee or fight as in the past, the mobilization of the organism can be harmful. Especially if the period of stress is longer and the body fails to return to its previous state. Prolonged periods of stress can lead to chronic exhaustion or illness. The body of a person who is constantly under stress continues to secrete cortisol and other hormones, which weakens the immune system. This lowers the activity of cells that destroy foreign bodies in the body.
Consequences of stress:
Stress thus causes many harmful consequences for our physical and mental health. The signs of stress are many and can affect the individual quite differently or vary from individual to individual. The most common signs of stress are the following:
Increased heart rate, high blood pressure, breathing problems, difficulty swallowing, feeling nauseous, hyperventilation, tense, contracted muscles, decreased immunity, hot and cold flashes, sweating, flushing, dry skin, stinging, frequent urination, etc.
Nespečnost, zgodnje zbujanje, čustveni izbruhi, izguba apetita ali pretirano najedanje, pretirano kajenje, pitje alkohola, izogibanje določeni situacijam, pasivnost;
Insomnia, waking up early, emotional outbursts, loss of appetite or overeating, excessive smoking, drinking alcohol, avoidance of certain situations, passivity;
Inability to concentrate, indecision, forgetfulness, excessive sensitivity to criticism, negative self-critical thoughts, perverted thoughts, etc.
Burnout:
Chronic stress and/or many other factors lead to a phenomenon called burnout. Today’s high demands on the environment, especially professional and personal, or their mutual harmonization, lead us to impossible demands that are placed before us. Burnout is thus becoming an increasingly widespread problem in many professions today. Daily labor requirements are high, it is increasingly difficult to achieve the joy of success, the imbalance between the invested and the received is increasing both in economic and psychological terms.
Especially risky are professions that involve a lot of direct contact with people, since they require a high level of sensitivity. Working in these professions is mentally and physically very demanding. Workers can be exhausted by the dedication required by work, excessive workloads, and potential conflicts with clients, students and their parents, patients, colleagues, and superiors. As a result, high demands in the workplace affect personal life and make it increasingly difficult to reconcile them with each other, leading to increasing exhaustion.
Often, people who have been very engaged, who were successful before burnout, but who have pushed self-care to the last place in caring for work and/or other people, are burned out.
Signs of burnout:
The most common signs of burnout are exhaustion, a drop in productivity, and a sense of alienation from work, people. When people suffer from exhaustion, they feel constant fatigue from which they cannot rest. There are sleep disturbances, irritability, feelings of guilt, attacks of rapid heartbeat, panic attacks, feelings of emotional and physical overload. They lack the energy to face another problem, another man…
Due to a strong sense of responsibility and a productive attitude, some people try to deny it, hide this malaise from themselves and others, and try to surpass themselves by activating all their resources even more.
This leads to an intensification of signs of fatigue, increasing morbidity. There is a noticeable decline in work ability and efficiency, lack of life energy, alienation from loved ones and colleagues. There are feelings of emotional exhaustion, numbness, hopelessness, anger, sadness, covert or overt cynicism. When people are cynical, they adopt a cold, detached attitude towards work and co-workers. Cynicism is a kind of attempt to protect oneself from exhaustion and disappointment. However, such an attitude can seriously undermine a person’s well-being and ability to do work effectively.
Due to the deteriorating efficiency, people feel a growing sense of inadequacy. Each new commitment seems very difficult or even unfeasible. They lose confidence in their abilities and, consequently, in themselves.
All this can lead to a breakdown, to complete mental and physical exhaustion. Burnout manifests itself in all areas, from serious illnesses to severe depressive and anxiety symptoms, which make it impossible for a person to work for a long time and periodically return for several years under stress.
Forms of assistance:
Research has shown that relaxation exercises increase the activity of cells that destroy foreign bodies in the body and thus strengthen the immune system. In addition to relaxation, other factors that contribute to a healthier and balanced lifestyle are also important for managing stress and overcoming burnout, such as a healthy diet, exercise, time planning, etc. Above all, it is important to know yourself, your limitations and understand the connection between what causes us stress and our reaction and/or what led to the level of burnout. Psychotherapy can help us better understand and listen to ourselves. With the help of psychotherapy, we can develop our abilities for relaxation and calming, develop a better contact with ourselves, our emotions, needs, which also allow us to better recognize our own boundaries and limitations. However, an individual can even change their predisposition to stress, which depends on each individual. It is important to know what has led us to this point (burnout, etc.), what the body is telling us so that in the future we will be more easily in touch with ourselves and in accordance with our abilities. Psychotherapy, as mentioned, also helps us to become aware of emotions and regulate them, which in the long run contributes to a psychologically and physiologically healthier way of being and to fuller and more varied interpersonal relationships. It also helps us take better care of ourselves, recognize our personal boundaries, and identify some of the key psychological causes and structures that increase stress in our daily lives and reduce our flexibility, and can lead us to burnout.
Objavljeno v: Hišni zdravnik. Letnik 2, številka 7, Julij-Avgust 2010, 14-15.
dr. Tamara Trobentar, psihoterapevtka