Almost the inevitable consequence of any conflict is the stress. Its unpleasant symptoms (the irritability, inability to concentrate, and then the feeling of the causeless tiredness, etc.) appear and are instantly visible to the naked eye. The last conflict, which ended for me with the stress, had a quarrel with my parents.
1) alarm reaction, which manifested itself in the urgent mobilization of the defense forces and resources of the body;
2) the phase of the resistance, allowing the body to cope with stress-related impacts;
3) the phase of exhaustion, after too protracted and too intense fighting having reduced the adaptive capacity of the organism.
During my stress, the ordinary emotions were replaced by the anxiety, causing a disturbance in the physiological and psychological terms.
Stress is a concept, introduced by H. Selye in 1936 in order to refer to a broad range of the states of the mental tension, resulting from the implementation of the activities in especially difficult circumstances and emerging in response to a variety of extreme effects - stressors. Initially, the concept originated in the physiology to designate the non-specific response of the body (‘general adaptation syndrome’) in response to any adverse effects; later it was used to describe the state of the individual in the extreme conditions on the physiological, psychological and behavioral levels.
Depending on the type of the stressor and the nature of its influence it could be allocated different types of stress; according to the most common classification it can be physiological stress and psychological stress. The last can be subdivided to the informational stress and emotional stress.
According to the classic definition of Selye, stress is a non-specific response of the body to the presented external claim or request. This response is the tension of the body, aimed at the overcoming of the encountered difficulties and at the adapting to the increased requirements.
The stressed state causes certain biochemical reactions in the brain, associated with the release of the adrenaline. Its physiological significance is the instant mobilization of all forces of the body needed to fight the enemy or escape from it. However, the modern man, in contrast to the primitive, not so often solves the arising problems through the physical force or fast running. Thus, the not used hormones circulate in our blood, which excite the body and do not give the nervous system to calm down. At the same time, this stressful condition is not dangerous by itself, but it is able to provoke the whole bunch of the organic disorders in the form of the cardiovascular diseases, allergic, immune and other diseases. Not to mention the fact that the human performance, as well as the life and creative activity fall sharply. The likely causeless lethargy, inactivity, insomnia or not giving rest sleep, irritability, dissatisfaction with the whole world – are the typical symptoms and consequences of the stress.
The signs of the stress tension:
inability to focus on something;
too frequent errors in the work;
deteriorating memory;
too frequent feeling of the fatigue;
very fast speech;
thoughts often disappear;
quite often pain (head, back, stomach area);
increased excitability;
the work does not give the same joy;
the loss of sense of humor;
dramatically increasing the number of cigarettes smoked;
addiction to alcohol;
constant feeling of the malnutrition;
the loss of appetite - lose the taste of the food;
the inability to finish the job on time.
Stress can manifest itself in different ways. Conventionally, the symptoms of stress can be divided into three main groups: 1) physiological; 2) psychological; 3) behavioral.
Physiological symptoms of the stress are the rise in blood pressure, the occurrence and exacerbation of the cardiovascular diseases and chronic headache, etc. The mechanism of the effect of the stress on the physical health is not fully understood. However, of course, its impact on all life functions and human health is much stronger than it was assumed earlier.
Psychological symptoms of stress are the feeling of dissatisfaction, which can manifest itself in forms such as tension, anxiety, depression or irritability. Directly connected with the work factors that most often cause the psychological symptoms of the stress are not clearly defined job duties and responsibilities for their implementation, as well as the monotony of the work.
Behavioral symptoms include the loss of productivity, absenteeism, employee turnover, alcohol abuse and other forms of the stress, affecting the quantity and quality of life.
The circumstances that cause stress (stressors) provoke the body's response to the stimulation. Paradoxically, but in terms of the biochemistry it does not matter positive or negative emotions a person experiences. The important thing is that the body has to move and adapt to the new circumstances. For example, during the war, a woman, who received a ‘death notice’ about her only son, grieved the loss very hard. A few years later the presumed dead son suddenly went into the house - and the joy of his mother caused a real shock. Thus, the grief and happiness involved in the body the same coping mechanisms, which allowed the organism to cope with the shock and to restore the inner balance.
Factors causing stress are the impact on human organism by the external and internal environment, which leads it into a state of the stress. The main factors, influencing the occurrence of the stress of a person in the organization are the organizational and intra-personal factors.
It is also needed to note about the adaptation mechanism, which is a dynamic process, by which the mobile systems of living organisms, despite the variability of the conditions, maintain the stability necessary for the existence, development and reproduction. This adaptation mechanism, generated as a result of a long evolution, provides the possibility of the existence of an organism in a constantly changing environment. Through the process of adaptation it could be achieved the preserving of the homeostasis of the organism in the interaction with the outside world.
Mental adaptation to the stress is considered as the result of the self-governing integral system (at the level of the ‘operational rest’), while stressing its systemic organization. However, such consideration of the picture remains to be incomplete. It is necessary to include the concept of ‘need’ into the formulation. The maximum possible satisfaction of the urgent needs is, therefore, an important criterion for the efficiency of the adaptation process. Consequently, the mental adaptation can be defined as the process of the establishing of the optimal matching of the individual and the environment in the course of the activities of humans that (the process) allows the individual to meet the current needs and implement associated meaningful goals, while at the same time complying with the maximum activity of the person, the conduct and environmental requirements.
Mental adaptation is a continuous process, which, along with the proper mental adaptation (i.e. maintaining of the mental homeostasis), includes two more aspects: 1) the optimization of the constant exposure to the individual with the environment; 2) establishing of an adequate correspondence between the mental and physiological characteristics.
