Stress is an integral part of every person's life. He can not only reduce the resistance of the human body to the negative impact of the environment, but, on the contrary, increase it. But if you cross the line of the reasonable, stress can be transformed into a negative state - distress.
What is distress?
Distress is a negative kind of stress, characterized by a mismatch between the vital requirements and the resources of the individual. When stressful situations arise, the human body activates adaptive reserves. If this process is successful, stress has a beneficial effect on the body, significantly enriching its functional reserve. But with a weakened immune system, stress becomes negative, it does not reflect well on the general psychophysical state.
With such a harmful condition in humans:
- there is fatigue;
- irritability appears;
- extinguishes sexual attraction ;
- taste preferences change;
- the mood changes without reason.
What is distress in psychology?
Distress in psychology is a destructive stress that appears due to prolonged psychophysical loads. This is a painful condition when, after a stressful situation, the long-awaited relaxation does not occur in the body, the organism is subjected to even greater loads, which negatively affects human health, causing a number of diseases.
This effect disorganizes many functions of the body, violates mental activity, human behavior. There are following types of distress:
- emotional;
- physiological;
- nervous;
- chronic;
- short-term.
Each condition is accompanied by impaired functioning, long-term depression and suicide attempts. Regardless of the species, the speech, memory, thinking of a person of any age is destroyed. With prolonged exposure, this condition causes neuroses, insomnia, disrupts memory, attention. A person becomes authentic, languid, depressed, interest in life disappears.
Causes of distress
Any emotional outburst can cause stress, it is psychoemotional tension, increased anxiety, a state of affect. Distress occurs because of:
- impossibility to satisfy physiological needs;
- difficult living conditions;
- severe damage to the skin, severe pain;
- long negative emotions.
Signs of distress
The primary diagnosis of this condition can be done independently. The concept of distress is characterized by the following symptoms:
- sharply changes the appetite (attacked by a strong zhor, or the appetite disappears completely);
- the patient is unconsciously excited or irritated;
- the smoker has a sudden increase in cravings for cigarettes or a sudden craving for alcohol;
- a person becomes distracted, he can not focus on any one problem;
- the speech of a person is upset, he starts to stutter, makes no sense to repeat himself, hardly articulates sentences;
- The stomach, a loin, heart, a head hurts;
- a person suffers from insomnia;
- constant tension in the muscles.
What is the difference between stress and distress?
Every person experiences a strong emotional experience from time to time, but a psychological disorder is a negative process, it disrupts the functional systems in the human body, causes chronic diseases. Life is impossible without stress, scientists have proved that the optimal level of stress is necessary for a pleasant excitement, emotional, creative uplift. It is important only to learn to distinguish between stress and distress , the line between what is considered the norm, and what can seriously harm your health.
Transition of stress to distress
Psychologists note a clear difference between stress and distress, but often it stems from stress. How do you understand why this break occurs? To answer this question, you need to look at the phases of stress themselves:
- The first phase is stress itself, characterized by reddening of the skin, palpitations and breathing. This occurs under the influence of the release of the hormone adrenaline, the production of which occurs in the first phase. This contributes to an accelerated rise in blood glucose, which turns into energy.
- The second phase is relaxation, which allows a person to calm down. In this case, stress without distress is possible if discharge will consist of adequate rest and food.
- If the second phase does not occur, it is replaced by a third phase, which is characterized by the release of norepinephrine into the blood, which is accompanied by pallor of the skin, cold sweat, immobility and loss of consciousness. Because norepinephrine begins to gallop pressure, decreases glucose, impaired metabolism.
What is distress and eustress?
The concepts of eustress and distress are different. Eustress is a condition that caused positive emotions, it helps to activate the protective mechanisms of the body. Eustress instills in a person confidence in their own strengths, knowledge. With the help of it, the concentration of attention increases, the person becomes more collected, his thinking and memory are established.
The differences between eustress and distress are obvious:
- Eustress stabilizes, increases the vital resources of the body.
- Distress depletes resources, impairs health.
How to get rid of distress?
Simple tips will help get rid of this condition.
- The first thing that needs to be done is to improve one's way of life . Do physical exercises, balance your diet, rest, sleep.
- It is not recommended to spend time with people dissatisfied with life. Try to objectively assess the situation, the event. Viewing negative news only worsens the overall psycho-emotional state.
- Good music, walks in nature - that's what really is needed.
Investigating the distress in psychology, scientists came to the conclusion that 46% of patients who applied to Russian clinics have similar problems of psychoneurotic disorder. If you have already undergone such a negative state, the best thing you can do is adapt to the situation, do not panic, despair. Serenity and relaxation will help you get out of the negative.
Distress in sport
Each athlete has his own individual stress threshold, and while this boundary is observed, a certain share of stress helps to achieve the desired results. If stress changes the state of distress, the results deteriorate significantly. In numerous studies of mental stress, scientists have shown that, depending on the type of nervous system of the athlete, stress can have a different effect.
For example, athletes with a weak nervous system are able to achieve better results with a low level of stress. In contrast, people with a strong nervous system, a little anxious, emotionally unexcitable, achieve better performance with a high level of stress. If an athlete crosses the line of what is permissible, a psychological disorder will lead to emotional-sensory, motor, associative disorders.