Major Intelligence Perhaps the common factor is a "statistical artifact," a chimera of our imagination. This is exactly what some researchers say, believing that intelligence does not come down to one single factor, but to several. In theory,

Main Conclusions In concluding this book, I will allow myself to name a few principles. What must be done, and what should not be done in any case. Five NOT: - DO NOT join anyone, do not enter into alliances !! - DO NOT start! - Do not appease the aggressor! - DO NOT succumb to

2) assessment stressors (performance assessment): a) "start" - stressors and memory stressors (upcoming competitions, memories of grief, expectation of a threat); b) victories and defeats (victory, love, defeat, death of a loved one); c) spectacle;

3) stressors of mismatch of activity: a) separation (conflicts in the family, at school, threat or unexpected news); b) psychosocial and physiological limitations ( sensory deprivation, muscle deprivation, diseases that limit communication and activity, parental discomfort, hunger);

4) physical and natural stressors: muscle loads, surgical interventions, trauma, darkness, loud sound, pitching, heat, earthquake.

Short-term stressors are everyday annoyances (may be small or medium in negative significance) that take a minute to adapt.

Long-term stressors include critical life events, traumatic events that require a qualitative structural reorganization in the structure of a person's personality and are accompanied not only by short-term emotions, but by persistent affective reactions; take more time to adapt than everyday stressors; Chronic stressors act for a long time: as a result of recurring family troubles, overload at work, or after serious, subjectively significant events (divorce, for example).

Stress reactions are:

Typical emotional stress reactions are reactions of two types: sthenic (anger, anger) or asthenic (fear, sadness, resentment). Among behavioral reactions, two extreme poles of behavior can also be distinguished: flight reaction or fight reaction.

The fight-or-flight response is sometimes called stress reactivity. This reaction consists in an increase in muscle tension, an increase in heart rate, an increase in blood pressure and nervous excitement, etc. (we will consider the physiology of stress in more detail in the course of the next lecture). This reaction prepares us for quick action. At the same time, our body produces substances that are not used in the future. Then it affects our health.

The longer we are in an altered physiological state (duration) and the more this change differs from the norm (degree), the more likely it is that such stress reactivity will turn into a disease for us. Of these two indicators - duration and degree - duration is the most important.

The concept of stress. Types of stress

Stress is a set of protective physiological reactions that occur in the body of animals and humans in response to the impact of various adverse factors. In medicine, physiology, psychology, positive (eustress) and negative (distress) forms of stress are distinguished. In the case of emotionally positive stress, the stressful situation is short-lived and you control it, usually in these cases there is nothing to fear: your body will be able to quickly rest and recover after an explosion in the activity of all systems.

Distinguish between short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) stress. They affect health in different ways. Long-term has more severe consequences.

Acute stress is characterized by the speed and suddenness with which it occurs. The extreme degree of acute stress is shock. In the life of every person there were shocking situations.

Shock, acute stress almost always turn into chronic, long-term stress. The shock situation has passed, you seem to have recovered from the shock, but the memories of the experience come back again and again.

Long-term stress is not necessarily the result of acute stress, it often arises due to seemingly insignificant factors, but constantly acting and numerous (for example, job dissatisfaction, strained relationships with colleagues and relatives, etc.).

Physiological stress occurs as a result of direct impact on the body of various negative factors (pain, cold, heat, hunger, thirst, physical overload, etc.)

Psychological stress is caused by factors that act by their signal value: deceit, resentment, threat, danger, information overload, etc.

Emotional stress occurs in situations that threaten human security (crimes, accidents, wars, serious illnesses, etc.), his social status, economic well-being, interpersonal relationships (loss of work, family problems and so on.).

Information stress occurs during information overload, when a person who bears great responsibility for the consequences of his actions does not have time to make the right decisions. Informational stresses are very frequent in the work of dispatchers, operators of technical control systems.

Psycho-emotional stress is a protective and adaptive reaction that mobilizes the body to overcome various obstacles that disrupt life, in the event of many conflict situations in which the subject is limited in the ability to satisfy his basic vital biological and social needs.

Describing the stress process, Selye identified three phases:

1) Anxiety reaction - occurs immediately after the impact of any stressor and is expressed in tension and a sharp decrease in the body's resistance. There is an excitation of the sympathetic nervous system; The hypothalamus sends a chemical signal to the pituitary gland, causing it to increase the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), which in turn travels through the blood to the adrenal glands and causes the secretion of corticosteroids - hormones that prepare the entire body for action and possible fight with damaging factors. Scientists measure the stress response by increasing the levels of norepinephrine, ACTH, or corticosteroids in the blood;

2) The resistance phase, characterized by the mobilization of the body's resources to overcome stressful situation. Under psychological stress, the sympathetic nervous system prepares the body for fight or flight;

Each person goes through these two stages many times. When resistance is successful, the body returns to normal.

3) The phase of exhaustion, which corresponds to a steady decrease in the body's resources. It occurs when the stressor continues to act for a sufficient period of time.

Stress is a non-specific reaction of the body to the action of extreme factors, some difficult or threatening situation. When stressed, the body produces the hormone adrenaline, the main function of which is to make the body survive. Stress is a normal part of human life and is necessary in certain amounts. If in our life there were no stressful situations, elements of competition, risk, the desire to work to the limit, life would be much more boring. Sometimes stress acts as a kind of challenge or motivation that is necessary to feel the fullness of emotions, even if it is about survival. If the totality of these challenges and complex tasks becomes very large, then the ability of a person to cope with these tasks is gradually lost.

Anxiety is a state of mind and body associated with restlessness, tension and nervousness. In the life of every person there are moments when he experiences stress or anxiety. In essence, the state of anxiety helps a person to cope with external dangers, forcing the brain to work intensively and bringing the body into a state of readiness for action. When anxieties and fears begin to suppress a person and influence him everyday life, so-called anxiety disorders may occur. Anxiety disorders, including panic attacks, fear of losing a job, specific fears, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and general anxiety, usually begin to appear in the teens. Anxiety disorders are regarded as chronic diseases that can progress without treatment. On this moment There are effective treatments for them.

The main types of stress - studying the enemy, winning the battle

The desire for rest is characteristic not only of any body in the universe, but also of the nervous system. Any external influence on the body triggers an adaptive reaction - stress. What are the basic types of stress? There are four main groups: eustress, distress, physiological and psychological form. The classification of stress takes into account the degree of harmful effects of stimuli, the ability to independently cope with the load and the speed of restoring the stability of the nervous system.

What are the types of stress?

In psychology, it is customary to divide such a load into two main categories:

The mechanism of triggering stress is necessary for a person to survive, since it is a form of adaptation to a changing world. Short-term stresses tone the body, releasing energy that allows a person to quickly mobilize internal resources. The excitable stage of eustress lasts a few minutes, so the nervous system quickly restores stability and the negative aspects do not have time to manifest themselves.

In psychology, “bad” stress is an impact that the body is not able to cope with on its own. We are talking about a long-term stressful impact, when the resources of the psyche are not enough for adaptation, or we are talking about a violation of physical health. Distress implies a detrimental effect on the body - in critical cases, a person without proper treatment completely loses his ability to work. Prolonged stress contributes to the exhaustion of the immune system, which in turn entails a number of chronic or acute diseases.

Physiological stress is an elementary form of adaptation

The classification of stresses is also based on the way adaptation processes are triggered. Categories of "simple" stress take into account the minimum set of impacts - environmental factors, physical overload. The result is physiological stress.

This form implies an acute reaction of the body to the aggressive effects of the surrounding world. Sudden temperature changes, excessive moisture, prolonged absence of food or drinking water, piercing wind, excessive heat or cold - any such factor requires excessive mobilization. The triggers of physiological stress should also include excessive physical exertion, typical for athletes, as well as nutritional deviations provoked by excessive or insufficient nutrition (gluttony or starvation).

In popular psychology, a special, nutritional form of stress is distinguished, which is provoked by malnutrition (violation of the regimen, inadequate selection of foods, excessive absorption of food or rejection of it).

Under normal circumstances, the physiological form passes without a trace due to the high endurance of the human body. However, in the case when a person stays in an uncomfortable state for a long time, his body ceases to adapt correctly and a failure occurs at the physical level - a disease occurs.

Psychological stress

Psychological stress is the scourge of our time. This form has become a characteristic feature of the era, since it is directly related to the adequacy of human interaction with society. If at the physical level adaptation is the primary guarantee of survival and is facilitated by a powerful mechanism of instinctive reactions, then psychological stress can unsettle a person for a long time.

Characteristics of the psychological form of stress

The "undermined" psyche is the result of an extreme reaction to two types of influence - informational or emotional factors.

1. Information overload. Knowledge workers know from their own experience what the consequences of receiving a large amount of information are. Although information processing is a basic function of the cerebral hemispheres, too much data can have detrimental consequences. The failure resembles a computer freeze - the ability to concentrate decreases, thought processes slow down, there are violations of logic, the sharpness of thought decreases, and the imagination dries up.
2. Emotional overload. Actually, the mental form of stress implies emotional overloads of various kinds (positive and negative), which are an integral part of a person's life in society.

1. Interpersonal types of stress. Psychological stress occurs after experiencing intense emotions for which the person was emotionally unprepared. Sudden happiness is just as detrimental to the psyche as sudden grief. Sudden changes in life lead to mental overload and a state of prolonged stress. Often, after achieving the desired goal or frustration (loss of the desired), a person loses the ability to actively act and experience subtle emotions for a long time - such a specific phenomenon as “emotional dullness” arises. The main environment for the occurrence of psychological stress is intra-family communication, as well as professional expectations. The creation of a family and career achievements are included in the set of basic human desires, so any changes in these areas will destabilize the psyche.
2. intrapersonal form. A sharp conflict with oneself, caused by a mismatch between reality and expectations, as well as age-related crises caused by the need to move to a new social level and associated with physiological changes (aging) have a detrimental effect on the psyche.

Response to psychological stress - methods of recovery

Psychological stress causes a set of standard reactions. At the initial stage, there is a sharp increase in activity and the release of internal mental resources. Potentially, a person who is in an acute stage of stress is able to perform all sorts of feats and “miracles”.

Examples of acute psychological stress

A typical example of acute psychological stress is a situation where a person is on the verge between life and death. Nervous tension caused by being in hot spot, allows a soldier to not experience pain from a severe wound for a long time. A mother who sees a picture of mortal danger for her child is able to activate incredible physical forces and easily push a heavy car away from the baby. A frightened person, who in ordinary life is not able to climb even to the second floor without shortness of breath, will easily jump over a two-meter fence when attacked by a dog.

The effects of acute stress

When the moment of danger passes, the stage of relaxation sets in and complete psychological exhaustion is observed. If physical recovery occurs relatively quickly (depending on the presence or absence of injuries, diseases), then the psyche can be restored for years. However, most often the consequences of emotional overload become a severe physical illness caused by undermining the immune system or a malfunction of the internal organs.

Everyday stress - office disease

The nastiest kind of emotional overload is chronic stress. The stresses on the psyche are not very intense, but they occur cyclically - every day a person has to deal with a number of unpleasant and rather monotonous problems. The lack of vivid impressions, change of scenery, disruption of the daily routine and the constant receipt of negative emotions leads to a state of chronic stress.

In the absence of proper treatment, a number of mental disorders may occur - depersonalization, neurosis, depression. A person who does not have a deep knowledge of psychology is not able to cope with chronic stress on his own. It is necessary to consult an experienced psychologist who will select the primary treatment. However, in the initial stages (before the onset of anxious apathy and a sense of the meaninglessness of life), a change of scenery (vacation) and normalization of the daily routine helps.

A very effective method of dealing with chronic stress is sufficient physical activity, as well as frequent walks in the fresh air. In a situation where serious personality changes are observed, it is wiser not to self-medicate, but to ask for help from a specialist.

Stressors - types, classification, influence

Every day a person faces many stressful situations. There is no escape from this, so psychology offers people ways to avoid or deal with stress.

From what stressors surround a person, and how a person reacts to them, it develops overall picture his psychophysical and emotional state.

Types of stress - good and bad

The principle of action of stressors on the body

Stress is the body's reaction to the action of stimuli, which are called stressors. In psychology, there are such concepts as useful and harmful stress. They are distinguished by their effects on the human body and the consequences that occur after a while.

Distress has a devastating effect on the nervous system and on the internal organs of a person. It is he who causes depression, chronic diseases and mental disorders. In addition to it, there is also eustress - a positive form of stress. It does not have a destructive effect and is often associated with joyful moments in a person's life.

Stressors can be any factors that surround a person in everyday life.

Some have a short-term and insignificant effect on the subject, while others act for a long time, which leads to chronic manifestations of stress.

One way or another, it is impossible to completely get rid of them. In order to reduce the impact of stressors on the body, psychologists have developed special techniques and training to increase the stress resistance of individuals.

Stages of development of stress

Classification of stressors according to L. V. Levy

According to the works of L.V. Levy, a person is constantly in a state of stress. This is due to any influence from the outside or processes inside the body. Levy divides stressors into two types: short-term and long-term.

short-term stressors

They may appear suddenly or recur over a period of time. They have little effect on the nervous system and cannot become chronic. These include:

1. Failures, mistakes, misses. Signals can also come with a reminder of a stressor. If a person independently recalls a past bad experience or someone reminds him of it, then the force of stress can be as strong as at the time of the event. In general, the severity of the reaction to memories decreases over time.
2. Noise, bright light, unpleasant swings, temperature changes. The impact of external stimuli on the individual during the performance of any work leads to a decrease in concentration.
3. Fear, fear. Expectation and fear of physical pain, fear of hurting others, criticism or ridicule of him lead a person into a state of stress. If a person experiences these feelings for a long time, then they become long-term stressors.
4. Discomfort. The influence of external factors on the human body, such as heat, cold, dampness, etc., causes a reaction of the defense system, which is quite normal.
5. Speed, haste, high pace. When the subject is rushed, forced to do something faster than he is used to, he is exposed to a stressor.

Long term stressors

Their prolonged exposure not only makes adjustments to a calm and measured life, but can also significantly affect the health of the subject.

Stressor - military service

Long term ones include:

1. Complete restriction or isolation. For example, imprisonment, total parental control, military service or a regular diet. Any infringement of the body in its usual needs has an effect on nervous system.
2. Dangerous job or extreme lifestyle. People who do their duty, risking their lives, are exposed to long-term stressors. Love for extreme sports or adrenaline addiction contribute to the manifestation of stressors.
3. background impact. With the constant need to resist in any of the spheres of life, a person suffers from his psychophysical state. The reason for this may be hostility with some subject or hostilities.
4. Overwork, long-term performance of the same type of work. Actions that lead to mental or physical fatigue can significantly affect the functioning of organs and systems.

In order to reduce the influence of surrounding stimuli, you need to avoid collision with them or change your attitude towards them.

Influence of different types of stressors

Family stressors

The main stressors of the environment lie not at all in the outside world, but in the family. The influence of stressors on the psychophysical state of a person is classified according to two parameters: there are normative and non-normative stressors.

The former are a natural stage in the life of any individual. Like any violation of the boundaries of the current reality, they cause a stressful state. The most common is eustress. But distress is no less common.

Family stressors - quarrels of parents

Crisis moments of a regulatory nature are:

• creating your own family;
• expectation of the firstborn;
• raising a child, etc.

In addition to such stages in life, other incidents can occur that leave an imprint on all family members. It could be:

• illness or death of a loved one;
• divorce;
• division of children and property;
• treason;
• domestic violence;
• change of residence, etc.

In every family there are stressful situations that can strengthen it or destroy it. Regardless of age and social status family members, difficulties will inevitably arise. Only the nature of their origin and the reaction of households to them differ. Poor communication between relatives only increases the impact of stressors on their lives.

Among other things, in family stress, horizontal and vertical stressors are distinguished.

These are the lines of development of stressful situations that have an impact not only on current situation, but also on later life of people. This fact once again confirms that people, for the most part, repeat the life of their parents.

What can be a stressor - a list

Stressors by degree of control

Depending on the events taking place in a person's life, his further fate. But the main thing that makes the body out of any stress is memory. The lack of stress resistance is compensated by aggressiveness and a conflicting attitude towards others. Over time, the subject becomes so accustomed to this state of affairs that he does not see other options for reaction at all.

Psychologists have compiled a gradation of types of stressors: from those that can be influenced by a person to stressors that are not subject to the will of the subject. This helps to better understand the nature of the origin of stressors and develop principles for dealing with them.

2 types of stressors

The classification of stressors according to the degree of control can be considered in the following example:

• A torn off button on a favorite suit - this factor can be completely corrected by the subject himself;
• Lack of money or other material assets can also be corrected. But you have to put in more effort and spend a significant amount of time;
• Quarrels in the family - to correct the situation, the mutual desire of opponents will be required, it is very problematic to resolve the situation on your own;
• Illness - such a stressor cannot always be changed even with a great desire and aspiration;
• Country of residence - can be corrected, but it will take a lot of effort to do this, without a certain material base, this stressor cannot be excluded;
• Government - man alone can not change this fact;
• Epoch - such a stressor cannot be changed in any way.

Illness is a major stressor

If you look at this list, it becomes clear that it is precisely those stressors that a person himself can influence that cause more discomfort. From this we can conclude that avoiding most distress is not so difficult.

Occupational stressors

Labor activity is the root of most disorders of the psychophysical state, as well as chronic neuroses in middle-aged people. Unbearable loads, as well as pressure from the management, introduce the subject into a stressful state. A person lives this story from day to day, and the stress becomes chronic.

Occupational stressors - types

Labor stressors look like overloads and underloads at work:

• Excess labor activity has an extremely negative effect on the body. It leads to the depletion of the physical and psychological resources of a person.
• The disadvantage provokes problems with the perception of the usefulness of one's "I". Decreased self-esteem and irritability are possible.

Excess and lack of labor activity have almost the same effect on the body.

Job stressors manifest themselves at the moment when the requirements for him become incomprehensible to a person. Uncertainty causes feelings of anxiety and inadequacy.

Career stressors are nothing more than promotion or, conversely, its absence, or dismissal. Influence is also exerted by such a factor as injustice towards employees. Personal factors indicate problems in balancing work and personal life.

Conclusion

Using the example of various types of stressors, we can consider the influence of the characteristics of the impact of stress resistance. The higher it is in a person, the less he is subject to distress.

Depending on the lifestyle of the subject, various stressors affect him. Their influence can be reduced, but avoiding them completely is simply unrealistic, because stress is an integral part in the process of human life. It is thanks to stressors that his habits and instincts are formed, which are passed down from generation to generation and determine behavioral responses various groups of people.

Types of stress

The concept has two meanings - "stress caused by positive emotions" and "mild stress that mobilizes the body."

A negative type of stress that the body cannot cope with. It undermines human health and can lead to serious illnesses. The immune system suffers from stress. In a stressful state, people are more likely to become victims of infection, since the production of immune cells drops markedly during periods of physical or mental stress.

Emotional stress is the emotional processes that accompany stress and lead to adverse changes in the body. During stress, the emotional reaction develops earlier than others, activating the autonomic nervous system and its endocrine support. With prolonged or repeated stress, emotional arousal can stagnate, and the functioning of the body can go wrong.

Psychological stress, as a type of stress, is understood by different authors in different ways, but many authors define it as stress caused by social factors.

What is stress in practical terms? To understand this, let's look at the main symptoms of stress:

A constant feeling of irritability, depression, and sometimes for no particular reason.

Bad, restless sleep.

depression, physical weakness, headache, fatigue, unwillingness to do anything.

Decreased concentration, making it difficult to study or work. Memory problems and decreased speed of the thought process.

The inability to relax, put aside your affairs and problems.

Lack of interest in others, even in best friends, relatives and close people.

A constantly arising desire to cry, tearfulness, sometimes turning into sobs, melancholy, pessimism, self-pity for a loved one.

Decreased appetite - although the opposite happens: excessive absorption of food.

Often there are nervous tics and obsessive habits: a person bites his lips, bites his nails, etc. There is fussiness, distrust of everyone and everyone.

Selye later introduced the concept of "positive stress" ( Eustress), and designated “negative stress” as distress.

Positive properties of stress

And here we again give a small list:

According to Dr. Richard Shelton from the University of Alabama, stress does not always have a negative effect on the human body. Yes, if it has become chronic, then you should contact specialists, but if stress happens only periodically, then this can be beneficial.

When exposed to stress, indicators of intellectual abilities grow, because. the brain creates more neurotrophins that keep neurons alive and provide communication between them

Stress enhances immunity, because. the body, feeling its impact, begins to prepare for potentially dangerous situations, during which interleukins are produced - substances, to some extent, responsible for maintaining normal immunity. Stress mobilizes the body's resistance, although only temporarily

Under the influence of stress, the body becomes more resilient, because stress can be called a kind of training of the emotional system and psyche. When a person faces stress and solves the problems associated with it, he becomes more resilient to more serious problems.

Stress forms motivation. Such stress is called positive or simply eleustress. It allows a person to enter a state that saves strength and resources, and as a result of which a person simply does not have time to procrastinate, reflect or worry.

Specialists at Johns Hopkins University found that the children of women who experienced mild or moderate forms of stress during pregnancy develop faster physical activity and motility

Severe stress dilates a person's pupils so that he can collect the maximum amount of visual information about ongoing events.

According to scientists, stress is the most important part of the evolutionary process, because. it enhances the ability of a living being to survive

Stress thickens the blood, which prepares the body for injury (but the downside is that frequent stress can lead to blood clots)

How to deal with stress?

Many methods of prevention can be performed without the help of a specialist. For example, for those who constantly live in a nervous environment and face stressful situations daily, psychotherapists advise:

it is easier to relate to ongoing events and not take them to heart;

learn to think positively, finding positive features in every incident;

switch to pleasant thoughts. If any negativity overwhelms you, force yourself to think of something else;

laugh more. As you know, laughter not only prolongs life, but also helps to get rid of nervous tension;

engage in physical education, tk. Sport helps to get rid of negativity and cope with stress.

Avoid unnecessary stress.

It is impossible to avoid all stressful situations. There are, of course, those who, despite their unpleasantness, must be resolved. However, in life there are great amount stress that can still be avoided.

Try to change the situation.

If you can't avoid a stressful situation, try changing it. Find out how you can change things so that this problem does not occur in the future. Often this is due to a change in interpersonal communication and work in your daily life.

Adaptation to the stressor

If you can't change a stressful situation, then change your attitude and adjust to it. Look at stress from a different angle

Accept what you can't change

Some sources of stress are unavoidable. You cannot prevent or change stress caused by a serious illness or death of a loved one, a crisis, etc. In such cases, the best way to deal with stress is to accept these situations for what they are.

Find time for relaxation and entertainment

If you regularly find time for relaxation and entertainment, then you will be better protected from the inevitable stressful situations.

Lead a healthy lifestyle

You can increase your resilience to stress by improving your physical health.

Types of stress and its stages

A set of various adverse reactions that mainly occur in the human body due to the influence of negative factors are called stressful situations or stress. In simple words, stress is a psychological, physiological and moral disorder of a person, which occurs due to the influence of the following factors:

These are just a few of the main causes of stress, but in fact there are many more, which is very unfavorable for a person. Every day, stress accompanies every person, this unfavorable ailment affects everyone, so it is important to know the main types and stages of such disorders, as well as ways to combat and prevent them.

Types of stress

The end result of the development of stress led to its division into two types:

These types of stress have opposite characteristics, so let's look at them in more detail.

1. Eustress is an effect on the human body mainly from the positive side. In this case, the disorder is justified by positive emotions, for which the person is ready and confident that he can cope with them. Eustress is also called the awakening response, since positive emotions are the main driving force of a person to positive actions. This type is a kind of portion of adrenaline received by a person due to some kind of positive excitement or joy. Eustress is not a dangerous form of the disease and has predominantly positive properties.
2. Distress is the feedback of eustress on the body. Distress occurs due to the impact on the body of a critical overvoltage. It is distress that is the main type of stress and, accordingly, a person’s psychological disorder. Distress is also called harmful stress, since it only contributes to a negative effect on the body and the development of other types of diseases in humans.

Distress is subdivided, in turn, into the following subspecies:

Each of the presented species has a negative impact on a person, thereby causing various disorders and diseases. Stress can arise either spontaneously, in the event of unfavorable news, or accumulate over the years. The accumulated type is the most dangerous, because against its background the development of a chronic disease is carried out, from which it is impossible to get rid of.

Let's take a closer look at what each subtype of distress is.

• Psychological and emotional distress. Such an ailment is associated exclusively with experiences against the background of various emotions. The consequences of the psychological type of the disease are unfavorable relations with society. Emotional appearance, on the other hand, occurs during the influence on the body of both positive emotions (eustress) and negative ones (distress). Emotional types include, for example, an increase in wages, a promotion, the death of a loved one.
• Physiological distress. This type arises through the negative influence on the body of the following factors: heat, hunger, thirst, cold, love and others. In the case of exposing your body to one of the above factors, a person is forced to harm himself. Even after the cessation of exposure to these factors, a person continues to develop an unfavorable condition. As a result of the impact of negative factors, the following series of negative consequences arises: lack of sleep, stomach problems, overwork, and others.
• chronic distress. This type is the most dangerous, as a person is negatively affected on a daily basis, even without the presence of appropriate reasons. The consequences of the chronic form are the most unfavorable, as they lead to the development of suicide, depression, a nervous breakdown, etc. appear. Often, people diagnosed with chronic stress end up in a psychiatric hospital. The disease is not treatable, which makes it even more dangerous.
• Nervous distress. This type occurs mainly under the influence of excessive stress. It can affect both an absolutely healthy person and people with a diagnosis of anxiety neurosis. The development of this species is influenced mainly by individual states of the human nervous system.

There are also two additional types: managerial and informational stresses.

Information is characterized by provoking frustration due to the lack of information for making an important decision. Very often, a person on the way has to face moments when he must immediately make a decision, and both his future and the future of other people will depend on its result.

The management view is something similar to the information view, but the only difference is the responsibility for the decision being made.

Thus, knowing the main types of stress, consider the causes of their occurrence.

Causes

The main causes of psycho-emotional disorders in humans are the so-called stressors. There are three groups of stressors that have their own causes.

1. Uncontrolled. These include the following reasons for the negative impact on a person: taxes, worsening weather, an increase in the exchange rate, inflation. Under the influence of such reasons, a person becomes more and more nervous and worried every day, as a result of which a mental disorder occurs.
2. Subject. These are the reasons that a person can correct, but does not do this due to self-doubt and other signs. An example of such reasons are: inability to plan a day, inability to prioritize, etc.
3. Unauthorized. Caused by the transformation of everyday life into a problem. A person worries about every little thing, as a result of which everything is deposited in the brain and eventually gives its negative impact.

The cause of chronic stress is any negative psychological disorder that accompanies a person for a long time.

For your information! Many consider everyday life stressful and believe that treating nervous disorders is superfluous. But, few people know that it is precisely all the fatal, oncological and mental endings that come from stress.

Symptoms

Almost every person has psychological disorders, so it is important to know the main symptoms of stress in order to be able to detect it for further treatment. Symptoms of stress for each type are almost identical and are characterized by the following manifestations:

• A person has an increase in anxiety;
• Constant tension, which leads to the impossibility of relaxing a person;
• The manifestation of irascibility, anxiety, nervousness, irritability and aggression.
• The occurrence of inadequate reactions to various stimuli;
• Decreased concentration;
• The occurrence of apathy, sadness;
• Feeling of depression and oppression;
• Inability to enjoy pleasant events;
• Feelings of dissatisfaction and resentment towards others;
• Capriciousness to the smallest details;
• Violation of the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract: the patient either loses his appetite, or, conversely, becomes more likely to eat;
• Sleep disturbance, insomnia and early awakening;
• There is a change in behavior for the worse.

All these symptoms are the main signs of the presence of psychological disorders in a person and indicate that you need to see a doctor immediately.

Stages and symptoms

The stages of stress, or they are also called phases, are divided into three stages, through which a psychological illness proceeds. So, the stages of stress are called:

The stage of anxiety occurs when a stimulus directly influences the human body. As a result of the negative influence, stress hormones are released, which are mainly aimed at protection or flight. The adrenal glands, the digestive system and the immune system take part in the construction of this stage. At the very beginning of this stage, there is a sharp decrease protective function organism, which leads to the manifestation of various diseases. If the anxiety stage is resolved for a short period of time (i.e. physical struggle, flight, decision making), then the symptoms of the disease disappear, but there is always a tendency to their appearance. In the case of prolonged influence on the body, its constant depletion occurs. In some critical situations, the initial stage leads to death.

Symptoms of the initial stage are almost imperceptible, since a person writes off all negative manifestations of fatigue. Often the initial stage is characterized by nervousness, agitation and a state of constant or periodic tension.

stage of resistance. In the case of the predominance of the force of the stressor over the ability of the body to adapt, the signs of anxiety disappear and the level of the body's resistance increases.

Resistance goes to a higher level, and, in turn, anxiety, nerves and aggression disappear or reduce their manifestations. If you do not solve the problem of stress in time, then the body will not be able to provide long-term resistance and the stage of exhaustion will begin.

The symptoms of the second stage are mainly caused by increased fatigue of the body, even if the person did not perform physical and intellectual actions. There is also nervousness, agitation, the appearance of frequent headaches and even dizziness. Shortness of breath and tachycardia begin to appear, digestion is disturbed and trembling of the limbs is noticed.

stage of exhaustion. The body's resistance limit noticeably decreases and the first stage begins to gain momentum, but already without the possibility of reversible processes. The third stage almost always has a sad outcome, if the stressor acted as a physical irritant, then a person is expected to die, and in the case of a psychological aggressor, problems are observed corresponding to this level.

Symptoms of this stage are mainly characterized by the appearance of constant apathy, bad mood, inability to have fun. Often in the last stage, a person has a sleep disturbance, which leads to lack of sleep and drowsiness during wakefulness.

The stages of stress are not yet fully investigated, and their study continues to this day, so medicine does not stand still and is looking for cardinal solutions to the global type of disease.

Prevention and treatment

If we talk about the prevention of stress, then, unfortunately, this is a rather difficult stage, because even pessimists have these symptoms. Man to get rid of emotional influence, you need to spend more time with your family, enjoy life, praise yourself and your loved ones, enjoy life, relax, take breaks and distract yourself from problems at work or at home with the help of hobbies and hobbies. Such unloading will not only get rid of signs of stress, but make life easier.

If, for many reasons, a person does not have the opportunity for such preventive actions, then it is necessary to resort to medical treatment in a timely manner. The main assistants will be pills and potions for apathy, nerves and stress. In such situations, tablets and potions based on various medicinal, and, most importantly, natural herbs, are especially valued.

Important! Before starting self-medication, you should consult a doctor for advice and diagnosis. If problems are found, the doctor will prescribe or recommend medications that will really have a positive effect.

Today, the most popular drugs are:

In the event of an exacerbation of psychological disorders, treatment with more serious medications will be required: tranquilizers, non-steroids or benzodiazepines and beta-blockers.

Of considerable importance in the prevention and treatment of stress is the maintenance of a healthy lifestyle, which is the key to health and longevity. Learn to be happy, and you can get rid of many problems and diseases.

Types of stress and classification - description, features and consequences

Everyone experiences stress. On the way to work, throughout labor day and upon returning home, people face tense situations.

For some, this way of life becomes habitual, they gradually adapt to it, and this is sad. After all, the consequence of nervous overstrain can be various physical and mental pathologies.

Stress: concept, types

As a result of events that occur in people's lives (conflicts, haste, troubles at the workplace, difficulties with money), phenomena arise that affect the activity of the body. The complex of such symptoms is called stress. This is a combination of physiological and psychological reactions. In order to prevent such conditions, to successfully cope with them, one should have a clear understanding of stress, the types, and causes of this phenomenon.

There are several different classifications of this concept. According to one of them, eustress and distress are distinguished. The first category is a situation that affects a person more positively than negatively. With eustress, even anxiety and emotional overstrain are accompanied by the realization that the obstacles that have arisen can be overcome. Such a phenomenon generally has a positive effect on the body, and its presence in life is necessary. Unlike the first variety, the second - distress - is a violation of psychological balance. This phenomenon negatively affects the state of the body.

Types of stress that have harmful effects

So, not always nervous strain negatively affects a person. In eustress, people direct their forces and use internal reserves to get results. When the goal is achieved, they experience joy and satisfaction. However, in distress, the situation is reversed. This phenomenon occurs suddenly or develops gradually. In any case, it leads to the emergence of diseases, mental disorders. Types of emotions stresses of this nature provoke only negative ones. So, the following types of overvoltage have a destructive effect on the human body:

If a stressful condition is constantly present in a person’s life, it becomes more and more difficult for the body to resist overstrain and cope with it. This leads to a decrease in immunity, severe pathologies and even death.

Physiological overvoltage

This is one of the types of stress that appears as a result of the negative influence of environmental factors. This may be hypothermia, overheating, lack of sufficient drinking water and food. In the case when people consciously doom themselves to such trials, they must understand what consequences these phenomena can cause. Even after the negative influence of environmental factors is stopped, a person needs a recovery period. Physiological stress includes the following types:

1. Chemical (occurs due to the influence of certain substances on the processes occurring in the human body).
2. Biological (due to the presence of viral, infectious or other pathologies).
3. Physical (associated with intensive sports for professionals).
4. Mechanical (caused by injury to any organ, part of the body or surgery).

Among the types of stress that are often encountered today, there is an overstrain associated with eating disorders. However, if dietary restrictions do not last long, they do not cause severe harm to the body.

Psychological and emotional stress

This phenomenon represents an overstrain due to circumstances that cause anxiety and strong feelings. Sometimes a person tends to invent problems for himself and experience worries about non-existent difficulties. However, psychological stress occurs even in this case. This phenomenon is short-lived. In some situations, the mobilization of the body's resources can save a person's life. Short-term distress occurs suddenly, associated with danger. It usually passes quickly and does not adversely affect the body. Chronic distress is a constant emotional overstrain. It affects the body and psyche of people negatively, provokes feelings of fear, depression and even suicide attempts. There is also nervous distress. This is a condition that accompanies persons with neuroses. These people need professional help.

Types of stress in psychology

This phenomenon arises as a result of experiences associated with a personal crisis or interaction with others. There are the following types of psychological stress:

1. Personal (arises due to the lack of harmony of a person with himself).
2. Interpersonal (appears as a result of quarrels in the family, tensions within the work team).
3. Emotional (occurs due to strong feelings, accompanies prolonged or chronic overexertion).
4. Professional (appears as a result of problems in work).
5. Informational (occurs as a result of the fast pace of life, a large number of tasks that a person is forced to solve and with which it is difficult for him to cope).
6. Ecological (appears due to the negative effects of environmental factors).

Various stressful situations inevitably arise in everyone's life. Otherwise, human existence would be meaningless. However, psychological stress is often associated not so much with the current situation, but with how a particular person reacts to it.

Stages of development of stress reactions

So, the human body in a certain way responds to the influence of factors that cause overvoltage. There are several phases of stress reactions. It is customary to consider the following stages:

1. Anxiety phase (involves the activation of defense mechanisms and the mobilization of the body's resources to deal with overstrain).
2. The stage of resistance (involves a decrease in the activity of mechanisms that help fight stress). If the body cannot resist the action of a strong stimulus, it is weakened.
3. Exhaustion phase (characterized by severe fatigue, decreased activity, painful symptoms).

Almost all types of psychological stress involve the passage of these stages. The intensity of the body's reactions depends on how strong the overvoltage is and for how long a person experiences it.

Signs of stress

Strong emotional overstrain is accompanied by the appearance of a number of symptoms. Signs of stress include:

1. Increased excitability.
2. Constant experiences, inability to distract from them.
3. Deterioration of cognitive functions.
4. Irritability.
5. Passivity.
6. Depressed mood.
7. Sleep disorders.
8. Decreased or increased appetite.

Such symptoms indicate that a person has mental disorders and needs the help of a specialist.

Psychological features and their influence on the appearance of stress reactions

It is known that some individual characteristics of a person explain how he behaves in conditions of overvoltage. As a result of many years of observation, specialists managed to establish a relationship between psychological characteristics and behavior in difficult circumstances.

People with a melancholic type of temperament feel strong fear and anxiety during stress. They tend to blame themselves for the current situation, panic, and cannot show willpower.

Cholerics in critical situations demonstrate aggression, break down on others. Often, due to increased excitability, they develop pathologies such as peptic ulcer, high blood pressure, and heart problems. It is difficult for people with a choleric temperament to come to terms with the current situation, they cannot accept it.

Phlegmatic people, as a rule, try to be balanced in difficult circumstances. They seek salvation from stress in food, and this provokes a problem. excess weight. When overexerted, phlegmatic people often demonstrate isolation, drowsiness, lethargy, unwillingness to cope with difficulties.

Sanguine people in stressful situations try to think positively, maintain self-confidence. They are able to show willpower and effectively cope with overexertion.

The reaction to various types of stress, the emotional response to it, is largely laid down in childhood. If the mother and father taught the child not to panic, to adequately assess himself and his abilities, he will be able to resist the negative influence of difficult life circumstances in the future.

Acute reactions to stress

Such phenomena occur when a person finds himself in critical situations that threaten his life, or becomes a witness to them. It could be military action natural disasters, terrorist attacks, accidents, traffic accidents, crimes. Such situations have a negative impact not only on those who have suffered physical and moral harm, but also on their relatives and friends. Types of acute reactions to stress are as follows:

1. Overexcitation, increased motor activity (manifested against the background of severe fright, panic, when a person is not able to control his actions).
2. Inhibition (decreased activity, lethargy, indifference to what is happening, lack of desire to talk and perform any actions).

Often people who have become participants in or witnesses of any traumatic events experience such a strong emotional overstrain that they need medical help.

Types of stress in professional activities

Any person who works is faced with emotional overstrain. It is connected both with labor activity and with communication between superiors and subordinates, within the team. Types of occupational stress include:

1. Communicative (associated with interpersonal relationships between people working in a team).
2. Professional achievement stress (arises because of the fear of doing the job wrong, not achieving the goals).
3. Professional stress of competition (the desire to be better than colleagues, unjustified sacrifices for this).
4. Stress of success (a sense of the futility of those efforts that were aimed at achieving a result).
5. Subordination stress (fear of responsibility, fear of superiors, increased anxiety in the performance of duties).
6. Overstrain associated with routine (a phenomenon characteristic of office workers who have to solve rather monotonous tasks, lack of novelty, positive emotions).

Experiences associated with professional activities often lead to mental disorders and the development of depressive disorders. Sometimes rest, doing what you love, sports or travel help to cope with the problem. But if stress has acquired a chronic course, the help of a psychologist is needed.

How to prevent emotional overstrain?

Having an idea of ​​what types of stress and its signs are, many people ask about methods of dealing with this phenomenon. Coping with overexertion is not easy, as it is not always possible for people to prevent or avoid situations that provoke it. However, if you follow the general recommendations (get enough sleep, play sports, spend free time with loved ones, think positively), you can significantly reduce overexertion. But not everyone is able to effectively cope with stress. If the situation is too complicated, you can seek medical help. As a rule, sedatives help reduce unpleasant experiences. However, medications should only be taken as directed by a doctor. If there is chronic stress in a person’s life, he must develop tactics to deal with it, since this phenomenon is dangerous because it provokes health problems.

It is assumed that both positive and negative events can act as causes of emotional stress. However, not everyone shares this point of view. N. Selye (1972) considered only unfavorable factors leading to "distress" as harmful. In this regard, only negative events are systematized as potential stressors. W. Harris et al. (1956) classified psychosocial effects by type and duration.

Short-term stressors:
- associated with failures;
- due to overload, excessive speed and distraction;
- causing fear.

Long-acting stressors:
- struggle;
- dangerous situations;
- imprisonment and isolation;
- fatigue from prolonged

This classification did not cover all the fundamentally possible variants of harmful factors, so it is interesting to present their later and complete systematics.

S. A. Razumov (1976) divided the stressors directly or indirectly involved in the organization of the emotional stress response in humans into four groups.

1. Stressors of vigorous activity:
- extreme (fights, space flights, scuba diving, parachute jumps, demining, etc.);
- production (associated with great responsibility, lack of time);
- psychosocial (competitions, contests, exams).

2. Evaluation stressors (evaluation of upcoming, present or past activities):
- “start” stressors and memory stressors (upcoming competitions, medical
procedures, recollection of grief experienced, expectation of a threat);
- stressors of victories and defeats (victory in a competition, success in art,
love, defeat, death or illness of a loved one);
- spectacle stressors.

3. Stressors of activity mismatch:
- separation stressors (conflicts in the family, at work, in the apartment, a threat or unexpected, but significant news);
- stressors of psychosocial and physiological limitations (sensory deprivation, muscle deprivation, diseases that limit the usual areas of communication and activity, parental discomfort, hunger).

4. Physical and natural stressors(muscle stress, surgery, injury, darkness, loud sound, pitching, altitude, heat, earthquake).

The mere fact of exposure does not necessarily imply the presence of stress. Moreover, the stimulus acts, as P. K. Anokhin (1973) pointed out, at the stage of afferent synthesis of summing stimuli that are very diverse in quantity and quality, so it is extremely difficult to determine the role of one of the factors. At the same time, the susceptibility to some aggressors in people can be very different. New impressions are unbearable for some, while others are necessary. The content of the stressor is also important for the development of the disease. For example, in the anamnesis of patients with cardiovascular pathology, they are more common.

Introduction ……………………………………………………………………………….2

1. Stress in organizational behavior ………………………………………...3

1.1. The essence of stress ……………………………………………………………….3

1.2. Dynamics of stress ……………………………………………………………….6

2. Causes and factors of stress ……………………………………………………..8

2.1. External stressors ……………………………………………………………9

2.2. Stressors associated with the organization …………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2.3. Group stressors ……………………………………………………. 15

2.4. The role of personality character on the development of stress in a person ……………….15

3. Methods of coping with stress ………………………………………………………………………………………………18

Conclusion ……………………………………………………………………………22

List of used literature ……………………………………………. 23

Introduction

The ability to self-regulate becomes extremely important in conditions of increased stress in our business and personal lives.

It is difficult to define what stress is, but it is even more difficult to qualify it. Stress is created by the environment, which requires adaptive behavior. Their cause may be various factors from minor disturbances in the usual environment up to serious circumstances, such as illness, severe family loss, divorce, etc.

There are situations in the organization that provoke a state of mental stress, negatively affecting people, causing them stress. The stress formula is as follows: "activity - overstrain - negative emotions."

Studies of the effects of stress on humans are associated with medicine and the work of G. Selye, who is considered the discoverer of stress. While conducting research on the search for hormones, he discovered that damage to living tissue is caused by almost any negative effect that he named. general adaptation syndrome , and a decade later, the term "stress" appeared.

stress in modern world has become a source of legitimate concern and a major theme in organizational behavior theory and human resource management practice. For example, only in the USA stress costs production and a huge amount (about 70 billion dollars a year). It reduces labor productivity, contributes to absenteeism, negative physical and psychological state and well-being of employees, loss of up to 10% of company profits. Health experts testify that up to 90% of patient complaints are associated with various functional and psychological disorders caused by stress.

1. Stress in organizational behavior

1.1. The essence of stress

Stress is a non-specific response of the organism to any demand presented to it. A requirement is understood as any irritation that exceeds the threshold of perception of the body's sensory systems.

Stress is usually perceived as negative a phenomenon caused by some kind of trouble (illness of loved ones, announcement of a reprimand by the boss to a subordinate for some trifle in work, and, perhaps, not through his fault). However, there is also positive stress, called u-stress(from Greek - “good”), associated with joyful events (meeting with a loved one, attractive or respected acquaintance, promotion offer, etc.).

notice, that stress:

· not just anxiety covering the emotional and psychological spheres of a person (stress additionally covers both the physiological and social spheres);

· not easy nervous tension;

· not necessarily something harmful, bad, which should be avoided.

After all, there is also u-stress. Therefore, the main thing is how a person reacts to stress. Stress is inevitable, but it negative impact can be avoided or at least effectively controlled.

Today, stress is increasingly synonymous with the concept that has become popular. "exhaustion" which is one of the types of stress and is characterized by emotional exhaustion, loss of personal orientation, low self-esteem. It is most often associated with employees,

working in areas related to human communications, as well as in education, medicine, state and municipal management, social activities, etc.

Finding a person in an organization, performing various tasks, mastering innovations is often accompanied by an increase in stressful states of a person.

concept "stress" borrowed from technology, where it means the ability various bodies and structures to withstand the load. Any structure has a limit of tension, the excess of which leads to its destruction.

Transferred to the field of social psychology, the concept "stress" includes a whole range of personality states caused by a variety of events: from defeats or victories to creative experiences and doubts. It should be clarified that all extreme exposures can unbalance both physiological and psychological functions.

The actions of stress are closely related to the needs of the individual, the inability to realize any significant need for her, as a result of which there is a multiple increase in physiological capabilities and psychological defense mechanisms are activated.

Thus, personality stress- the state of the general stress of the body, resulting from various causes. The physiological mechanism of stress is as follows. At the first sign of danger, signals from the brain put the body in a state of need to act. The adrenal glands produce epinephrine, norepinephrine, and corticoids. These chemicals put the body in a state of increased activity for a short period of time, but if the glands produce them for a long time, negative consequences can occur. Blood rushes from the skin to the brain (increasing its activity), as well as to the muscles, preparing them for action. This chain reaction unfolds very quickly, and if it starts as a response to a single extreme situation, it does not entail any detrimental consequences. If repeated many times in the long term, it can lead to harmful consequences.

A person in a state of stress is capable of incredible (compared to a calm state) actions, all the reserves of the body are mobilized and the person's capabilities increase dramatically, but at a certain time interval.

For example, when a mother with a child was crossing the street, an accident occurred and the car ran into a baby carriage. In order to pull her child out, a fragile woman lifted the car in front of crowded pedestrians and pulled out a stroller with a baby.

The duration of this interval and the consequences for the body are different for each person. Observations revealed that heavy physical activity helps to neutralize the effect of the "stress hormone": the more severe the living conditions, the more the body's reserves are mobilized, but on the condition that a person is set to survive.

As director of the Institute of Normal Physiology K. Sudakov noted, if stress lasts for many months and has become the starting point of some kind of disease, it is almost impossible to return the physiological functions of the body to normal.

Generally stress - phenomenon is quite common and often encountered. Minor stresses are unavoidable and harmless, but excessive stress creates problems for both the individual and the organization in performing assigned tasks. Psychologists believe that a person suffers more and more often from the insults inflicted on him, a sense of his own insecurity, and the uncertainty of tomorrow.

There are a fairly large number of varieties of stress, in a generalized form they are presented in Fig. 1.

Rice. 1. Types of personality stress

Chronic stress implies the presence of a constant (or existing for a long time) significant load on a person, as a result of which his psychological or physiological state is under increased stress (long-term job search, constant haste, showdown).

Spicy stress is the state of a person after an event or phenomenon, as a result of which she loses her "psychological" balance (conflict with her boss, quarrel with loved ones).

Physiological stress occurs when the body is physically overloaded (too high or low temperature in the working room, strong odors, insufficient lighting, increased noise level).

Psychological stress is a consequence of a violation of the psychological stability of a person for a number of reasons: hurt pride, undeserved insult, inappropriate qualification work. In addition, stress can be the result of psychological overload personalities: doing too much work, responsibility for the quality of complex and lengthy work. A variant of psychological stress is emotional stress, which appears in situations of threat, danger, resentment.

Informational stress occurs in situations of information overload or information vacuum.

1.2. Dynamics of stress

To determine the most rational ways of influencing a person in a stressful situation, it is necessary to have an idea about the dynamics of the development of a state of internal stress (Fig. 2).

41.3. Stressors and stress. Concepts. Kinds

The body's natural response to the action of various natural and pathogenic stress factors (stressors) is stress.

The author of the doctrine of stress G. Selye wrote: “Stress is life, and life is stress. Without stress, life is almost impossible.” At the same time, an indispensable condition for a free and independent life, according to Claude Bernard, is the constancy of the internal environment, and according to V. Cannon, the body's ability to maintain this constancy (homeostasis, homeostasis, homeokinesis, that is, dynamic constancy). Given this view of life, stress is a state of temporarily disturbed homeostasis, and stressors are various factors that can cause a violation of homeostasis in the body. Stressors - these are any new and sufficiently informative and different in intensity, duration and nature (quality) stimuli that can cause various degrees of disturbance of the body's homeostasis.

stressors can be external (exogenous) and internal (endogenous), i.e. formed in the body). By nature, stressful stimuli can be very different: physical, chemical and biological, informational, psychogenic and emotional.

An important place among physical, chemical and biological stressors ( 1 group) are occupied by mechanical, chemical and infectious influences, lack or excess of food, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, cations, anions, salts, PAS, etc., causing damage to cellular tissue structures and disturbances in homeostasis of various levels of organization of the body. Their main characteristic- absoluteness (intensity) of influence. Thus, the stressfulness of these factors is determined by the quantitative characteristics and the degree of disturbance of the body's homeostasis.

Social (informational, psychogenic and emotional) stressors ( 2 group) is characterized by both absoluteness (quantity) and relativity (quality) of influences in the form of unfavorable for the body, especially conflict (at work, at home, in the family, etc.) situations. Moreover, modern life not only increases this group of stressful effects on a person, but often does not present the opportunity to avoid the effects of these stressors on the body, forcing it to adapt to them.

However, it should be noted that the boundary between these two groups of stressful influences is rather conditional, because all rather intense biological motivations of a person are socially mediated and always proceed with the activation of the emotional component.

Some stress reactions arising in the body in response to the action of various stressors usually represent adaptive (beneficial) reactions for the whole organism, capable of restoring disturbed homeostasis and ensuring its normal functioning.

During the initial action of the stressor arisesurgent (emergency) ) adaptation , which allows the organism to live under the conditions of action of this stressor. This is the positive significance of the stress response, although it is energetically wasteful and cannot provide an effective and stable adaptation of the body to the action of a stressor for a long time.

With repeated repeated effects on the body, both the same and different stress factors of moderate intensity developsstable long-term adaptation . The body has an increase in resistance to the action of both this and other stress factors.

With excessively strong and prolonged stress effects adaptation becomes ineffective . In the body, damage is formed and intensified that can lead to its illness and even death.

According to Selye, stress is considered as a syndrome caused by various damaging factors (1936, Nature), or as a general non-specific neurohormonal response of the body to any demand made to it (1960), or as a condition manifested by a specific syndrome, which includes all non-specifically caused changes in the biological system (1960, 1972).

In response to weak and moderate stress factors according to Selye, a eustress- stress without signs of damage or stress with minor disturbances. According to L.Kh. Harkavy, E.B. Kvakina and M.A. Ukolova (1977), weak, repetitive and increasing in strength effects are developed training reactions, and on medium-strength stimuli - activation reactions. These scientific studies of Rostov scientists are recognized as a discovery. It is eustress that is most important for the life of the organism. In this regard, it is even possible to deduce the following dependence: lack of stress  lack of adaptation  lack of reserves  disruption of life  death.

In the process of ontogenesis (starting from the prenatal period), the body is constantly exposed to various stress factors. In response to weak and medium in strength, duration and nature of stress effects in the body, certain reactions of training and activation are formed.

On the action of intense (strong or excessive), hopeless, indefinite and, especially, personally significant stimuli, the body develops distress- a pronounced adaptive reaction, quickly turning into the body's inability to adapt due to a decrease in adaptive reserves and suppression of anti-stress defense mechanisms. Distress is always accompanied by significant phenomena of sex, damage, destruction, catabolism, dystrophy, ulceration, immunodeficiency and other dysregulatory disorders, leading to the development of various pathological processes, conditions, diseases and even death of the body.

Thus, stress can develop on the action of both damaging factors and many other stimuli that are not accompanied by damage phenomena (for example, physical or mental stress, temperature effects, humidity, dryness, windy weather, etc.).

At the same time, it can be argued that the stressfulness of the body is determined not only by the intensity of the action of etiological factors and conditions, but also by the attitude of the individual towards them, his personality traits, upbringing and ability to get out of various conflict situations.

stress response can be short-term (acute stress) and long-term (chronic stress), systemic, general (systemic stress) and local, local (local stress).

Acute systemic stress characterized by the development of a general adaptation syndrome (GAS), which includes predominantly adaptive non-specific shifts in the whole organism. local stress- the occurrence of predominantly adaptive nonspecific changes in limited part of the body.

Both local and general stress have a predominantly protective and adaptive value, since they are able to increase the body's resistance to the action of various stressors.

Systemic stress (systemic stress response), is accompanied by the development of a complex of behavioral and physiological changes in the body.

Changes in behavior in response to the action of stressors, they are characterized by the development of orienting reactions, combat readiness (to attack) or readiness to escape. They include the excitation of many sensory systems, heightened attention, increased alertness, activation of mental activity, increased cognitive ability, activation of regulatory and executive systems, except for food and sexual (think so and do everything to save, first of all, your own life, and if and continue their genus and species).

Physiological changes under stress in the body, they include the mobilization of the functions of organs and systems responsible for adaptation, resistance, life preservation and receiving more oxygen, nutrients and regulatory substances.

In general, stress has a positive adaptive effect, which allows the body to meet an unfavorable factor in a state of readiness, mobilization to fight it. As a non-specific defensive reaction, stress improves survival and helps to overcome negative impacts. The stress response increases the body's resistance and trains its defense mechanisms. G. Selye wrote: "Stress is the aroma and taste of life and only those who do nothing can avoid it."

However, stress can often lead to the development of various pathologies. The basis of stress pathology is a violation of the body's ability to respond to the action of stressors with an adequate protective and adaptive reaction. The probability of occurrence of stress injuries is determined not only by the intensity and duration of the adverse factor, but also depends on the state of the stress system (stress-realizing system) - its basal (initial) activity and reactivity, determined by the efficiency of the stress-limiting system.

The inadequacy of the stress response to the requirements of the environment can occur in the following main forms: hypoergic (insufficient), hyperergic (excessive) and dysergic (perverted) form of response.

In particular, in the hypoergic form of the response, the strength of the stressor exceeds the capabilities of the stress system of the body, and in the development of adaptation, mobilization due to catabolic processes with a pronounced breakdown of structures predominates. A full-fledged systemic resistance reaction does not occur due to individual genetic deficiency of one or another link of the stress-realizing system. G. Selye characterized this state of the organism as “low adaptive strength”. The whole set of shifts in the stress system (a sharp increase in hormones, a negative nitrogen balance, a decrease body weight, hyperfermentemia, destruction of mitochondria and lysosomes of cells with the development of focal necrosis in adaptive systems) is not comparable with an increase in energy consumption and forms the basis for the transition to disease, up to the death of the organism.

In the hyperergic variant, a strong or moderate stress response becomes prolonged due to the continued action of the stressor. This form of stress pathology is especially characteristic of a state of prolonged emotional stress - emotional stress. Taking into account the numerous reasons for the formation of strong negative emotions, prerequisites are created for the summation of excitation and the appearance of a congestive focus in the emotiogenic brain structures (hypothalamus, etc.), which create and maintain hyperactivation of the stress reaction. Of great importance is the individual experience of a person, which determines the significance of the stressor.

With chronic pathological processes the adaptive mechanisms of the stress reaction described above can turn into damaging ones. For example, an overload of cells with Ca 2+ and an increase in free-radical forms of fatty acids lead to damage to cell membranes and disruption of the structure and function of cells. This is one of the mechanisms of stress-induced damage to the myocardium. Long-term mobilization of energy and plastic material with a redistributed nature of the blood flow creates conditions for ischemic damage to "non-working" organs. This is one of the leading mechanisms for the development of stressful ulcers of the digestive tract. Prolonged stress leads to the development of stress-induced immunodeficiency (glucocorticoids have an immunosuppressive effect), which, in combination with the expression of proto-oncogenes, may be one of the mechanisms of the oncogenic effect of stress.

Diseases in the pathogenesis of which stress plays a decisive role G. Selye called " diseases of adaptation ". Currently, they make up a large group of psychosomatic diseases - peptic ulcer of the stomach and duodenum, arterial hypertension and atherosclerosis, immunodeficiency states, endocrine diseases, obesity, etc. Emotional stress is the leading cause of the development of psychoses and neuroses.

Chronic systemic stress unlike acute, it includes predominantly maladaptive nonspecific changes in the body. It is characterized in particular by the development chronic fatigue syndrome.

The manifestations of the latter are:

physical and mental fatigue of the body;

frequent mood swings, the prevalence of feelings of fatigue, weakness, increased anxiety, irritability, absent-mindedness, intolerance and antipathy towards other people;

decreased sexual desire, impotence, dysmenorrhea, amenorrhea;

immunodeficiency (cellular, humoral, specific and nonspecific);

abdominal pain, diarrhea;

palpitations, arrhythmias, angina pectoris, myocardial dystrophy, heart attack;

impaired vision, hearing, smell, taste;

headache;

development of neuroses and their progression;

the development of psychoses and their progression, etc.

Thus, an urgent non-specific adaptive reaction, which is stress, can turn into the cause of the development of damage to the body and become a mechanism for the development of many diseases.