Psychological stress. The influence of individual and personal characteristics of a person on the occurrence of stress The purpose of studying the psychological aspects of stress
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TwitterNumerous studies have established the dependence of the development of psychological stress on the following individual and personal characteristics of a person:
general health;
type of nervous response and temperament;
locus of control;
self-esteem;
psychological endurance (resilience).
Age. It has been established that children and the elderly are the most vulnerable to stress. As a rule, they are distinguished high level anxiety and tension, insufficiently effective adaptation to changing conditions, prolonged emotional reaction to stress, rapid exhaustion of internal resources.
General health. It is obvious that people with good health generally adapt better to changing environmental conditions, more easily tolerate negative physiological changes that occur in the body under the influence of a stressor, and have a greater supply of internal resources to maintain the resistance phase. In people suffering from diseases of the cardiovascular system, gastrointestinal tract, hypertension, bronchial asthma, neuropsychiatric disorders and a number of other diseases, under the influence of stress, a sharp exacerbation of these diseases occurs, entailing serious consequences for their health.
Type of nervous response and temperament. The individual reaction of a person to a stressful effect is largely predetermined by the innate properties of his nervous system. The concept of types of the nervous system (or types of higher nervous activity) was introduced by I. Pavlov. Initially, two main types of the nervous system were considered: strong and weak. The strong type, in turn, was subdivided into balanced and unbalanced; and balanced - on mobile and inert. Specified types have been mapped to classical notions about types of temperament.
Temperament- this is a set of corresponding dynamic properties of behavior, uniquely combined in each individual. (Gippenreiter, 2002).
According to most researchers, temperament is an innate biological foundation on which a holistic personality is formed. It reflects the energy and dynamic aspects of human behavior, such as mobility, pace and rhythm of reactions, as well as emotionality.
In popular science literature on psychology, one can often find mention of four types of temperament: sanguine (strong, balanced, mobile), phlegmatic (strong, balanced, inert), choleric (strong, unbalanced) and melancholic (weak).
These types of temperament were first described by Hippocrates, and later ideas about them were developed by numerous researchers in the field of physiology and psychology. At present, such an idea of temperament has more historical than scientific value, since in reality the totality of the dynamic properties of human behavior and their combinations are much more diverse. Nevertheless, based on the indicated typology, it is possible to consider in general terms the influence of temperament on the development of a stress response in a person.
Temperament is characterized mainly by the energy reserve of the individual and the speed of metabolic processes. It determines how the actions are implemented and does not depend on their content. For example, the influence of temperament on attention is reflected in the stability and switchability of attention. Influencing memory, temperament determines the speed of memorization, the ease of recall and the strength of retention. And its influence on thinking is manifested in the fluency of mental operations. The efficiency of problem solving does not always correlate with the high speed of mental operations. Sometimes a leisurely melancholic, carefully considering his actions, achieves better results than an ultra-fast choleric.
In an extreme situation, the influence of temperament on the method and efficiency of activity is enhanced: a person falls under the control of innate programs of his temperament, which require a minimum energy level and regulation time.
How do people with different temperaments differ from each other? First of all, they have a different emotional organization, manifested in sensual mobility and in the tendency of people of different temperaments to respond to a situation mainly with one of the innate emotions, which differ only in power. The choleric person is especially prone to the manifestation of negative emotions of anger and rage, the sanguine person is predisposed to positive emotions; the phlegmatic is generally not prone to a violent emotional response, although potentially, like a sanguine person, he gravitates toward positive emotions, and a melancholic quickly succumbs to negative emotions of fear and anxiety.
These types of temperament are clearly characterized by generalized everyday definitions: they say about choleric people that they are emotionally explosive, about sanguine people that they are distinguished by emotional liveliness, about phlegmatic people they are emotionally inexpressive, and melancholic people are considered emotionally sensitive and vulnerable.
Choleric and sanguine people cope better with tasks in which there is a place for creativity, phlegmatic and melancholy - with tasks that require strictly regulated performance.
In general, people with a strong type of higher nervous activity tolerate the impact of a stressful situation more easily, more often use active methods of overcoming, coping, while people with a weak type of nervous system tend to avoid, avoid stressful effects, shifting responsibility to other people or external circumstances. The most violent, sthenic (irritation, anger, rage) emotional reaction to stress is characteristic of people with a choleric temperament, they react especially sharply to the emergence of a sudden obstacle on the way to achieving their goal. However, they do well with urgent unexpected tasks, as the presence of strong emotions “spurs” them to be active. Sanguine people have a slightly calmer emotional background: their emotions arise quickly, have medium strength and short duration. The source of stress for both types is more likely to be monotony, monotony, boredom than events that require active action and cause strong emotions. Phlegmatic feelings take possession slowly. He even slowed down in emotions. He does not need to make an effort on himself to maintain composure, so it is easy for him to resist a hasty decision. In a situation of stress, a phlegmatic person will cope well with practiced, stereotypical actions, while at the same time one should not expect effective solutions from him in a rapidly changing environment. The melancholic suffers the most from stress. They are initially prone to emotions of fear and anxiety, their feelings are lingering, suffering seems unbearable and beyond all consolation. When necessary to act in a stressful situation, melancholics will show a lack of energy and perseverance, but high self-control can be their advantage.
As already noted, it should be borne in mind that the indicated typology of temperament is a simplified scheme, far from exhausting the possible features of the temperament of each individual person.
Locus of control. Locus of control determines how effectively a person can control the environment and influence its change. People's positions on this issue are located between two extreme points: external (external) and internal (internal) locus of control. Externals perceive most of the events that take place as the result of chance or the action of external forces beyond the control of a person. The Internal, on the contrary, believes that only certain events are outside the sphere of human influence. Even catastrophic events, from their point of view, can be prevented by well-thought-out human actions.
Psychological endurance (stability). Experts refer to psychological endurance a number of factors, including the previously noted locus of control and self-esteem, as well as the level of criticality, optimism, the presence of internal conflicts, beliefs and moral values that affect the giving of personal meaning to a stressful situation.
Each person has their own individual ability to cope with a stressful situation. Everyone has their own "threshold level" of stress. Criticality reflects the degree of importance for a person of security, stability and predictability of events. The more important a sense of security, stability and predictability is for a person, the more painfully he will endure a stressful event. It was also noted that optimistic, cheerful people are psychologically more resilient. Of great importance is a person's personal understanding of the meaning of the ongoing stressful event. The famous psychiatrist V. Frankl convincingly showed in his works (in particular, in the book “Man in Search of Meaning”) that a person can endure anything, if he sees the meaning in it.
Self-esteem. Self-esteem is an assessment of one's capabilities. If people evaluate themselves and, accordingly, their capabilities highly enough, then it is likely that they will perceive stressful situations as manageable, and therefore less difficult in terms of emotional response. Thus, when stress occurs, people with adequately high self-esteem cope better than people with low self-esteem, which gives them additional information about their capabilities and, in turn, further strengthens their self-esteem.
conclusions
Faced with difficult situations, a person daily adapts to his physical and social environment. Psychological stress- this is a concept used to refer to a wide range of emotional states and human actions that arise as a response to a variety of extreme influences (stressors).
The development of psychological stress is influenced by numerous factors, among which are the characteristics of a stressful event, the interpretation of an event by a person, the influence of a person’s past experience, awareness (awareness) about the situation, individual and personal characteristics of a person. In turn, stress has an impact on the mental processes of a person, in particular on higher mental functions.
A person reacts to stress on a physiological, emotional and behavioral level. The type of response, in particular the choice of coping strategy, largely determines what the consequences of each specific stress will be.
Psychological stress is a consequence of a strong nervous strain, which was caused by some kind of experience. Any emotions, both positive and negative, lead to such a reaction of the body, since they are accompanied by special physiological processes, for example, the release into the blood of substances that affect work internal organs.
Features of psychological stress
Psychological stress differs from biological stress in a number of ways, among which are the following:
- It is triggered by both actual and probable events, the occurrence of which the subject fears. Man, unlike animals, is able to respond not only to the current this moment danger, but also its threat, or a reminder of it;
- Of great importance is the assessment of the degree of participation of the subject in influencing the problem in order to neutralize it. With an active life position or the realization that the stress factor can be influenced, the excitation of the predominantly sympathetic department occurs, and the passivity of the subject in this situation leads to the predominance of parasympathetic reactions.
Another feature of psychological stress is the method of its measurement, which is aimed at assessing not indirect indicators (stressors, manifestations of depression and anxiety, frustration), but directly describes the state of a person experiencing the current situation. This is a special scale of psychological stress PSM-25, which allows you to measure stressful feelings by emotional, behavioral and somatic signs.
Psychological mechanisms of stress
Since stress is an adaptive reaction, many systems of the body are involved in it. There are two groups of stress mechanisms: physiological (humoral and nervous) and psychological.
Subconscious attitudes that arise in response to the action of a stressor are related to the psychological mechanisms of stress. They protect the human psyche from the damaging effects of negative factors. These include:
- Suppression. This is the main mechanism that underlies many others and is the displacement of feelings and memories into the subconscious, as a result of which a person gradually forgets about an unpleasant situation. However, this mechanism is not always useful, for example, it often leads to forgetting previously made promises;
- Projection. When a person is dissatisfied with his own actions or thoughts, he projects them onto the people around him, attributing similar actions to them. Otherwise, it is a mechanism of self-justification;
- Regression. This is an attempt by the subject to escape from reality, when he becomes helpless, indifferent, cannot draw logical conclusions and make any decision. It is possible that the posture of the embryo, which is characteristic of a person at the moment of a strong experience, is explained precisely by this psychological mechanism of stress;
- Rationalization. This is another way of self-justification, which consists in finding the culprit of the situation. Rationalization leads to a person's inability to analyze mistakes and blame their neighbors, spouse, boss or teacher for their troubles;
- Sublimation. This is the most favorable reaction to stress, effective both on a subconscious level and in real life. Sublimation is the transformation of unacceptable behavior (for example, aggression) into the framework of socially acceptable (boxing, professional competitions, sports games).
As you can see, the psychological mechanisms of stress are not always harmless and sometimes do not allow you to correctly assess the situation. Moreover, they sometimes harm relationships with others, thereby exacerbating the stressful impact of the problem on the body.
Psychological effects of stress
Experiences and negative emotions caused by psychological stress are very dangerous, as they lead to the formation of foci of stagnant excitation in the brain, and this, in turn, contributes to the development of psychosomatic, neuropsychic and other diseases.
The psychological effects of stress include:
- Anxiety and restlessness;
- memory impairment;
- Decreased attention;
- Excessive emotionality for minor reasons;
- periods of depression;
- Outbursts of anger;
- Short temper and irritability;
- Constant feeling of dissatisfaction;
- Capriciousness;
- Oppression and depression;
- Subjective feeling of congestion;
- Loss of interest and apathy.
As a result, a person often tries to artificially compensate for the feeling of internal dissatisfaction: he starts using drugs and alcohol, overeats, smokes more often, changes his sexual behavior, commits rash and impulsive acts, is fond of gambling, etc.
If a person has the listed psychological consequences of stress (at least half of them), it is necessary to carefully analyze his condition and current situation, and if the diagnosis is confirmed, immediately begin treatment using existing methods.
Removal of psychological stress
When assessing on a scale of psychological stress, the integral (final) indicator of mental tension, or PPN, is important. If it is 100 - 154 points, then they talk about the average level of stress, when the PPN is more than 155 points - this is a high level. It indicates mental discomfort and a state of maladjustment. In this case, the removal of psychological stress and emotional tension is of great importance.
In order to activate and then release emotions, deeper breathing is necessary: the inhalation must be accompanied by a slow exhalation. In this case, you should pay attention to the sensations that arise in the body.
The following exercise helps to quickly calm down: take a slow breath through your nose, then hold your breath for 1-2 seconds and exhale slowly through your mouth. The face and body should be relaxed. You can shake your arms and legs to get rid of excessive tension.
Friends and relatives provide invaluable assistance in relieving psychological stress and its prevention, allowing a person to speak out and throw out accumulated emotions. An equally effective and effective means of dealing with nervous tension is keeping a personal diary.
Very good stress reliever physical activity: sports, household chores, walking or morning jogging. Physical exercise and housekeeping distract from a negative situation, directing thoughts in a more pleasant direction.
Another way to get rid of psychological stress is creativity, as well as music, singing or dancing. Creativity allows you to distract yourself, music affects the emotional state, dancing helps to relieve unnecessary stress, and singing is a means of self-expression and a natural regulator of breathing.
Getting into stressful situations, it is necessary to come out of them as a winner who has overcome another obstacle on the difficult path of self-development.
Modern man is less and less confronted with natural biological stressors that require immediate action, and more and more under the pressure of psychological factors caused by civilization, to which he cannot respond in the usual ways inherent in his nature. However, stress modern life, being psychosocial in essence, is realized through well-defined biological mechanisms that affect the unchanging biological essence of man. In addition, to understand the role of stress in aging and disease, it is important to consider the nature of stress as a complex biological phenomenon.
Many regulatory systems are involved in the implementation of various phases of the stress response in the body - the central nervous system, the autonomic nervous system, and the system of neuroendocrine regulation. As part of the stress response (especially with long-acting, chronic, negative signals from the social environment), a special role belongs to the hypothalamic-pituitary-corticoid axis (HPC).
The hypothalamic zone of the brain is the main regulator of metabolic processes, saturated with accumulations of neurosecretory cells. As part of the limbic system, the hypothalamus interacts closely with the prefrontal cortex, the limbic system, sensory processing centers and stem structures, thereby participating in the integration of emotional reactions, decision-making and neuro-endocrine regulation of metabolism and various types of behavior. The neurons of the hypothalamus not only have extensive incoming and outgoing connections within the brain structures, but are also a collector of information about all internal processes in the body through receptors for hormones, metabolites, and other physiologically active molecules.
Under the influence of external negative stimuli (that is, stress signals) or internal experiences (that is, emotional reactions that are associated, for example, with frustration or the expectation of an unpleasant event), mediated by the aforementioned brain structures, the following chain of events is launched:
activation (most likely as a result of an incoming neuronal electrical signal) of the c-fos proto-oncogene encoded by the FOS gene (from among the immediate early genes that are transcription factors);
proto-oncogene c-fos activates CRH gene expression;
the CRH gene activates the secretion of a polypeptide known as corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH, CRH) or corticoliberin to the cells of the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus;
CRH migrates through the intercellular spaces to the anterior pituitary gland, where it stimulates the production of proopiomelanocortin (POMC) by melanotrophic cells, a large polypeptide that is the precursor of a number of regulators: adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), endorphin, lipotropins and melanotrophins (a certain role in the regulation of the release of ACTH is also played by the hormones of the posterior pituitary gland - oxytocin and arginine-vasopressin, especially in chronic stress) [an increase in the concentration of ACTH in the blood by a feedback mechanism through the hypothalamic receptors inhibits further synthesis of CRH];
ACTH through the corresponding receptors of the cells of the adrenal cortex induces an increase in the level of cortisol in the blood (and, according to the principle of negative feedback, inhibits the secretion of CRH);
free cortisol (an increase in the concentration of cortisol is dangerous for the body, therefore, at first, its excess amounts bind to blood serum proteins) easily penetrates plasma membranes and barriers and binds to a specific receptor protein, which is present in all types of tissues and cells, including nervous tissue;
a complex of cortisol with a receptor protein (which is a transcription factor) activates a number of genes, which, in turn, stimulate the formation of new enzyme proteins, bioregulators and modulators of various body systems, including the immune system; there are significant metabolic changes in various tissues, especially in muscles, adipose tissue, bones and liver:
■ an increase in blood glucose levels (against the background of increased gluconeogenesis) and a decrease in the intensity of its utilization by tissues (cortisol is an insulin antagonist);
■ increased lipolysis and proteolysis (increased free pool of fatty acids and amino acids);
■ suppression of the ability of immune cells to respond to various chemical signals (suppression of the inflammatory response);
[in the long term] a decrease in the level of collagen in the skin, a metabolic disorder in the muscles and, especially, in the bone tissue (osteoporosis);
cortisol has several very important action points directly in the brain (limbic system structures):
■ hippocampus: under physiological conditions in this structure, cortisol, potentiating the effects of catecholamines, provides emotional memory important information, including events that should be avoided; cellular elements of the hippocampus in the process of forming memory traces use glutamatergic mechanisms associated with overexcitation, as a result of which they themselves are easily damaged during stress, hypoxia and neurointoxication; Numerous experimental studies and neuroimaging data in humans show that, under conditions of chronic stress, elevated cortisol concentrations have a direct neurotoxic effect on hippocampal neurons; as a result, due to the death of neurons, the volume of the hippocampus decreases, and this causes cognitive impairment, in particular the weakening of autobiographical memory, due to which the individual is believed to lose the ability to develop successful strategies for coping with problem situations; thus, cortisol, which, at a normal level of stress, ensures the formation of behavioral reactions responsible for the ability to avoid danger or successfully cope with them, impairs functioning and weakens adaptability to life's difficulties in chronic or severe damaging stress (distress);
■ amygdala (tonsil): acts as a regulator of such emotions as alertness, fear, anxiety, rage, aggression; because of this, the amygdala is involved in the implementation of behavioral reactions associated with a response to danger, social dominance, or vice versa, submission, which is associated with the manifestation (or suppression) of aggression; under normative environmental signals, these reactions perform important social functions, maintaining the status of the individual and ensuring social functioning, however, under chronic stress, hyperactivation of the amygdala gives rise to constant anxiety, panic attacks and contributes to the development of depression;
it should be borne in mind that both the hippocampus, the amygdala, and other structures of the limbic system, as well as the frontal cortex, have neural projections to the hypothalamus and are involved in the “launch” of the HHCO during stressful situations of a “psychological” nature (associated with experiences caused by social interactions rather than direct physical threat);
corticoliberin also contributes to the stress response (corticotropin-releasing hormone [CRH]), which not only stimulates the release of ACTH in the hypothalamus-pituitary gland system, but is also synthesized in various parts of the brain - the cortex, amygdala and trunk; Corticoliberin-producing neurons of different structures have connections with the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus (the main source of CRH) and stem formations (which are the main sources of norepinephrine and serotonin and have projections into the prefrontal cortex):
1 - blue spot (locus coeruleus): component of the reticular formation, containing neurons rich in adrenaline and involved in the physiological response to stress and anxiety;
2 - nuclei of the seam (nuclei raphes): involved in maintaining circadian rhythms;
All of these mechanisms largely explain why chronic or severe damaging stress (distress) is accompanied by anxiety, tension, depressed mood, that is, the most important prerequisites for depression (the most common consequence of chronic stress). Usually these changes are transient and in most cases are replaced by the restoration of a stable mood. At the same time, in some individuals (approximately 10% of the female part of the population and 3% of the male part), the result of stress becomes clinical depression, about the same number of people develop post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) after severe traumatic events, a significant number of people with Over time, different addictions develop. Thus, the negative impact of stress covers large contingents, but mental health disorders are formed only in the most vulnerable part of the population. Chronic stress also leads the body to one or another chronic disease that affects the endocrine system, cardiovascular system, kidney tissue, liver, muscles or bone skeleton. In other words, chronic or severe damaging stress gradually destroys physical health, apparently affecting the likelihood of malignant tumors.
IN last years There is a lot of evidence in experimental models and clinical material (with very good agreement between manifestations in rodents, primates and humans) that a variety of stressful situations and negative life events in the early period of development cause long-term anatomical and functional disorders in various brain structures. At the same time, special attention was paid to the time factor - the period during which a damaging stress effect was applied. Based on this significant body of information, summarized relatively recently in a number of reviews, the following conclusions can be drawn:
Prenatal negative influences have the strongest damaging influence. If a mother during pregnancy experienced severe stress, intense anxiety or depression, or received glucocorticoids, this can lead to a decrease in the weight and size of the fetus at birth, a decrease in the size of the hippocampus, and cellular disorders in the brain. In the subsequent life history, such a child is likely to manifest numerous mental health disorders, including depression, addictions, anxiety disorders, antisocial manifestations, hyperactivity disorder and attention deficit disorder. All this is associated with multiple disorders of cellular mechanisms in the brain and a predominant lesion of the hippocampus, dopaminergic structures of the mesolimbic system and amygdala.
Early postnatal stress is associated primarily with dysfunctional mother-child relationships, violations of the mechanisms of attachment of the child to the mother. Numerous observations of rodents and primates have convincingly shown that the lack of maternal warmth and care leads to negative programming of the HHCO of the brain, and the hypothalamic region is actively involved in this process. As a result, along with affective disorders and behavioral disorders, in the future, when growing up, metabolic dysfunctions, diabetes, and eating disorders (anorexia or bulimia) may appear. One of the features of stress in this period of life is the formation of not only readiness for a constant increase in HHCO activity, but also the opposite phenomenon - hypocorticosolism (that is, a consistently low level of cortisol), the signs of which can be the "inhibited child" syndrome, depression and obesity (according to Apparently, hypocorticosolism is due to the hyperactivity of the feedback mechanism due to the increased sensitivity of the central receptors to cortisol).
Stress in adolescence has its own characteristics. It is during this period that all psychopathologies and behavioral disorders begin to manifest themselves most clearly, due to hormonal negative environmental programming that took place in the prenatal and early postnatal period of development. These disorders occur in response to a particular stressful episode in the life of an adolescent, while the high reactivity of HHCO and associated systems in such individuals is accompanied by changes in the structures of the frontal cortex, a decrease in the size of the cingulate gyrus, and a decrease in the size of the hippocampus. As a result, the symptoms shift towards personality disorders, asociality, conflict, violations of the skills to overcome life's difficulties and a tendency to self-harm (suicidality).
It should be noted that negative trends in victims of early trauma are observed up to adulthood and late age, and are not limited only to the period of growing up. In older people, this manifests itself in the inhibition of neurogenesis (due to stem cell elements) in the hippocampus and the early weakening of cognitive functions. Thus, early life stress is responsible for memory impairment in the elderly. Perhaps in connection with this, general somatic health and high muscle activity after 45 years, associated with more efficient production of stem cells, prevents this.
Psychological aspects of stress
Content:
Instead of introducing s. 2
Chapter 1 The Scientific Explanation of Stress p. 3
1.1 General adaptation syndrome. G. Selye p. 3-6
1.2 T. Cox's model of transactional analysis p. 6-7
1.3 Classification of stressful situations McGrath p. 7-8
Chapter 2. Human psychological response to stress p. 9
2.1 Psychological aspects of stress p. 9-14
2.2 Emotions and stress p. 14-16
2.3 Research by M. Friedman and R. Roizenman p. 16-17
2.4 Anxiety. Anxiety. Stress. With. 17-19
Chapter 3. Human adaptation to stressful situations p. 20-23
3.1 Stress or Distress p. 23-24
3.2 How to manage stress p. 24-29
Conclusion page 30
Literature page 31
Instead of an introduction
Before I sat down and wrote this paper, I thought for a long time about what I know about stress.
Everyone has experienced it, everyone is talking about it, but almost no one takes the trouble to find out what stress, stress-threat, trouble, attack is. The employee is suffering from the unfair attacks of his boss, and his stomach ulcer is most likely the result of stress. Stress is a complex of pain and fear in a personwhen a drill drills a cavity in a diseased tooth. Stress is like a car accident. Stress is war. Stress is passing an exam for a student. Stress is any threat to existence.
An airport dispatcher who knows that a moment's distraction is probably hundreds of dead air passengers. The athlete is a weightlifter, straining every muscle to the limit and insanely thirsting for victory at the Olympic Games. A journalist trying to get to the editorial office in time with sensational material. A husband helplessly watching his wife slowly and painfully die of cancer - all these people experience stress and its dire consequences. “Inflationary” stress has become a new concern for psychiatrists in the West, they are now talking more and more with patients about money, trying to almost plan their expenses. Often talk about the stress associated with administrative work, with pollution environment, retirement, physical stress, family problems, or the death of a relative. Scientists study stress in Antarctic winterers, in people working in high altitude conditions, in workers "tied" to a conveyor belt, in night shift workers, and so on. Researchers in laboratories try to simulate stress in experiments with animals, testing a variety of stress-causing factors. Even the gentle touch of the owner's hand can be stressful for a dog chewing on a bone. Even plants are believed to experience stressful conditions, especially when transplanting, or sudden changes in temperature.
The word "stress" as well as "success", "failure" and "happiness" has different meanings for different people. Therefore, it is very difficult to define it, although it has become part of our everyday speech. What is this fatigue, pain, fear, trauma, unexpected joy, grandiose success that turned your whole life upside down? Any condition can cause stress, but none of them can be singled out and said to be “stress.”
After reading a lot of literature, I tried to formulate
What have I learned about stress?
How relevant is this question today?
Is it worth it to deal with stress and in what ways.
So, let's begin…
Chapter 1. Scientific explanation of stress.
I. Borodin believes that “stress is the engine of progress, there is an assumption that our ape-like ancestors lived in the upper tier of the rainforest and had almost no enemies. But now the forests began to give way to the savannah, and the pre-man had to face many dangers. And the stress was everywhere." “And in order to survive,” the scientist claims, “future people took the path of creating a non-specific adaptation—they acquired intelligence.” “Alas,” notes Borodin, “the addition of stress only intensified. Animals react only to immediate danger, they are not able to predict. And a person adds future stresses to momentary stresses. ”[cit.12; page 8]
A. Dobrovich believes that stress is a state opposite to peace; the moment of single combat of the living with that which hinders his life; a ringing, tearing trumpet of alarm, which is "heard" by any cell of the organism, standing face to face with difficulty. [cit.12; page 13]
T. Cox believes that stress is a threat to the normal course of a person's life, a threat to his mental and physical health. [cit.6; p.11] The founder of the theory of stress G. Family wrote: "Stress is a non-specific (physical) response of the organism to any requirement imposed on it by the environment." [cit.8; p.25]
The Concise Oxford Dictionary gives several definitions of the word "stress":
it is a motivating or coercive force.
it is an effort or a great expenditure of energy.
These are the forces that act on the body.
1.1 General adaptation syndrome G. Selye
Special attention to stress appeared after the work of Hans Selye. Selye was most interested in the physiological mechanism of stress. And this led to a close association between the response-based model.
Environment Personality
Psychological stress
stressor stress
physiological stress
Stimulus Response
Figure 1. Response-based stress model. Selye. [taken from 6; p.18]
Environment Personality
Tension Suffering
coping stress
Difficulties
Fatigue
Stimulus Response
Figure 2. Leiman stress model. [taken from 6; p.17]
There are three main points in Selye's concept of stress. First, he believes that the physiological response to stress does not depend on the nature of the stressor, as well as on the type of animal. Second, that this defensive response to continued or repeated exposure to a stressor goes through three distinct stages, which he called the "general adaptation syndrome." Thirdly, that a defensive reaction, if it is strong and prolonged, can turn into a disease, the so-called "adaptation disease". The disease will be the price that the body will pay for the fight against stress-causing factors. Influences (stressors) can be very different, but regardless of their same type of changes that provide adaptation. Selye considers the endocrine-humoral system to be the leading link in this chain of adaptation. The general adaptation syndrome has (according to Selye) three stages (see Fig. 3):
1. Alarm reaction, during which the body's resistance decreases ("shock phase"), and then defense mechanisms are activated.
2. The stage of resistance ("resistance"), when the stress of the functioning of the systems is achieved by the adaptation of the organism in accordance with the new conditions.
3. The stage of exhaustion, in which the failure of protective mechanisms is revealed and the violation of the coordination of vital functions is growing. [cit.6; p.20]
Normal
resistance resistance
to stress to stress
Reaction Resistance stage Depletion stage
anxiety (collapse)
Figure 3. General adaptation syndrome G. Selye.
[taken from 6; p.20]
The data of Mason (1971) indicate that some harmful physical conditions do not cause a general adaptation syndrome. The author had in mind physical activity, starvation and heat. [cit.6; p.21]
When describing stress, words such as “excessive”, “extreme”, “powerful” are most often used. The use of superlatives emphasizes the power of stress. Hans Selye, wishing to bring greater clarity to the understanding of the word “stress”, writes the following: “... stress arises not only from harmful influences. Frankly, I am to blame for the fact that in all languages of the world the word "stress" has a negative meaning, is associated with something bad, harmful, which should be avoided. The fact is that for a long time I myself believed that stress is always negative, that only negative factors cause it. Not without reason my first message was called "About one syndrome caused by various harmful factors". The mechanism of stress can be turned on by a blow of a whip and a passionate kiss. When a mother receives a message that her son died in battle, she experiences terrible stress ... But after a while, the son comes home in good health: the message about his death turned out to be a mistake. And instantly the mother again experiences the strongest stressful situation ... That is why in the modern formulation adopted at the international congress, this phenomenon is already defined as "a non-specific reaction of the body to any effect on it." The term "stress" should be considered a generic concept for the concepts of two subspecies: distress - "bad" and eustress - "good stress" ... "(1975)
“In my opinion, there are four degrees of nervous tension. The first degree trains, tempers. The second is also useful, but on the condition that it ends with a discharge. The third, of course, is harmful - it causes oppression. The fourth degree is already a neurosis, a disease. The art consists in being able to regulate your relations with the outside world, counting on that measure of tension that will “work” for you, and not the other way around. I think this is the greatest wisdom of life.”
G.I. Kositsky. Corresponding member of AMN. [cit.12; p.62]
“Important questions in defining stimulus-based stress are: what conditions can be considered stressful and what are their general characteristics? Similar questions have to be answered in relation to the stress response, when a definition of stress based on responses is used, ”notes T. Cox.
In 1970, Weitz made an attempt to classify various situations that could be classified as stressful. He described eight of them, which included the need for faster information processing. Harmful environmental stimuli, perceived threat, impaired physiological function, isolation and confinement, group pressure and frustration. In addition, Lazarus considers a perceived threat to be a central characteristic of a stressful situation, and especially if the most important values and goals for a person are threatened. [cit.6; p.29] Welford suggested that stress occurs when there are deviations from the optimal level of requirements that a person is unable to correct or corrects with great difficulty. [cit.6; p.43]
1.2 Model of transactional analysis by T. Cox.
Cox and colleagues believe that stress can best be described as part of a complex and dynamic system of human-environment interaction (see Figure 4). [cit.6; p.32] Five stages can be defined in this system. The first stage is represented by the source of requirements for a person, and is part of his environment. A person has psychological and physiological needs, their satisfaction is important for him, and this determines his behavior. These needs are combined into a common internal requirement. Man's awareness of this requirement and his own ability to cope with them constitute the second stage. If the situation demands too much from a person, and he does not imagine the limits of his capabilities, he will work without being exposed to stress until it becomes clear to him that he is not able to cope with such a situation. Then he will understand that there is no balance between the requirement and the possibility, and he will fall into a state of stress. Psychophysiological changes can be considered as the third stage of this model and represent a response to stress. Responses to stress are sometimes considered the final link in the stressful process, they should be considered as ways available to a person to cope with a stressful situation; The fourth stage, the most important and often overlooked, concerns the consequences of the stress response. The fifth stage is Feedback, which is noted in all other stages of the stress system and which is effective in shaping the outcome of each of these stages. [cit.6; p.33]
actual actual feedback
possibility requirement
conscious conscious
possibility requirement
cognitive assessment
Feedback
Feedback
violation
equilibrium
==
stress physiological
reaction
cognitive
uh emotional response to defense
experience stress psychological
reaction
behavioral
Reaction
Figure 4. Cox's transactional stress analysis model.
1.3 Classification of stressful situations McGrath.
McGrath (1970), in suggesting a formulation of concepts for the social and psychological study of stress, noted a number of weaknesses commonly associated with a definition based on the body's responses. He argued that if this type of definition is to be followed, then any stimulus capable of eliciting a stress response should be considered a stressor.
In addition, McGrath argued that the same reaction can be caused by different situations, and some of them cannot be recognized as stressful (see Fig. 4). [cit.6; pp. 24-25]
Reaction 1
WITH 
situation 1
Other reactions
Reaction 2
WITH 
Situation 2 Reaction 3
Reaction 4
WITH 
situation 3 situation 4
Reaction 5 Previously "unknown" situation
Three situations classified causes stress due to
as "stressful" causing what is classified as
stress and other reactions "stressful"
Figure 5. Classification of stressful situations, definition based on McGrath reactions. /1970/
From all of the above, we can conclude that: stress is a physiological response of the body to any stimulus. Changes in the body require restructuring. This requirement is non-specific, it consists in adapting to the difficulty, whatever it may be. Any stressors cause our need to carry out adaptive functions and thereby restore the state. From the point of view of the stress response, only the intensity of the need for restructuring or adaptation does not matter. Let's take a look at what stress is not. Stress is not just nervous tension. Stress is not always the result of injury. Any normal activity - playing chess and even a passionate hug - can cause significant stress without causing any harm, unlike distress, which is always unpleasant.
Chapter 2
2.1 Psychological aspects of stress
About the experiences associated with the psychological aspect of stress, they do not always say simply “I'm stressed”. Much more often this state is described in connection with emotions such as: anger, rage, anxiety, guilt, shame, jealousy. Thus, the experience associated with stress is undoubtedly an emotional experience. Most psychologists divide emotional experiences into two types: pleasant or positive emotions and unpleasant or negative emotions.
A large number of studies have been devoted to the study of psychological reactions to stress, although many of them do not have this specific name. Several clearly defined areas of research should be indicated. When studying animals, researchers were interested in the behavioral components of emotions (especially negative ones, such as fear), the impact on behavior of punishment and behavior in conflict situations. In human studies, interest has focused on clinical, industrial, and military situations. When studying clinical situations, the main attention was paid to the etiology of nervous disorders and the changes in the mental state preceding them. When considering industrial or military situations, interest also focused on the study of the state of the individual, his activity in extreme conditions was studied in more detail.[cit.12; pp.12-13] The main problem in understanding the psychological reactions of a person to stress concerns his ability to cope with a stressful situation. As a result of all these studies, several different models to explain psychological reactions to stress, each of which more or less corresponds to its specific conditions, but is only partially adequate as a general model. None of the existing models can provide a complete explanation of stress. The experience of stress in a person is considered as a cause that causes a violation of psychological balance, which sets in motion mechanisms aimed at weakening this violation. These are coping mechanisms that are part of the behavior. If the normal coping response does not succeed in reducing or coping with stress, it can lead to disorganized behavior. If the duration and persistence of stress is stronger, then this can lead to a collapse of behavior. The concept of overcoming owes much to the writings of Lazarus, "overcoming," he writes, "is best thought of as a form of problem solving whose goal is the well-being of the individual, while it is not entirely clear to the individual what needs to be done." [cit.6; p.99] This is especially true for difficult situations that are perceived as stressful. By overcoming a person makes an attempt to master the situation. According to Lazarus, coping involves two processes, one is immediate motor response and the other is temporary relief. [cit.6; p.100]
Direct motor response refers to real behavior aimed at changing the relationship of a person with the environment. It has forms in the form of: preparation for protection from harmful influences, aggression, avoidance and passivity. By "avoidance," Lazarus means moving himself away from a real-life danger or threat. Preparing for protection from harm is a form of true avoidance behavior in which a person can take certain actions in relation to danger. [cit.6; pp.101-102] The reaction of students in exams is good example preparation for protection against harmful influences. Since exams usually follow a well-defined format, students have months to prepare for them. As the danger approaches (failing the exams with all the ensuing consequences), an increasing number of students begin to study intensively, constantly increasing the time of classes and the depth of study of the material. Aggression, apparently, often accompanies stress, but is not always an adequate and, therefore, effective form of coping. It is expressed in the attack of the individual on the source of problems, which can be perceived either as a specific person, group of people, or organization. Destroying or at least partially defeating the source that causes problems can save a person from danger or reduce the experience associated with stress. A man may attack his wife when the true source of his problems is his immediate supervisor at work. However, his wife may be a more vulnerable target with less ability to counteract. For such an indirect attack to be an effective form of coping, a man must perceive his wife as a source of harm in his stressful situation. If it is obvious that this is a misperception, then later on, guilt may arise, which will further increase the experience of stress. An argument between neighbors that led to verbal abuse of each other in an apparent outburst of rage accompanied by appropriate posture and arm waving. This event can be analyzed as follows: the goal is a specific individual, the nature of the aggression is verbal abuse with appropriate behavior, the emotion is anger. Such behavior can resolve the dispute from the position of the strongest and eliminate the source of stress, or increase self-esteem (in connection with victory) and thereby reduce the experience of stress.
Feedback
stressor experiencing stress aggressive behavior
purpose of aggression nature of aggression accompanying emotions
real organization (verbal with anger
group of individuals or physical) without anger
specific individual symbolic
animals ritual
material environment
Figure 6. Possible classification of aggressive behavior proposed by T. Cox. [taken from 6; p.98]
Flight is the third form of immediate motor response, just as anger is often referred to as the emotional correlate of aggression, and fear is associated with the concept of flight. Cases of soldiers fleeing the battlefield or deserting can serve as an example of running away from fear. Lazarus sees aggression and flight as a response to stress. The fourth form is passivity. This fading as a direct reaction to the effects of stress. Passivity can also be seen as an ongoing response to chronic stress. This can be associated with depression and feelings of hopelessness. Depression is a common clinical response to long-term exposure to severe chronic stress. This is one of the forms of relative passivity, obviously expressed in extreme slowness and lethargy of reactions to any stimuli. [cit.6; p.103] “Some triggering situations may leave no hope that the stress can be alleviated or the actual harm removed. Probably, due to the lack of any obvious ways of overcoming, a person will not develop his desire to cope with difficulties and will completely lose the ability to do this, Lazarus believes - passivity can be the result of a clear hopelessness of the situation. [cit.6; p.99]
“It has not yet been decided,” says Cox, “what is hopelessness - the lack of the ability to overcome or one of the forms of coping with stress, a parallel freezing reaction, or perhaps a simulation of death.” [cit.6; p.105]
Overcoming can be expressed not in the form of a direct motor reaction, but in the form of temporary relief. Temporary relief is expressed in the mitigation of suffering associated with the experience of stress, and in the reduction of psychophysiological effects. Temporary relief can be achieved in several ways. According to Lazarus, two, symptomatic and intrapsychic. The first method includes the use of alcohol, tranquilizers and sedatives, muscle relaxation training and other methods aimed at improving the physical condition of a person. The intrapsychic method of temporary relief is considered in terms of cognitive defense mechanisms. The description of these mechanisms owes much to the development of psychoanalysis. Freud used the expression "defense mechanisms" to refer to an unconscious psychological mechanism by which a person can deceive himself about the presence of a threat or external danger. The meaning of this "protection" is that the perception of the threat of danger is reduced, and not the threat itself. Intrapsychic temporary relief according to Lazarus is considered from the point of view of these mechanisms, and are called: identification, displacement, suppression, denial, reaction formation, projection and intellectualization. Aggressiveness shifting can be observed, for example, when a person restrains his aggressive behavior directed at a stronger opponent and shows aggression towards another less powerful one. (In the case when the husband shows aggression towards his wife, although the boss is to blame). In denial, a person overcomes a threat or danger simply by denying that it exists. Denial is usually considered to be closely related to suppression in that suppression implies the denial of internal threatening impulses. For denial to be effective, it may be necessary to create complex cognitive mechanisms for the perception of information that makes the denial false. For example, a doctor who informs a patient with a severe heart attack about the severity and seriousness of his disease, from a position of denial, can be discredited in the eyes of the patient, and the doctor's information will not be taken into account. Intellectualization is a method of protection in which a person can react to a threatening situation dispassionately, evaluating it analytically as an object for improvement or an interesting phenomenon. A professional doctor, psychologist or nurse for this reason does not like to treat those who are emotionally close to them. In such a situation, it is difficult to remain dispassionate. [cit.12; pp.11-13]
Between 1971 and 1977 at the Clinical Stress Research Laboratory in Stockholm, Levy and Kogan developed Selye's view of stress and developed a theoretical model for describing psychological factors as mediators of physical illness. [cit.6; p.21]
Their main hypothesis is that psychosocial situations may be the cause of a number of such disorders (see Fig. 7). Levy and Kogan suggest that in most cases, changes in the conditions of existence cause a physiological stress response that prepares the individual for active physical resistance to the stressor. Levy and Kogan represent this process in a diagram in the form of a flowchart. External influences, defined as psychosocial stimuli, are intertwined with genetic and environmental influences. These individual factors Levy and Kogan call the "psychobiological program". Together, the psychosocial stimuli and the psychobiological program determine the response to stress, which in turn can induce the predisease state and then the disease itself. [cit.6; pp. 22-23]
Causal factors Responses
genetic
predisposition
standing,
psychosocial reaction
incentives for stress disease and
Disease
(education)
processes - interference
Feedback
Figure 7. Etiology physical disorders caused by stress. Levy and Kogan. [cit.6; p.22]
The studies of V. Kennon (1927-1929) also showed that the body seeks to ensure the constancy of its internal environment, the constancy of the levels of functioning of its systems, when new conditions arise, a restructuring takes place, which, through a chain of transformations, restores the previous balance, but at a different level. New conditions can be determined not only by physical stimuli, but also by psychological methods. [cit.6; p.26] One of the researchers of mental stress P. Schmidt (Higher Gymnastic School Mecklingen in Switzerland) considers mental stress using the following scheme: (see Fig. 8) 
environmental stressors
environment, individual somatic predispositions and other
experienced as aggravating factors
threatening
mental stress psychovegetative functional lesion
organ disorder dysregulation
external manifestations: negative mental and vegeneuroses,
Mental mental symptoms of ulcers, gi-
voltage; conditions and pro-organ locality-pertonia
Anxiety, tension of the vegetative phenomenon, palpitations, etc.
muscles; apparent disintegration, disorders
Vegetative function of the gastrointestinal
tract lability
Figure 8
According to Schmidt, several points stand out in the scheme:
in itself, psychological stress leads to symptoms of tension, it is adaptive in nature and may be appropriate. Anxiety phenomena can impede sports activity, causing muscle tension, changing the developed skill. This also determines preventive measures in this period: reducing anxiety and preventing changes in muscle tone;
only at subsequent stages, namely, starting with the appearance of disintegration, negative symptoms are revealed, in which mental disorders are always noted;
the development of negative symptoms has a certain progression. Between the normal adaptive stress response and the formation of neurosis or pronounced psychosomatic diseases, intermediate, temporary states of functional disorders (including mental ones) are found;
the diagram shows that the further the disorder goes, the greater the influence of the predisposition.
2.2 Emotions and stress
P. K. Anokhin was able to clearly show how emotions are related to stress. According to the theory of functional systems, the behavior of any living being, the activity of its tissues and organs, is invariably aimed at achieving some useful results. Chaos within functional systems is what Anokhin stress is. [cit.12; p.82]
“One has only to imagine for a moment the life of people devoid of emotions, as immediately a deep abyss of mutual misunderstanding and the complete impossibility of establishing purely human relationships will open before us. The world of such people would be a world of soulless robots, devoid of the whole gamut of human experiences and unable to understand either the subjective consequences of everything that happens in the outside world, or the significance of their own actions for others. A terrible and gloomy picture!
P. K. Anokhin.
L. N. Tolstoy counted 97 smiles and 85 eye expressions in a person. [cit.9; pp.24-26] Many emotional nuances were noticed not only by writers, but also by artists and sculptors. Scientists, however, are more strict here, they believe that there are only nine basic emotions. Emotions of joy, surprise, sadness, anger, disgust, fear, interest, contempt and shame. All these emotions, scientists believe, are innate: they are expressed and understood in exactly the same way by all people. [cit.3] Emotions are expressed in facial expressions, voice intonation, body movement. Emotions are a "lightning rod" for stress. The muscles of the face during emotional stress use some of the nervous energy. Chronic forced suppression of emotions promises trouble; psychic energy will fall upon the sensitive internal organs and cause diseases.
"Passion! These are the winds that blow the sails of the ship, they sometimes drown it, but without them it cannot sail.
Voltaire
Voltaire's words fit perfectly into the theme of emotions and stress. After all, according to Selye, a life without stress means death. [cit.8; p.30] And as we have already found out, stress is nothing without our emotions. Psychological stress is caused by relationships between people, as well as their position in society. At some point there is a clash of interests - a stressor, then balanced impulses appear - orders to resist or endure. Stress resilience and adaptability are often tested by life's extremes, such as heart attack, severe burns, bereavement, mutilation, isolation from others, car accident, attempted murder or rape.
The evidence of the recent catastrophe in Moscow, in connection with the taking of hostages, was that only a few were able to cope with this situation.
Isolation from the outside world, stiffness of the posture, hunger, thirst and a huge fear for one's life incapacitated not only the participants in this tragedy, but almost everyone who watched it. Consider another example of an extreme situation - rape. Rape is a crisis of self-preservation. This experience of great fright, fear for one's life and therefore forced intercourse in this situation is the price to pay for the opportunity to save one's life. The threat of attack occurs when the victim realizes that a direct danger to her life lies in a sexual attack. Coping at this stage usually manifests itself in victims in the form of an attempt to "avoid" the situation. Most of the victims use verbal defense - time delay, persuasion, jokes, threats. Others try to defend themselves through physical force - attack or flight. There are still others who are usually unable to do anything in response to a life threat. Some were physically paralyzed, others were in a state of prostration, and some were broken before they could resist.
The effects of stress can be long lasting, even when the stressor has ceased. Our own positive or negative feelings benefit or harm us in the most direct way, just as we benefit or harm ourselves by arousing these feelings in others.
In interpersonal relationships, the gain is in arousing feelings of friendship, love, gratitude, and benevolence; the loss is in the fact that other people have hatred, frustration, and a thirst for revenge.
A stable position in society is best ensured by arousing positive feelings in the maximum number of people. After all, no one has a desire to harm the person he loves, for whom he has confidence and reverence. Feelings of indifference, at best, can lead to a relationship of mutual tolerance. They make peaceful coexistence possible, but no more. Ultimately, our feelings are the most important factor that governs our behavior in everyday life. Such feelings determine our peace of mind or anxiety, our sense of security or threat, accomplishment or failure. They determine whether we can succeed in life by enjoying stress and not suffering from distress. Different people require different levels of stress to be happy. Only in rare cases is a person inclined towards a passive, often vegetative life. Even the least ambitious people are not satisfied with a minimum standard of living that provides only food, clothing, housing. People need something more. Most people dislike both the absence of stress and the excess of it in equal measure. Therefore, everyone should carefully study himself and find the level of stress at which he feels most “comfortable”, no matter what activity he chooses. Those who fail to study themselves will suffer from distress caused by the lack of worthwhile work or constant overwork.
2.3 Research by M. Friedman
In a series of studies by M. Fridman and R. Roizenman, an analysis was made of the behavior of a vast contingent of intellectual workers (scientists, engineers, administrators) engaged in managerial activities. They identified two main types:
stressed out,
stress resistant individuals.
Not only the indicated medical, but also various negative socio-economic consequences of stress - job dissatisfaction, reduced productivity, accidents, absenteeism, staff turnover - focus on the need to study the states of psychological stress, which have become one of characteristic features modern life. Optimization of any type of work involves the use of a set of preventive measures aimed at eliminating or minimizing the causes of stress.
In general, since individuals are not similar to each other, a lot depends on the personality factor. For example, in the "man-environment" system, the level of emotional tension increases as the differences between the conditions in which the mechanisms of the subject are formed and those newly created increase. Thus, certain conditions cause emotional tension not because of their absolute rigidity, but as a result of the inconsistency of the individual's emotional mechanism with these conditions.
2.4 Anxiety, anxiety, stress
With any violation of the “man-environment” balance, the insufficiency of the mental or physical resources of the individual to meet actual needs or the mismatch of the system of needs itself is a source of anxiety. Anxiety, referred to as
Feeling a vague threat;
Feeling of diffuse apprehension and anxious expectation;
vague anxiety,
is the most powerful mechanism of mental stress. This follows from the already mentioned sense of threat, which is the central element of anxiety and determines its biological significance as a signal of trouble and danger.
Anxiety can play a protective and motivational role comparable to that of pain. An increase in behavioral activity, a change in the nature of behavior, or the inclusion of intrapsychic adaptation mechanisms are associated with the onset of anxiety. But anxiety can not only stimulate activity, but also contribute to the destruction of insufficiently adaptive behavioral stereotypes, replacing them with more adequate forms of behavior.
Unlike pain, anxiety is a danger signal that has not yet been realized. The prediction of this situation is probabilistic in nature, and ultimately depends on the characteristics of the individual. In this case, the personality factor often plays a decisive role, and in this case, the intensity of anxiety reflects the individual characteristics of the subject rather than the real significance of the threat.
Anxiety, which is inadequate in intensity and duration to the situation, prevents the formation of adaptive behavior, leads to a violation of behavioral integration and a general disorganization of the human psyche. Thus, anxiety underlies any change. mental state and behavior associated with mental stress. [cit.2]
Professor Berezin identified an alarming series that represents an essential element in the process of mental adaptation:
a feeling of internal tension - does not have a pronounced shade of threat, serves only as a signal of its approach, creating painful mental discomfort;
hyperesthetic reactions - anxiety increases, previously neutral stimuli acquire a negative connotation, irritability increases;
anxiety itself is the central element of the series under consideration. Manifested by a sense of vague threat. A characteristic feature: the inability to determine the nature of the threat, to predict the time of its occurrence. Inadequate logical processing often occurs, resulting in an incorrect conclusion due to a lack of facts;
fear - anxiety, concretized on a specific object. Although the objects to which the anxiety is associated may not be its cause, the subject is given the idea that the anxiety can be eliminated by certain actions;
a sense of the inevitability of an impending catastrophe - an increase in the intensity of anxiety disorders leads the subject to the idea that it is impossible to prevent an impending event;
anxious-fearful excitement - the disorganization caused by anxiety reaches a maximum, and the possibility of purposeful activity disappears. [cit.2]
Increasing anxiety leads to an increase in the intensity of the action of two interrelated adaptive mechanisms, which are listed below:
allopsychic mechanism - operates when there is a modification of behavioral activity. Method of action: changing the situation or leaving it.
intrapsychic mechanism - provides a reduction of anxiety due to the reorientation of the personality.
obstruction of awareness of factors that cause anxiety;
fixing anxiety on certain stimuli;
decrease in the level of motivation, i.e. depreciation of initial needs;
conceptualization.
The organization of emotional stress implies a difficulty in the implementation of motivation, a blockade of motivated behavior, i.e. frustration. The totality of frustration, anxiety, as well as their relationship with allopsychic and intrapsychic adaptations, constitutes the main body of stress.
Stress- a state that occurs in response to extreme exposure and is a combination of non-specific physiological and psychological reactions (adaptation, whatever it may be).
Selye. As a medical student, he drew attention to the fact that all patients suffering from a variety of diseases, there are a number of common symptoms (loss of appetite, muscle weakness, high blood pressure and temperature, loss of motivation to achieve). One of the latest definitions of stress is as follows: "non-specific reaction of the body to any demand from the outside"
Types of stress.
Selye believed that the stress response is a non-specific set of psychophysiological changes that does not depend on the nature of the stress-producing factor. However, later it was proved that both the qualitative originality of the stimulus and the individual characteristics of the organism contribute to its formation. In connection with the peculiarities of the stimulus, it is customary to distinguish at least two variants of stress: physiological (first signal) and psychological (second signal).
The stimulus that triggers the stress response is called stressor. A stimulus can become a stressor as a result of its cognitive interpretation, i.e. the value that a person ascribes to a given stimulus (psychological stress).
Physiological stress results from exposure to a stimulus through some kind of sensory or metabolic process. For example, too much physical activity acquires the role of stressors that provoke physiological stress.
The special role of the duration of the impact of an unfavorable factor should be emphasized. So, some stimuli can cause a stress reaction as a result of a sufficiently long exposure to a person. In the case of short-term stress, as a rule, already established programs of response and resource mobilization are updated.
From the point of view of the stress response, it does not matter whether the situation we are facing is pleasant or unpleasant. Mother example.
Psychological aspects of stress
V. A. Bodrov, summarizing the basic knowledge about stress, gives the following definition: psychological stress is considered as a functional state of the body and psyche, which is characterized by significant violations of the biochemical, physiological, mental status of a person and his behavior as a result of exposure to extreme factors of a psychogenic nature (threat, danger, complexity or harmfulness of living conditions and activities).
cognitive theory of stress, developed by R. Lazarus and his colleagues, focuses on the psychological assessment of the threat and its adverse impact. The threat is considered as a psychological factor and reflects the state of expectation by the subject of the harmful, undesirable influence of external conditions and incentives of a certain type.
According to Lazarus, between the influencing stressor and the response of the organism, intermediate variables of a psychological nature are included. He attaches the main importance to the threat assessment factor, i.e. anticipation by a person of possible dangerous consequences of a situation affecting him.
Mental processes associated with threat assessment occur due to a person's analysis of a certain situation and attitude towards it. They have a complex character, consisting not only of perceptual functions, but also of memory processes, the ability to abstract thinking, elements of past experience, learning outcomes, etc.
In his research, Lazarus pays special attention to the processes of assessing and overcoming (coping) stress, which are important in the interaction of a person with the environment. According to R. Lazarus, psychological stress differs from all other types of stress in the presence of a mediating variable in the structure of the development of this state - the threat of some future collision of a person with some dangerous situation for him. Symbols of a traumatic future impact are evaluated by a set of cognitive processes.
Stress begins when a person feels that a situation (real or imagined) represents a certain physical or mental danger for him (primary assessment) and when he realizes that he will not be able to effectively respond to this situation (secondary assessment). Stress can stop if a person changes the significance of the event to a level where it no longer poses a danger to him, and also if a person uses any method of overcoming (stopping) to eliminate the feeling of danger.
R. Lazarus proposed to distinguish three types of stress assessments. The first type is a traumatic loss, the loss of someone or something that is of great personal importance (death, long separation, loss of a job, loss of health, etc.). The second type is threat assessment, when the situation requires a person to have more stopping abilities than he has. The third type is an assessment of the complexity of the task (problem), its responsibility and the potential riskiness of the situation.
Each stressful situation causes a comprehensive assessment, which includes the processes of coordination and adaptation of a person with stressors, which continue until control over them is established with the help of stopping effects or until the stress spontaneously stops its action. According to the principles of feedback, a relationship is established between the stopping effect and the subject, who receives information about the effect of these effects and the significance of the event itself. While the feedback is in effect, the person is constantly reassessing the situation, adjusting, if possible, stopping strategies and the significance of the event.
Author information theory of emotions P. V. Simonov believes that the strength and polarity of emotions depends on the presence or absence of a person's awareness. “Emotion arises when there is a lack of information necessary to achieve the goal. Replacing, compensating for this shortcoming, it ensures the continuation of actions, promotes the search for new information and thereby increases the reliability of the living system.”
It was noticed that the implementation of even a very complex, but familiar stereotype of actions is not accompanied by a person's emotional stress. It does not appear even with some change in the system of external signals that do not affect changes in the dynamic stereotype. But as soon as the conditioned signals begin to require the body to change the established actions, signs of emotions begin to appear.
P.V. Simonov comes to the conclusion that with a certain already established stereotype, a person has complete information about how and what to do, while when it is destroyed and a new one is created, there is a lack of information, the need for a search for organizing new activities for satisfaction of their needs. Emotions appear in the event that the satisfaction of the need does not occur and the actions performed do not lead to the achievement of the desired goal.
P. V. Simonov considers the scheme of the dynamics of emotions in the range from calm and comfortable to the state of deep depression. This makes it possible to trace the emotional change depending on the increase in needs and information deficit, as well as its connection with the work of the sympathetic and parasympathetic divisions of the autonomic nervous system.
In the absence of an information deficit and the satisfaction of all needs, a person experiences a comfortable, calm state and equanimity. At this point, the sympathetic and parasympathetic systems are "normal". Such relaxation is associated with the process of primary (preventive) inhibition in the nervous system.
With the increase in tension associated with the emergence of needs and a small amount of lack of information, the general condition of a person begins to change. Initially, when the tension is still insignificant, emotions of joy and pleasure arise, self-confidence appears. A person experiences increasing excitation and, accordingly, changes occur in the sympathetic system - an increase in activity, and in the parasympathetic - its decrease.
With an even greater increase in tension and, finally, reaching its maximum value, maximum excitation occurs, at which the indicators in the sympathetic system also reach the maximum value and the minimum in the parasympathetic system. At this time, a person experiences such emotions as active fear, rage, disgust. With such excitation, preventive inhibition is reduced to zero and transmarginal inhibition begins to appear, which increases as the person moves to the next stage.
The last interval of the scheme ends with a state in which there is a maximum lack of needs or a maximum lack of information. There is an increase in transmarginal inhibition, accompanied by a decrease in the work of the sympathetic nervous system to a minimum value and a maximum value in the work of the parasympathetic departments. A person experiences states of shock, grief, depression, numbness, frenzy, prostration (corresponds to the "stage of exhaustion" according to G. Selye).
Psychology of emotional phenomena. — Stress. Physiological and psychological aspects of the study of stress.
Stress. Physiological and psychological aspects of the study of stress.
Stress (from the English stress - pressure, tension) is a term used to refer to a wide range of human conditions that occur in response to a variety of extreme effects. The concept of stress was introduced by G. Selye. The concept of stress originated in physiology to denote a non-specific reaction of the body - a general adaptation syndrome - in response to any adverse effect. Selye identified and analyzed the stages of stress depending on the duration of exposure: the stage of anxiety - the stage of resistance - the stage of exhaustion.
Depending on the stressor and the nature of its influence, there are different kinds stress, in the most general classification - physiological stress And psychological stress. Psychological stress is divided into informational and emotional stress. Information stress occurs in situations of information overload, when a person does not cope with the task, does not have time to make the right decisions at the required pace, with a high degree of responsibility for the consequences. decisions taken. Emotional stress appears in situations of threat, danger, resentment, etc. At the same time, its various forms (impulsive, inhibitory, generalized) lead to changes in the course of mental processes, emotional shifts, and disturbances in motor and speech behavior. Physiological stress is characterized by a violation of homeostasis and is caused by the direct action of an adverse stimulus on the body. An example of physiological stress is when you put your hand in ice water.
It must be taken into account that stress can have both a positive, mobilizing, and negative impact on activity (distress), up to its complete disorganization. Therefore, the optimization of any type of activity should include a set of measures that prevent the causes of stress.
Neuroscience and stuff
In today's comfortable life, we are rarely in danger, we are fed and protected from most of the problems that our ancestors used to deal with. Our minds and bodies have not yet adapted to this turn of events, and therefore we often cause the greatest harm to ourselves by reacting to events too strongly, giving them the wrong assessment and falling into emotions that require immediate action according to the laws that determined our behavior for a long time. before the rise of modern civilization.
Cardiovascular disease is the number one cause of death in the world, and it makes no biological sense - the human body overreacts to what it recognizes as danger, and instead of fighting or running away, it falls dead as a clump of its own cells stuck together interferes with blood flow . The danger has passed by, and the dead body will no longer rise and say “fuh, it seemed!”.
In this case, the body did not cope with the challenge and did not have time to cope with it. However, throughout life we cope with a huge number of situations of varying degrees of trouble and surprise. How does it happen?
With any external influence that changes or can change the constancy of the internal environment of the body, a non-specific reaction of the body occurs, which is called the word "stress". The definition found in most books and articles on the subject has two pitfalls to keep in mind.
The "non-specificity" of the reaction means that it does not depend on the type of stimulus, on what kind of influence was applied. A cold, a sharp sound, a need to move, a reminder of a loss - all this causes the same stress reaction, which is why it is called non-specific. Are there many chances for such a reaction to be adequate to the stimulus? Yes, when you are a human living in the wild and your natural enemies are predators and a neighboring tribe. No, if you live in a city, communicate with people, obey the cultural customs of your area and do not want to incur trouble with inappropriate behavior.
Let's move on to a more difficult topic to explain. Our psyche always tries to work ahead of the curve. The best chances of survival were those of our ancestors who could see the danger before it became imminent. This was the impetus for the development of the brain, but it also plays a cruel joke on us, forcing us to experience fear or anger in situations where there is no reason for these feelings.
So, stress can be caused by any stimulus of sufficient intensity and is not always adequate to the situation. But suppose it has come, the point of no return has been passed, and the stimulus has already been recognized by the brain as potential danger. What happens to the body?
First, the activation of the sympathetic nervous system causes multiple changes, the purpose of which is to prepare the body for the best possible response to immediate danger. The release of norepinephrine causes vasoconstriction of the internal organs, which is balanced by adrenaline, which stimulates the blood supply to the skeletal muscles, lungs, heart and brain, and also increases the heart rate. As a result, a person gets the opportunity to spend resources more efficiently for running or physical attack.
Secondly, corticoliberin enters the bloodstream, which in turn causes the release of corticotropin (ACTH, adrenocorticotropic hormone). This hormone enhances the delivery of cholesterol to the mitochondria, which provides a rapid effect of the release of glucocorticosteroids (GCS), mainly cortisol. In addition, it provides a long-term effect of increasing the production of KGS, which lasts for several hours.
The main function of cortisol is to increase blood glucose levels, suppress the immune system, and increase protein catabolism, along with fat anabolism. In other words, this hormone helps to ensure that the muscles receive as much glycogen and glucose as possible, and the price of this is a decrease in anabolic and inflammatory processes, as well as the activity of the immune system.
In the long term, the least desirable for us is the decrease in immunity, which is a consequence of the increase in cortisol levels, since it causes apoptosis and inhibition of the maturation of lymphocytes. At a relatively low level of cortisol, its effect may even be immunostimulating, however, as the concentration increases, the level of mature lymphocytes in the blood decreases, and the proportion of immature immune cells increases. Phagocytic activity and production of antibodies are inhibited. In addition, inflammatory processes weaken, as the permeability of the walls of blood vessels and mast cell membranes decreases, and the sensitivity of tissues to histamine and serotonin decreases. These properties of cortisol are used to relieve allergy symptoms.
Thirdly, under stress, the blood-brain barrier allows much more hormone-like substances to enter the brain, which stimulates the activity of neurons and allows you to make the necessary decisions faster. However, with prolonged stress, hyperactivity of neurons can cause traumatic changes in the individual's psyche. The plasticity of the nervous tissue is significantly reduced if the stimulation of one of the sensory modalities was excessively intense, especially against the background of insignificant signals from other receptors. Dendrites and dendritic spines become shorter and may even disappear, which reduces the ability of nerve cells to participate in long-term storage and processing of information.
The ability of the hippocampus to initiate, modulate, or suppress the stress response by recalling relevant memories is also reduced, and with prolonged exposure to stress, this area is seriously damaged, which leads to the snowball effect: the inability to choose an adequate response to events only intensifies each time.
Neuropeptide-Y, if released in sufficient concentration, reduces pain, contributes to a faster and more favorable recovery from PTSD, and also improves appetite. Dopamine, released during stress, also improves pain tolerance, and in addition, reduces the severity of activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the release of corticoliberin and ACTH. In addition, it helps to get rid of depressive disorders and learned helplessness syndrome caused by the stress of social interactions.
The dynamics of the development of a stress reaction, as a rule, has clear phases:
So, stress contributes to the rapid selection and application of a physical response to danger (the so-called “fight-or-flight” response). In this case, the most energy-consuming functions are suppressed. Delayed dangers like infections, tumors, cognitive decline are nothing compared to the chance of being killed here and now. But in today's world, more people die from slow-acting factors! From too strong activation of the sympathetic NS against the background of weak blood vessels, from cancer and infectious diseases. Under such conditions, stress itself becomes the enemy.
In general, the intensity of the stress response of people is not the same. Both the degree of the body's response (pulse, blood pressure) and the duration of possible compensation for stressful effects, as well as the speed of recovery, differ. What determines the response to stress?
First, from genetic factors. The main one is the amount of certain cytokines in the blood - namely, interleukin-6, a mediator of acute inflammation. Experiments have shown that animals whose blood contained more interleukin-6 had a tendency to develop depression-like behavioral changes after social defeat. (Depression-like states in rodents include anhedonia, which means that the animal ceases to prefer sweeter water to less sweet water, as well as a decrease in the desire for safe social interactions.) With any method of reducing the amount of interleukin, the propensity of mice to develop depression also decreased after it. after stressful situations.
In this case, it is especially noticeable that the response to stress is determined by the characteristics of our immune system, which has nothing to do with the brain - which, it would seem, should be responsible for regulating behavior and response to stress. However, it seems that the opposite is true - the choice of behavior occurs due to the impact on the nervous system of substances produced outside it, and their amount is determined by the expression of certain genes in the bone marrow.
The long-known testosterone-to-cortisol ratio, which has been associated with social status and dominance, also affects stress tolerance. Studies with British officials have suggested that higher rank in the hierarchy (which is associated with higher testosterone levels) leads to an increase in the frequency of heart attacks, since leaders are more responsible. This hypothesis was not confirmed; moreover, when layoffs began in the organization, many more ordinary employees suffered from such diseases, while among managers this situation almost did not cause an increase in the frequency of heart attacks.
Further experiments, already conducted on primates, showed that along with an increase in testosterone in individuals who received an increase in social status, a constant level of cortisol falls, which leads to less depletion of the body's resources even when experiencing stressful situations.
IN psychological works On stress, one can sometimes see assurances of the positive role of stress: in particular, the activation of the endogenous opioid system, which is associated with motivation to act, is often considered a positive consequence of it, and in some works even stress is called adaptogenic.
However, in the works of other scientists who use a more systematic approach to understanding stress, it is shown that the endogenous opioid system “plays a significant role in minimizing vital and mental functions during stress and shock, causing the extinction of reactions associated with damage or the threat of damage. Under stress, activation of the EOS provides an increase in sensory (primarily pain) thresholds and limits the activation of the sympathetic-adrenal and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal systems, which enhances the protective resources of the stress reaction.
In simple terms, the endogenous-opioid system slightly limits the activation of parasympathetic inputs, as well as the release of hypothalamic and pituitary hormones. However, this is still not enough to consider the entire result positive - its task is only to slightly compensate for the stress reaction. At the same time, every time the situation is not resolved before the onset of the stage of exhaustion, the body is harmed. Most of all, the brain structures responsible for coordinating hormonal activity and assessing the situation suffer the most.
Stress-induced adaptation is more of a psychological phenomenon that follows the stress response: if the situation is resolved successfully, the next time the stress reaction to it may be less significant. This does not mean that there was no traumatic impact; but this may mean that the comfort zone for the psyche is slightly expanded, and in the next situation the stress response will perhaps be weaker.
With a positive outcome, after experiencing the excitement, the endogenous opioid system rewards us with a good dose of dopamine, which motivates us to seek solutions and generally healthy behavior. The effects of stress, thanks to her, disappear faster. Thanks to nature for small pleasures.
It turns out that prolonged or often experienced stress can seriously undermine the immune system, lead to depression by disrupting the metabolism of serotonin and dopamine, cause cognitive impairment, or even provoke a heart attack (as well as chronic ischemia or stroke) if the compensatory mechanisms are not strong enough.
The intensity of the effect of stress on the body depends on the following factors:
- Past experience - the more stressful impacts, the worse the prognosis;
- Social status - allows you to significantly reduce the harmful effects of stress;
- Genetics - affects the intensity and consequences of stress reactions;
- The general level of anxiety and the ability to correctly assess situations is a whole set of factors that depend on both genetics and developmental characteristics. Many courses of "self-development" offer their adherents to work on this factor, although it is very difficult to influence conscious control.
From all of the above, a very simple conclusion follows: you need to protect yourself from situations that cause stress. And expand the number of situations that do not cause stress.
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Physiological aspects of stress and its consequences. emergence
Stress is a state of the human body that occurs under the action of emergency and pathological stimuli and leads to intense activity of non-specific adaptive mechanisms of the body. The term "stress" was introduced into medicine in 1936 by G. Selye, who defined stress as a state of the body that occurs when any requirements are presented to it.
The compensatory capabilities of the human body, allowing it to adapt to changes in the external and internal environment, are large. The conditions necessary for the formation of a full-fledged adaptation are: the optimal state of the adaptation mechanisms (human health), the intensity and duration of exposure to stimuli of the external and internal environment of the body and the time required for the formation of the adaptation process.
Changes in the activity of the heart, respiratory apparatus, metabolism and the immune system are among the mechanisms that carry out the adaptation of the body. In the formation of adaptive mechanisms, a huge role belongs to the nervous system and endocrine organs (pituitary gland, thyroid gland, adrenal glands, etc.).
Stress reactions can occur under the influence of a wide variety of stimuli (injury, burns, illness, etc.), as well as emotional impact - emotional stress. The state of stress in most of the population is provoked or caused by numerous adverse environmental factors. Living conditions and habits formed in large groups of people are suboptimal for maintaining health. An ever-increasing flow of information received by an individual voluntarily or in addition to it becomes environmentally dangerous.
Often there are situations of information stress. Pop music imposed on the population in the morning by radio programs disrupts the natural rhythm of entering the working state of the body, especially among middle-aged and elderly people. The high-speed, emotional rhythm of modern life, especially in cities, creates a load on the functioning of the main centers of the nervous system. Various stimuli give stress their own characteristics, due to the occurrence of specific reactions to qualitatively different influences.
Scientific and technological progress creates more and more new stressful situations: high pace of life, information overload, overstrain during nervous responsible work, mental overload, fatigue from monotonous monotonous work. Scientific and technological progress in highly developed countries has led to an increase in the share of intellectual labor. The nature of workers' labor has changed as a result of the widespread introduction of mechanization and automation of production processes. Workers are increasingly servicing machines and mechanisms, doing not physical, but intellectual labor. The increased flow of information has swept not only scientists.
From the invention of printing to 1945, i.e. in 500 years, about 30 million different books were published in the world, the same number of books were published over the next 25 years. The volume of curricula of schools and universities has become more complex and increased, the teaching load has increased. The amount of time devoted to watching television programs and movies has increased dramatically. Many of them, especially with plots of horror, violence and murder, cause strong, negative emotional reactions, accompanied by a sharp increase in the content of adrenaline in the blood (heartbeat, increased blood pressure).
The occurrence and nature of stress is largely determined by the reactivity of the organism itself, which, in turn, depends on functional state physiological systems, hereditary properties of the organism, previous diseases, age and other factors.
Modern life is full of external stressful stimuli that cannot be avoided. The city generates noise and air pollution along with high speeds, crowds, crime and rudeness. Any stressful stimulus, such as noise, does not need to be loud to be harmful. The stress effect occurs with any repetitive uncontrolled noise.
emotional stress
Emotional stress (excitement, excitement, tension) is a subjective state of a pronounced psycho-emotional experience by a person (pleasure or displeasure, joy, fear, anger, etc.) of conflict life situations that acutely or for a long time limit the satisfaction of his social and biological needs.
Responsible reactions of the body to emotions depend on behavioral reactions, psychological characteristics and upbringing of a person. The complexity of this problem lies in the fact that, unlike a savage, a civilized person is obliged to restrain his emotions, i.e. stay patient, calm. Such a person seeks to extinguish the fire that has arisen in the body, i.e. restrain somatic manifestations, motor responses and speech reactions. And here the conflict manifests itself: by an effort of will, a person suppresses motor reactions. As a result, a vegetative storm hits the heart and blood vessels. The lower the body's fitness for extreme loads, including psychogenic-emotional ones, the more the state of maximum mobilization of the cardiovascular system increases. It is important to emphasize that the individual characteristics of a person, his adaptive ability to withstand stressful situations are very different. So, in particular, psychological and behavioral types of body responses are distinguished.
Emotions arise due to the primary activation of specialized brain structures. Excitation of some structures causes positive emotions that the body seeks to strengthen, prolong or repeat. The activation of other structures is accompanied by the appearance of negative emotions, which the body seeks to eliminate or weaken.
The biological significance of emotions is determined by their evaluative function, as a result of which the body seeks to respond in advance and quickly to changes in the environment, to mobilize the energy resources necessary for actions aimed at meeting immediate needs.
Emotions underlie the process of acquiring individual life experience (learning), contributing to the development, consolidation and preservation of biologically expedient forms of behavior. Emotions serve as a means of increasing the reliability and expanding the adaptive capabilities of the body, as well as one of the main mechanisms for the internal regulation of mental activity and behavior. Human emotions are mainly socially conditioned. They, as well as human actions, are determined by the norms of morality and law. Higher forms of emotions arise on the basis of social (moral) and spiritual (aesthetic, intellectual) needs.
Emotional excitations are built on the basis of specific neurochemical mechanisms (neurotransmitters). Peripheral components of emotions are divided into arbitrarily controlled (movement, muscle muscle activity, speech function, breathing) and uncontrolled (activity of the heart, vascular smooth muscles, bronchi, intestines and endocrine glands).
Of all the stresses, one should especially highlight those that cause negative emotions. “Among the influences that shorten life, a predominant place is occupied by fear, sadness, cowardice, despondency, melancholy, envy,” he wrote back in the 18th century. H.F. Hufeland. Indeed, sadness, fear, melancholy depress mental activity, muscle activity, inhibit any response of the body. Anger, rage, hatred, on the contrary, increase energy supply, stimulate the activity of muscle receptors, the central nervous and cardiovascular systems.
Positive emotions include joy, hope, etc., which bring health, strength, and performance. "Cheerful people always get better" (Ambroise Pare). As noted by N.I. Pirogov, the wounds of victorious soldiers heal faster than those of the defeated. Positive emotion is proportional to the magnitude of the relieved stress state. Positive emotions are especially important for the functioning of the cardiovascular system.
Adrenaline, flooding the human body during stress, causes a cascade of reactions: blood pressure, muscles tense, breathing becomes shallow and fast, the brain is at the peak of vigilance, and the senses are sharpened to the limit. It is said that Julius Caesar chose for himself those warriors who blushed, and did not turn pale, under sudden stress. It turns out that during a fear reaction in the human body, the release of adrenaline increases, which causes vasoconstriction and pallor, and during an anger reaction, norepinephrine is released, which causes vasodilation, and the person turns red.
Socially determined stressful situations as a result of interpersonal conflicts associated with humiliation, betrayal, deceit, and disappointment are widespread. In such a situation, the conflict of people who find themselves in a difficult situation lies in the need to implement a defensive reaction of self-preservation and the impossibility of implementing it under the created conditions. However, the majority of people placed in hopeless situations do not die, but acquire some degree of resistance to these stressful situations.
When exposed to various extreme factors (physical, mental), neuroendocrine-humoral changes occur in the body, aimed at overcoming the actions of these factors by adapting the body to the requirements. The severity of the adaptation syndrome depends on the intensity of stress, the functional state of the physiological systems of the body and the nature of human behavior.
Everyday life experience, as well as data from experiments on animals, observations on patients indicate that the emergence of emotions often precedes our actions, that it is emotions that turn out to be the reason for actions. Emotional arousal can occur before a person has time to draw up a program of action, and even before he can even consciously assess the situation. Emotion is often the first impulsive response to a sudden emergency. Only then follows the analysis and assessment of the situation and the necessary deliberate actions.
Lisovsky V.A., Evseev S.P., Golofeevsky V.Yu., Mironenko A.N.
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