Distress. How to get rid of stress?

Distress is stress that harms the body (as opposed to eustress, which is beneficial stress).

Symptoms of distress: frequent illnesses, weakening of the body’s immune system; sexual dysfunction; headaches, stomach pains, peptic ulcers; worsening sleep; loss of appetite or vice versa excessive gluttony; a change in food preferences: if earlier, for example, you didn’t want a lot of spicy or sweet, then in a state of stress, on the contrary, you want a lot. And also — increased excitability: more often you want to get annoyed, angry, angry, laugh for no reason.

Most often, distress is caused by prolonged and (or) strong negative effects on the body. If you have been without water, air, food and heat for a long time, if you began to live in an area where living conditions are unusual for the body (for example, high in the mountains), or serious illnesses, injuries, long-term pain have piled on you — the body, trying to defend itself, can fail to respond with distress. The unexpected death of a loved one, betrayal, serious problems at work are also a common cause of stress. A common cause of distress is not a bad life around, but a negative attitude to what is happening, experiences of fear, anger, rage. By itself, a long-term negative emotion is already a stress factor. And when it is also superimposed on a stress factor from the outside, a double negative stress is obtained.

How to relieve stress?

The best stress relievers are the following: sleep, walking, proper physical activity and relaxation practice.

First, sleep. You need to sleep at night if you can fall asleep at 22.00 and wake up at 7 in the morning — this is optimal in a stressful situation. In any case, no night vigils, agree with yourself: “After 24.00 there is no life!”

The second is walking. Walking in the air, going out into nature, getting out of concrete boxes and seeing the high sky is a relief from stress.

The third is competent physical activity. Serious physical activity during stress is harmful, and small and constant, especially alternating with relaxation, are necessary.

As for relaxation, studies have shown that a regular relaxing massage reduces stress much more effectively than words of support in a difficult situation: words can be ignored, but the body always reacts. Stress is tension, and to relieve it, consciously practice relaxation. Organize yourself 5 times a day elementary 3-minute pauses for relaxation, and the level of tension will noticeably decrease.

Yes, and tie with coffee. One cup of coffee for the next two hours raises cortisol levels by 30%, and you probably know the effect of cortisol: single doses invigorate the body, and constantly high levels of cortisol kill the body … Be careful, friends!

stress prevention

What to do and how to live in order not to face distress?

The first is to lead a healthy lifestyle. Good health, a strong immune system — reduce the negative effects of stress factors. Go to bed on time, move, temper!

Second — do not listen to people who tell you that everything around is hard and terrible, that everything around is sheer stress. An optimistic attitude, the ability to see the good in a situation is our everything. It’s good for health and relationships. Do you yourself want to live next to a person who is afraid of everything and complains about everything?

One of the easiest ways to get rid of stress is to get rid of the TV. And do not read the media, where the same negative is poured every day! But taking a walk in nature instead is extremely beneficial. Your decision?

Third: Become an informed realist. It is foolish to be an ostrich and hide your head in the sand; objective difficulties will not disappear from this. If you know what difficulties await you, they will not come as a surprise to you. Forewarned is forearmed. If it is possible to predict a stressful situation, the negative consequences of stress are reduced, and often do not occur at all. This has been shown in experiments with rats, your experience will also confirm this. Practice the technique of mental insurance.

Fourth: wean yourself to experience, teach yourself to act. Learn to meet any situation calmly, not as a problem, but as a task. What can be corrected or prevented — do it (in science this is called problem-oriented coping. People who are prone to problem-oriented coping of stressful situations show less depression both before and after stress (Billings & Moos, 1984), in for everything else, relax and accept.

The Lord gave me three wonderful qualities: Courage to fight where I can change something, Patience to accept what I can’t handle, and a head on my shoulders to distinguish one from the other.

Fifth: wean yourself from the position of the Victim, switch to an active life position. In experiments on rats, it was proved that those rats that had the opportunity to somehow hide from an electric shock received less stress, adaptation was faster and ended more successfully. A joyful scientific fact: a person with an active lifestyle takes care of his body more.

And this means: figure out what your stress (distress) generates in you and what you can really change in this situation. If you have a crazy job: maybe not take pills, but change jobs? (well, if you want to live, and not constantly twitch). If there really is not enough money, then it is stupid to listen to beautiful music and meditate on the sound of OM: think about how to earn money. If you are stressed by the fact that you live with your mother-in-law or with someone else, with whom it is better not to live together, then solve the issue with the apartment. And so on: obviously there may not be easy solutions here, but water does not flow under a lying stone either. Who wants — looking for opportunities. Everyone else is experiencing stress … You will succeed!