Treatment and prevention of stress
Healthy stress occurs when your physical and mental apparatus help you overcome a challenge by maximizing your capability for a short period of time. The fact that your system works that way is a sign of good health.
Unhealthy stress occurs when you maximize the abilities of your mentalt apparatus for too long – in an attempt to make this level of performance your standard. That kind of stress is really an internal alarm bell that has gone off to let you know, that it is time to take a closer look at part of your life.
Stress is defined as follows: Stress occurs when a person has the perception that conditions and requirements exceed the person´s own assessment of his/hers skills, competencies, and opportunities.
Following a periode of stress, many people experience that their lives now have more meaning and depth because they used being stressed as a learning experience and have become even better at taking responsibility for building a life that makes them happy.
Sometimes, people only become aware of their symptoms of stress when the symptoms have become serious. It is useful to know what the symptoms of stress are so that you can take action quickly.
Typical symptoms of stress:
Mental symptoms
- Diffuse feeling of not being well
- Feelings of guilt and inadequacy
- Fatigue, reluctance, a feeling of not being able to cope
- Anxiety, nervousness
- Depression, low self-esteem
- Restlessness
- Aggression
- Frustration
- Difficulty concentrating
- Memory loss
- Learning difficulties
Physical symptoms
- Headache
- Sleep disturbance
- Cold hands and feet
- Dizziness
- Heart palpitations
- Hypertension
- Restlessness in the body
- Stomach- and digestive problems
- Reduced sex drive
- Frequent infections
- Tearing up often
Behavioural symptoms
- Changed eating habits
- Increased consumption of stimulants, e.g. alcohol, tobacco, caffeine
- Problems falling asleep
- Problems sleeping through the night
- More conflicts
- Mood swings
- Irritability
- Impulsivity
- Restlessness
- Reduced sense of humor
- Problems coping with social life
Most often, it is not difficult neither to prevent nor to treat stress so effectively that the stress does not reoccur. You only need to learn how.