The effect of stress on a person's condition. Stress and heart disease. Effects on the cardiovascular system

Hello everyone! Stress is an immediate response of the human body to dramatically changing external conditions... This can be any situation, both harmless and requiring caution. An individual is able to experience shock at the sight of a car rushing through a red light, at the approach of an aggressive person or a stray dog. Such situations cause the release of hormones, with the help of which this or that reaction to such an event is formed.

Stress is an integral part of everyday human existence these days. Its peculiarity lies in exactly how and with what intensity the individual's organism will react to the current situation. Most often, the greatest stress falls on the emotional or physical sphere. And today we will talk about how stress affects human health.

Causes of stress

The most common causes of stress are:

overload;
new job;
constant nagging of the boss;
strong shock;
conflict;
anxiety;
panic fear;
self-doubt;
significant hypothermia;
possible accident;
disease;
the injury received;
hunger;
thirst, etc.

Such influences entail a corresponding reaction of the body. It can be very different. It depends on the complexity of the situation and its impact on the person. It also matters whether he is involved in it himself, the people for whom he is responsible or his loved ones.

It is very important how it manifests itself. The person either hides and suppresses them. It may be such an option that he does not show the feelings that he actually experiences in order to achieve the necessary reaction of others.

Stress can arise at any time. Even a small child, who is called to the blackboard at school in the classroom, is already testing it. In the future, almost every step of an adult is accompanied by one or another negative impact.

What are the reactions to stress?

If there are too many such situations or the body's response to them is inadequate, then they can be harmful. Gradually:

the person becomes anxious;
it decreases;
he is constantly nervous;
gets annoyed;
crying;
screams;
swears, etc.

As a result, he is very quickly exhausted, tired, his attention is scattered, memory is reduced, muscle clamps begin to appear, entailing rather severe pain.

Human health gradually begins to suffer. Eastern medicine is generally of the opinion that most diseases arise under the influence of stress. Indeed, bronchial asthma, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, stomach ulcers, etc. develop precisely as a result of nervous overload.

This happens because a significant negative nervous impact does not pass without leaving a trace for a person. He develops a severe emotional disorder, temporary under normal conditions or permanent with continued stress. Any malfunction in an individual's body begins with psychological trauma. It is she who pulls along with her and other dysfunctions. internal organs.

Therefore, specialists in the field of medicine and psychology are closely studying this serious problem. It has been proven that most diseases of internal organs occur under the influence of nervous overload. If they are repeated too much, then pathology may develop.

It happens in the following way. In the moment stressful situation endocrine organs are activated. An active release of hormones begins. An excess of them has a strong effect on the brain, stomach, cardiovascular system... If this condition is delayed or not neutralized, then a failure occurs.

A sharp release of a large number of various hormones leads to a significant increase in heart rate, sudden surges blood pressure, reactions of the parasympathetic system. If this is repeated often enough, then gradually the body's defenses decrease. Sometimes a poor state of immunity is no longer able to protect a person from even the development of cancer.

Thus, the abundance of stress weakens a person, disrupts his metabolism, inhibits regeneration processes in cells and tissues. Suffer from this:

leather;
muscles;
brain;
spinal cord;
bones;
hair;
nails;
thyroid;
spine, etc.

Bones become thinner, which leads to fractures, and constantly elevated hormonal levels disrupt the metabolism, genitourinary system, gastrointestinal tract and nerves.

In order to prevent this from happening, it is necessary to give out stress. This is possible in the presence of muscle or emotional stress. If you do not accumulate it, but get rid of it, then it may even be useful for the body.

The essence of the hormonal attack is to activate all the systems necessary to cope with this situation. Since these days, increased efforts are usually not required for this, the way out can be given through an emotional or muscular response. Subsequently, the body, faced with such a problem, no longer reacts to it so sharply, but quickly finds a solution already embedded in the memory cells.

If stress occurs only occasionally and is not destructive, then it can bring health benefits. This happens when his action does not exceed the danger of the situation or the person knows how to cope with it. The main thing is that the problems do not become too frequent and severe. Otherwise, the body will simply stop fighting them.

Headaches begin to appear first. Then there will be arrhythmia, increased blood pressure. After a short time, these pathologies are generalized and become chronic.

It is very important not to try to deal with stress with alcohol, smoking or drugs. In addition to a strong blow to the psyche, the effect of such substances will significantly worsen the state of health. The consequences can be delayed. That is, at first a person will experience relief, and then a serious illness will gradually arise, which can even lead to death.

How stress affects human health

Then a condition called distress manifests itself. It negatively affects health by damaging cells and tissues. It is subdivided into:

nervous;
short-term;
chronic;
psychological;
physiological.

Therefore, stress can affect a person in a variety of ways. Do not think that too much nervous shock is required for a significant health disorder. Small, but constantly repetitive nervous situations are no less dangerous. Gradually, they merge together and pose a direct threat to health.

It can manifest itself abruptly, under the influence of a specific negative situation, or accumulate day after day in a traumatic environment.

Then stress can create serious problems. This is due to the fact that its course obeys a certain logic. The body's response is aimed at helping a person to adapt to an unfavorable situation.

Therefore, stress goes through three consecutive periods of time, consisting of anxiety, the stage of adaptation to specific conditions and exhaustion, if this did not happen.

Anxiety and adaptation is a normal course of this reaction, leading to positive results. But in the case when there are a lot of stressful situations and the body does not have time to adapt to them or they are repeated so often that the adaptation loses its strength, then the stage of exhaustion begins. It is usually followed by the development of any diseases.

They can manifest themselves in the psyche, nervous system, metabolism and the functioning of human internal organs. If he already suffers from any disease, it may worsen and even degenerate into a malignant tumor. Most often, an excess of stressful situations leads to:

ischemic disease hearts;
heart attack;
stroke;
hypertension;
angina pectoris;
cholecystitis;
duodenal ulcer;
stomach colic;
dermatitis;
hives;
neurodermatitis;
neurosis.

Stress brings considerable harm to the nervous system and psyche. It becomes more and more difficult for a person to cope with ordinary everyday situations, he ceases to believe in himself, it is difficult for him to force himself to do something, he does not believe in the success of the business he has begun. Gradually, he develops depression and even suicidal thoughts.

A completely healthy person may start to catch cold at first. Then suffer from mild ailments, and later discover that he has developed a serious illness.

Stress is very harmful for women. Under its constant influence, they age, the skin ceases to be fresh and elastic, and the hair begins to thin.

Thus, a person must be able to cope with such situations or, if this is not possible, to avoid them. If you live in a state of constant nervous tension, it can end up with very serious consequences.

Under the influence of chronic stress, a person's body simply wears out, the resources of his psyche are depleted and nervous system, internal organs cease to cope with their load. The individual becomes ill and is not always able to recover. As soon as one disease recedes, another begins immediately. The overall life expectancy is also decreasing.

Therefore, it should be understood that stress can arise both under the influence of an external situation (conflict, attack) and internal (anxiety, fear). Moreover, the problem does not have to be real, it can only happen in the imagination of a person. For example, a student who is well prepared for an exam experiences an inexplicable horror of the teacher. Or a person who has received a new position and is thoroughly familiar with technological process, worried that he will not be able to cope with the work.

Therefore, the manifestation of such unfounded emotions should be controlled, since the human brain, which sends signals to the endocrine organs, does not distinguish where the real danger lies, and where the imaginary one.

In addition, even if a person has already developed any psychosomatic illness, he must learn how to properly respond to stressful situations. This can be achieved by putting your emotional reactions under the control of the mind, for example.

If a person begins to realize that every traumatic problem leads to a sharp deterioration in his health, then he should think about how important it is for him to work in an unfriendly team, engage in unnecessarily nervous work, or be married to an alcoholic.

Now you know how stress affects human health. Take care of yourself! Until next time!

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Introduction

IN modern world a person is constantly faced with stress. They affect his behavior, performance, health and relationships with people around him.

Scientifically, stress is the body's response to extreme changes. environment... Our body prepares for confrontation coming from the outside and mobilizes all its internal energy. A physiologically prolonged process leads to the continuous release of stress hormones. Heart rate increases, blood pressure rises, breathing rhythm changes, muscles are abundantly supplied with blood, the whole body is constantly on alert. But we react differently to stressful situations. There are people in the highest degree susceptible to stress, others are not so prone to it. The negative impact of stress has a detrimental effect on the normal functioning of the whole body and often becomes the impetus for the emergence of serious illnesses, and the consequences of stress can be quite serious. If you do not actively combat this disease, the impact of stress on health will pass into a severe chronic stage.

The most common diseases - ischemic heart disease, hypertension, peptic ulcer of the digestive organs, bronchial asthma, tumors - are considered to be stress diseases, the number of which can reach 90% of the pathology of a modern person.

extreme stress health relationship

The concept of "stress"

What is stress. Its types and phases.

Stress is the response of the human body to overstrain, negative emotions or just monotonous vanity. During stress, the human body produces the hormone adrenaline, which makes it look for a way out. Stress in small amounts is needed by everyone, as it makes you think, look for a way out of the problem. But on the other hand, if there is too much stress, the body weakens, loses strength and the ability to solve problems.

This issue is devoted to great amount scientific papers. The mechanisms of stress are studied in detail and are quite complex: they are associated with our hormonal, nervous, vascular systems.

It should be noted that severe stress affects health. Stress lowers immunity and is the cause of many diseases (cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, etc.). Therefore, you need to be able to resist a stressful state and set yourself a positive attitude in life.

Types of stress

Stress can be divided into:

Emotional (positive or negative)

Physiological and psychological

Short-term and long-term

Distinguish between short-term (acute) and long-term (chronic) stress.

Acute stress is characterized by the speed and surprise with which it occurs. The extreme degree of acute stress is shock. Shock, acute stress almost always turn into chronic, long-term stress. The shock situation has passed, you seem to have recovered from the shock, but the memories of the experience come back again and again.

Long-term stress is not necessarily a consequence of acute, it often arises due to seemingly insignificant factors, but constantly acting and numerous.

Stress phases.

The concept of stress emerged in 1954 thanks to Hans Selye. He showed that due to the activity of the hormonal system, during trauma and grief, during joy, in heat and cold, etc., hormones are released in the adrenal cortex that help a person adapt to environmental changes. Stress occurs in three stages. The first and second, respectively, anxiety and adaptation are quite normal, and more useful than harmful. But if the environment changes too often, and employees in the offices of large and medium-sized companies are familiar with this, then the third stage of stress sets in - exhaustion. Exhaustion is a direct path to illness - psychosomatic illness.

Stress is a common and common occurrence. Minor stress is inevitable and harmless. However, there are situations and job characteristics that negatively affect people. Excessive stress can be extremely destructive for a person.

A stressor is a stimulus that can trigger a fight or flight response. Stressors to whom human body adapted as a result of evolution - these are various factors that threaten security.

The fight or flight response (i.e., the natural response to a stressor) is sometimes called a stress response (or stress reactivity). This reaction consists in an increase in muscle tension, an increase in heart rate, an increase in blood pressure and nervous excitement, a decrease in salivation, an increase in sodium content, an increase in sweating, an increase in serum glucose, an increase in secretion of hydrochloric acid in the stomach, changes in brain wave activity and frequent urge to urinate. This reaction prepares us for quick action. At the same time, our body produces substances that are not used in the future. Then it affects our health.

The author of the theory of stress, the Canadian psychologist G. Selye defines it as a set of stereotyped, phylogenetically programmed nonspecific reactions of the body, primarily preparing for physical activity, i.e. to resistance, fight or flight. This, in turn, provides the most-favored-nation environment for dealing with danger. Weak influences do not lead to stress; it occurs only when the influence of the stressor exceeds the adaptive capacity of a person. Under stressful influences, certain hormones begin to be released into the blood. Under their influence, the mode of operation of many organs and systems of the body changes (for example, the heart rate increases, blood clotting increases, the protective properties of the body change). The body is prepared to fight, ready to cope with danger, to adapt to it in one way or another - this is the main biological significance stress. Having developed the theory of stress, G. Selye identified three phases in it. The first phase is the alarm reaction. This is the phase of mobilization of the body's defenses. For most people, by the end of the first phase, an increase in performance is noted. Physiologically, it manifests itself, as a rule, in the following: the blood thickens, the content of chlorine ions in it falls, there is an increased release of nitrogen, phosphates, potassium, an increase in the liver or spleen, etc.

The first is followed by the second phase - the balanced expenditure of the body's adaptive reserves, i.e. stabilization. All parameters unbalanced in the first phase are fixed at a new level. At the same time, a response that does not differ much from the norm is provided, everything seems to be getting better. However, if stress continues for a long time, then due to the limited reserves of the body, the third stage inevitably occurs - exhaustion.

Causes of stress.

The cause of stress can be external or internal. External causes are our life changes, everything that is not under our control, or is in a small degree. And internal reasons are rooted in our mind, for the most part they are born of our imagination. We make this separation just for convenience, since they are all interconnected. So here's a small list of the causes of stress.

External causes of stress.

Big changes in life.

Relationship difficulties.

Financial difficulties.

Excessive employment.

Children and family.

Internal reasons:

Failure to accept uncertainty.

Pessimism.

Negative self-talk.

Unrealistic expectations.

Perfectionism.

Lack of persistence.

Stressful tension.

Stress is a stressed state of the body, i.e. a nonspecific response of the body to a demand presented to it (stressful situation). Under the influence of stress, the human body experiences stressful tension. Consider the various human conditions that can signal the presence of internal tension in the body. Conscious assessment is able to transfer these signals from the emotional sphere (feelings) to the rational sphere (mind) and thereby eliminate the undesirable state.

Signs stress stress

1. Inability to focus on something.

2. Too frequent mistakes in work.

3. Memory deteriorates.

4. Feeling tired too often.

5. Very fast speech.

6. Thoughts often disappear.

7. Pains appear quite often (head, back, stomach area).

8. Increased excitability.

9. Work does not bring the same joy.

10. Loss of sense of humor.

11. The number of cigarettes smoked is sharply increasing.

12. Addiction to alcoholic beverages.

13. Constant feeling of malnutrition.

14. Appetite disappears - the taste for food is completely lost.

15. Inability to finish work on time.

Causes of stress.

1. Constant lack of time.

2. Lack of sleep.

3. Frequent smoking.

4. Excessive alcohol consumption.

5. At home, in the family, there are constant conflicts.

6. Constant feeling of dissatisfaction with life.

7. The emergence of an inferiority complex.

8. Feelings of self-disrespect.

It is likely that not all causes of stress are listed here. Each person must analyze his condition himself and identify the causes of stress stress, possibly characteristic only for his body (from the point of view of his personal feelings).

Effects on the body.

Stress has a huge impact on human health. This manifests itself in diseases of various organs and systems, and, in general, a deterioration in well-being. Typically on physiological health human stress affects as follows:

Severe headaches appear;

Chronic sleep deprivation is observed;

Heart rate increases, diseases of the cardiovascular system develop. There is a high probability of exacerbation of hypertension or the occurrence of myocardial infarction;

Attention is deteriorating, performance is reduced and fatigue appears;

There are malfunctions in the functioning of the gastrointestinal tract, which may result in the onset or exacerbation of gastritis and peptic ulcer diseases;

The growth of malignant tumors is possible;

Immunity weakens, making the body vulnerable to various kinds of viral and infectious diseases;

In significant quantities, hormones are produced, which, in turn, negatively affects the work of the internal organs of the nervous system;

Possible cellular degeneration of the spinal cord and brain, muscle dystrophy.

Stress affects not only physiological but also psychological health. Being in a stressful state, it becomes difficult for a person to live, since every action costs him incredible mental efforts. A person may feel apathy for everything, it is possible that he will even lose interest in life. The effects of stress can be disappointing:

Aggressiveness, tantrums, intolerance and irritability;

Emotional instability, neuroses, depression;

Insomnia;

Self-doubt, self-doubt.

The positive effects of stress

At first glance, it may seem that stress carries with it extremely destructive effects, negatively affecting the state of health. However, in fact, stressful conditions have positive qualities and sometimes they serve an excellent service for a person:

During a period of stress, the human body produces the hormone adrenaline, which makes it look for a way out of this situation and take any action;

Stress motivates to build relationships with others, while increasing blood levels of oxytocin, called the hormone of attachment;

If the stressful state is short-lived, then it can improve working memory, which is used by a person to solve various tasks;

Overcoming stressful situations, a person becomes more resilient.

Thus, the effect of stress on the human body is ambiguous, but if to be objective, then, of course, there are more negative consequences of this condition than positive ones. Therefore, you should always be positive, not take everything to heart, have a good rest and thereby avoid stress in any of its manifestations.

Stress prevention methods.

There are four main methods of stress prevention through autoregulation: relaxation, anti-stress “rework” of the day, first aid for acute stress, and personal stress autoanalysis. The use of these methods is available to everyone, if necessary.

Relaxation is a method by which you can partially or completely get rid of physical or mental stress. Relaxation is very useful method, since it is quite easy to master it - this does not require special education and even a natural gift. But there is one indispensable condition - motivation, i.e. everyone needs to know why they want to learn relaxation.

Very often, when returning home, people transfer their work activity, excitement to the family. What do you need to get rid of your daytime impressions and, having crossed the threshold of the house, not to take out your bad mood on your family? After all, in this way we bring home stress, and the fault lies in our inability to let go of the impressions accumulated during the day. First of all, you need to establish a good tradition: after returning home from work or school, immediately relax.

1. Sit in a chair, relax and rest in peace. Alternatively, sit comfortably in a chair and take a relaxing “coachman pose”.

2. Make yourself some strong tea or coffee. Stretch them for 10 minutes, try not to think about anything serious during this period of time.

3. Listen to your favorite music. Enjoy these wonderful moments. Try to completely immerse yourself in the music, disconnecting from your thoughts.

4. If your loved ones are at home, have tea or coffee with them and have a quiet conversation about something. Do not solve your problems immediately upon returning home: in a state of fatigue, weakness, it is very difficult, and sometimes impossible. You can find a way out of the deadlock after a little time has passed and the stress of the working day subsides.

5. Fill the bathtub with not very hot water and soak in it. In the bath, do soothing breathing exercises... Inhale deeply through pursed lips, lower your lower face and nose into the water, and exhale very slowly. Try to exhale as long as possible (breathing out with resistance). Imagine that with each exhalation, the total tension accumulated during the day gradually decreases.

6. Take a walk in the fresh air.

7. Put on a tracksuit, running shoes and run for these 10 minutes.

It is very important that the initiative for such “alterations” of the day comes from ourselves. We need to warn our loved ones that in this short period of time we forget about our household duties and try to spend these 10 minutes with them. With a fresh mind, solving all household problems will require much less nervous and physical energy.

Ways to deal with stress.

Any average person is interested in what to do under stress and how to resist negative external influences.

Among the main methods for relieving stress are:

relaxation;

meditation;

breathing techniques;

muscle relaxation;

visualization.

The relaxation method has a rather long-lasting relaxing effect. To do this, you need to mentally relax, leave all business and problems "outside the door." Having taken a lying position, we spread our legs to the sides, so that the toes of the feet are turned towards each other. We take our hands to the sides and take a deep breath, then exhale, lasting 5-7 seconds. Gradually imagine how the body relaxes from legs to knees, from pelvis to chest, from shoulders to head. Moreover, you need to relax so that there is a feeling of weightlessness. Taking deep breaths and long exhalations,

The best stress reliever is meditation. This method is good because it has a calming and relaxing effect on the nervous system. For meditation, you need to sit in a comfortable position, relax your muscles, taking a deep breath in and out, imagine beautiful landscape or your favorite vacation spot. It doesn't matter what image or place a person represents, the main thing is that the picture evokes positive emotions.

Breathing techniques are considered one of the better means from stress. Breathing control helps to regain control and reduce anxiety in an emergency. You need to perform breathing exercises either standing or lying down, for the full functioning of the lungs and diaphragm. Probably, everyone noticed that in a stressful situation the breathing rhythm changes, thus, by regulating the respiratory process, one can successfully resist stress. With prolonged exhalation, the body relaxes and the nervous system calms down. The correct rhythm of air regulation, a slow pace of inhalation and exhalation provides effective relaxation.

Muscle tension causes discomfort in the body and exacerbates the negative effects of external stimuli. Muscle clamps, the places of greatest tension, block the energy potential of the body. A person who is constantly exposed to stress has a hunched posture, while walking, his shoulders and hands are squeezed. There are several techniques for muscle relaxation:

relaxation according to Jacobson;

muscle relaxation according to Jackson.

Muscle relaxation according to Jacobson is carried out in a sitting position. It is necessary to completely relax all the muscles of the body, feeling weightlessness and lightness in the joints and limbs. Closing his eyes, a person alternately relaxes and tense muscle groups, starting with the head and ending with the feet.

American psychologist E. Jacobson proposed his own relaxation technique. To do this, you need to alternately tense and relax your muscles, focusing on relaxation. First, the dominant parts of the body are tense, for example, in a left-hander, the left side is dominant. In total, the scientist identified 16 main muscle groups, the effective relaxation of which helps to get rid of accumulated negative emotions and stress.

One of effective ways coping with stress is considered a visualization technique. Many psychologists advise, with prolonged emotional stress, to take a sheet of paper, state the essence of a personal problem on it (or depict it in the form of a picture) and burn it, visualizing that the internal tension goes away with the smoke. This, at first glance, simple technique makes it possible to displace the accumulated negative with the help of visualization. When visualizing, you can present pleasant images, remember funny events, the main thing is that thoughts have a positive coloring.

The popular American method of "screaming into space" helps many people to get rid of accumulated stress. Foreign psychologists believe that by splashing out the negative with the help of a cry, you can quickly get rid of emotional stress and calm down. The scream can be accompanied by physical manipulations, such as smashing dishes or hitting a punching bag, so the accumulated negative is fully poured out.

Tension and stress can completely destroy our health and well-being. Stress can completely change a person, both internally and externally, if we allow it. Dealing with daily stress can cause illness. But fighting against tragic situations can cause death.

This is vital and must be removed in every possible way. nervous tension and stress. This should become a daily routine for you, just like brushing your teeth, for example. Give yourself some rest and take "breaks" from time to time. Spend five or ten minutes doing something that you love, enjoyable, that will help you relax, especially while you are working. But also take longer breaks. Relaxation and pleasure should be a priority in your life; family picnics, reading, music, sports competitions, and so on - this is what you need. The possibilities are endless, and you will also bring tremendous benefits to your health. And if your whole family also takes part in recreation and entertainment with you, then everyone benefits for themselves from these pleasant events spent together!

Once again, find ways to relax. Get away from the drudgery of daily life and use the extracted energy to your advantage. You can never completely get rid of stress and nervous tension, but you can definitely relieve this burden. Taking precautions can alleviate the negative effects of stress and nervous tension on your body, your health, and your well-being.

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How stress affects physical and psychological health

Stress affects more than just mental health human, it has an impact on the physical level, often causing irreversible changes in tissues, organs, systems.

How stress affects the skin

During stress, the skin suffers. This is due to the fact that with constant tension, the muscles contract, the skin loses its elasticity and firmness. High levels of cortisol and adrenaline also affect her.

Cortisol causes blood sugar to rise and changes the properties of collagen. This leads to an increase in dryness of the outer cover and the appearance of wrinkles. It reduces the production of hyaluronic acid, which disrupts the natural barrier that inhibits evaporation of moisture, and increases the sensitivity of the outer cover. Stretch marks appear, the skin becomes thinner, becomes more vulnerable and susceptible to infection and inflammation. The increased synthesis of fats triggered by cortisol leads to the accumulation of subcutaneous deposits.
Adrenaline causes spasm of capillaries, deterioration of blood circulation, decreased nutrition and respiration of the skin. She becomes pale, with a yellow tinge. A sharp expansion of blood vessels activates the appearance of red spots. Disorders in the intestines affect the condition skin, acne and rashes appear (the intestines produce large amounts of histamines).

Under stress, the body takes most of the nutrients from the skin, directing them to the more important, in its opinion, organs. As a result, its protective functions are weakened. One more problem is added to the physiological problem - the psychological one. A person in this state ceases to take care of himself, neglects hygiene, which further exacerbates the situation.

How it affects the brain

Stress negatively affects the entire body. In particular, the brain suffers from prolonged exposure to stressors. Constant overload, lack of sleep, conflicts affect the structure, size and functioning of this most important organ. When determining the situation as stressful, the brain gives the command to produce cortisol, it brings the body into combat readiness.

But at the same time, only the ability to act increases, and not mental activity. Thus, one can explain activity in a state of passion, when a person is not aware of what he is doing. Long-term work of this hormone affects the fear center of the brain, which provokes a state of increased anxiety. And any situation, even an insignificant one, is perceived as a serious threat.

Cortisol destroys the neural connections in the hippocampus that are responsible for controlling emotions, memory, and learning ability. A person becomes easily excitable, forgets about his actions and words uttered a few minutes ago. The control of the release of hormones from the corticosteroid group is impaired, which increases the risk of developing panic attacks.

Changes in synoptic connections between neurons lead to impaired concentration and weakening of social interaction. The effect of cortisol on the brain's pleasure center increases its sensitivity to dopamine, the pleasure hormone. This provokes a person's dependence on different people, situations, active substances.

The cardiovascular system

Considering stress and its effect on a person, one cannot ignore its effect on the cardiovascular system. Nervous strain accelerates the development of atherosclerosis. This is due to the fact that during a period of severe stress, adrenaline is produced, causing frustration, hostility, anger. Such emotions destroy the body from the inside.

Chronic stress provokes a person's infatuation bad habits, which directly affects health, increasing the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases. When stress is seized, the body weight increases, the level of cholesterol in the blood rises, as a result of which the load on the heart and blood vessels increases.

Short, rapid stresses can lead to a jump in blood pressure, a change in heart rate, which increases the risk of a sudden attack, up to a critical state.

Gastrointestinal tract

Stress and digestion are intertwined. The hormones produced in this condition cause the following changes in the gastrointestinal tract:

esophageal spasms;
increased acidity;
nausea;
bowel problems (constipation, diarrhea);
increased risk of developing infections;
irritable bowel syndrome;
the development of peptic ulcer.

The function of the hormone corticotropin-releasing is to suppress appetite during overexertion. This explains why some people cannot eat during this period and lose weight. But steroids also cause the opposite effect - many nervous tension is relieved by high-calorie foods. In any case, the gastrointestinal tract suffers.

Bladder

The response to stress from the genitourinary system is inflammation. Possible problems such as:

cystitis on a nervous basis,
bladder neurosis,
nocturnal incontinence.

How stress affects the conduct of your professional life

Occupational stress is currently the most widespread. Special attention paid to such an issue as the impact of stress on the teacher, since the main negative consequence of this phenomenon is the classic burnout. Not only the employee suffers from this, but also those around him, including the employer.

It leads most often to the appearance of chronic fatigue and decreased performance. The main signs of overwork are:

repeated mistakes;
daytime sleepiness;
dizziness, tinnitus;
pain and pain in the eyes;
confusion of thoughts, inability to concentrate;
lack of desire to do anything.

Occupational stress can be associated with a violation of working conditions. The reasons for its appearance are considered uncomfortable workplace and harmful production. Physiological reasons include non-standard office work schedules, a violation in the diet. The impact is exerted by socio-psychological factors - congestion, conflict situations, not well-established relationships in the team.

Professional stress can be caused by: unclear vision of their duties or monotony at work, too fast pace and tight deadlines for completing tasks. There are two more types of stress at work - work stress and coordination stress. In the first case, a person may not be satisfied with a profession or type of activity. Organizational stress is caused by rejection of the daily routine and requirements.

Academic stress

The human brain changes under the influence of stress, problems begin with the assimilation of material and memorization. Stress has a negative effect on mental activity, a person loses the ability to concentrate on absorbing information. This mechanism, which is important in critical situations, interferes with the full assimilation of the material.

It is worth noting that stress negatively affects students regardless of their age. Most often, this problem is faced by children and adolescents living in dysfunctional families whose parents are alcohol abusers, drug addicts or have mental health problems.

What explains the positive effects of stress on the body

The impact of stress on human health can also be positive. Oddly enough, but short-term shakes activate nerve cells, allowing the brain to work in an enhanced mode. In this state, working memory increases, a person becomes able to get out of a conflict situation with the least loss.

The activation of reserve energy and the emergence of new forces and motivation allow you to achieve goals, overcome difficulties, and increase the overall endurance of the body. The ability to analyze and concentration of attention are sharpened. This is all called active stress response. It is important that the impact of stressors is not prolonged, otherwise an increase in emotional tone will be followed by a decrease in vital energy.

Effects of stress on a woman's body

The negative impact of this condition on the female body is especially dangerous. Finding themselves in difficult life situations, the fair sex can detect violations of gynecological health. The effect of stress on menstruation is manifested in the fact that the regularity or duration of bleeding is lost, pain occurs. Problems in the intimate sphere may appear.

Changes can manifest themselves even with a slight deviation from the usual way of life. Their appearance is influenced by various factors: maintaining a diet, increasing physical activity, weight changes. The strongest stressors for the fairer sex are pregnancy, childbirth, miscarriage, abortion - all this can affect women's health.

How to deal with the consequences

The negative effects of stress are easier to prevent, so learning to control yourself is important. To do this, you need to master several techniques that allow you to normalize the psychoemotional state. You should definitely release the accumulated negative, work on your breathing, restore its normal rhythm. Reducing the harmful effects of stress on the body can be done with the help of the power of art.

You can and should deal with stress without aggravating the situation or losing your good humor. This will help maintain health and social connections, as well as the feeling that a person is the full owner of his life!

"All diseases are from the nerves!" - this expression is often heard. Is this reality or an exaggeration? And what are the diseases from the nerves? The impact of stress on the human body and health is very great. Due to problems in the family or at work, a stomach ulcer can open, the heart begins to ache, blood pressure rises, and a rash appears on the skin. All these diseases can be treated separately by a gastroenterologist, a cardiologist, or a dermatologist. But when you remember the problem, everything is repeated again. Why is this happening?

The fact is that the human brain is designed like a perfect computer, and it receives information through the eyes, ears, skin, etc. The brain is very sensitive to any word, but a rude word causes a whole storm in the body. In response to psychological stress, the central nervous system emits biologically active substances, for example, histamine, which causes stomach ulcers. If a person is constantly nervous, then the nervous system wears out and gives the wrong signals to other systems and organs.

Consider how stress affects metabolic processes and excess weight. Any situation that causes strong negative emotions can become the cause of stress. Stress can be short-term and long-term (chronic). With short-term stress, the central nervous system sends signals, as a result, defense mechanisms helping the body to cope with critical situation... The heartbeat increases, blood flow to the muscles increases and decreases to digestive tract... At the same time, adrenaline is produced, which stimulates the flow of glucose into the blood, and a large amount of energy. Muscles are strongly tense for active actions: for defense, attack or flight.

After a stressful situation, the body's energy reserves are depleted, the glucose level in the blood decreases, a feeling of hunger appears, the body recovers. This mechanism is triggered by short-term stress, and if a person copes with it, then he does not exert further influence to health.

And if stress is less intense, but persists for a longer time (chronic stress), then what effect does it have on the human body? When a dangerous situation arises that requires constant voltage, the central nervous system also triggers a defense mechanism. The adrenal glands produce a large amount of the hormone cortisol (stress hormone), which increases blood glucose levels, which in turn creates a large amount of energy. But a person, as a rule, does not perform active actions during chronic stress and does not expend a lot of energy. As a result, excess glucose with increased cortisol content is synthesized into fat molecules. During chronic stress, carbohydrates are consumed faster, and a person is more likely to feel hungry. The need for food gradually increases, and body weight begins to increase every day. Therefore, during stress, the body can accumulate fat, excess weight appears. If chronic stress is not eliminated, then chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, insomnia, and headaches develop further.

How to reduce stress? What should be done to promptly eliminate, prevent or reduce the impact of stress on health? Scientists have found that regular physical exercise help the brain rewire itself to respond more easily to stress. During or after intense exercise, the exercising person may experience a feeling of euphoria, which is the prevention of stress. Physical activity and physical activity reduce the negative effects of stress on the cardiovascular system. People leading a sedentary lifestyle and engaged in intense mental work experience intellectual signs of stress: increased heart rate (up to 150 beats / min), increased blood pressure.

How to recover from stress?

1.Regular physical exercise, including power loads on simulators, they restore the functional systems of the body after stress.

2.Healthy, full sleep enables the brain to rest and recover. Many hormones are produced during sleep.

4.Joint rest with close people and friends - hiking in nature, to the cinema, etc.

The effect of stress on human health is very well studied by scientists. This is primarily manifested in the development of many stress-dependent diseases of internal organs:

coronary heart disease,
atherosclerosis,
hypertension,
diabetes mellitus,
peptic ulcer,
bronchial asthma,
neuroses, etc.

Nervous stress can affect a person's health in the following ways:

can play the role of a leading disease-causing factor and lead to diseases that are related to, in particular to;
can participate in the emergence and development of somatic disorders as one of several different external and internal factors that have a disease-causing effect on the body;
various mental factors can adversely affect the course of any disease.

In addition to the nature of the provoking factor itself, it is worth mentioning the factors that affect the severity and nature of pathological reactions. These include three characteristics:

stressful event;
an individual under stress;
social environment.

Stress and heart disease

Coronary heart disease

The most studied influence of stress on the occurrence and development of coronary heart disease - the main enemy of human health. According to the American cardiologist G.I. Rasseka, 91% of 100 patients with coronary heart disease under the age of 40 were exposed to prolonged emotional stress associated with increased responsibility at work, compared with 20% in the control group of healthy individuals. Besides:

70% of patients with coronary heart disease,
lack of physical activity was present in 58%,
excess fat intake - in 53%,
- at 26%,
hereditary predisposition to coronary heart disease - in 67%.

Of the neuropsychic factors contributing to the onset and progression of coronary heart disease, the main characteristics are social status patients and their changes, excessive nervous stress (overload at work, chronic conflict situations, life changes). The way of individual response to various external and internal problems is extremely important for the onset and progression of coronary heart disease, including:

dissatisfaction with life
sense of anxiety,
depression
neurotic disorders
emotional exhaustion
insomnia.

In addition, the individual style of external expression with manifestations of aggressiveness, rivalry, irritability, and haste is important. Type A behavior especially predisposes to coronary artery disease (read). Type A behavior increases the risk of coronary heart disease by about 60%, according to some reports.

The mechanisms of the damaging effect of stress on the heart muscle with the development of coronary heart disease are currently well understood (scheme above). Among them, the most important are:

atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries,
non-coronary adrenergic myocardial injury,
increased blood clotting,
coronary thrombosis,
decrease in myocardial resistance to hypoxia and ischemia, etc.

Atherosclerosis

Prolonged tension of the central nervous system and, as a result, stress can contribute to the development of atherosclerosis of the coronary arteries of the heart and other vessels.

This was evidenced by the report of the Czech doctor F. Blag, which appeared in print in 1958. During the Second World War, a prisoner of the Dachau concentration camp, he performed several thousand postmortem autopsies of deceased prisoners and found that many of them, even under the age of 30, had pronounced signs of atherosclerosis. It was found that the severity of atherosclerosis was directly proportional to the length of time people spent in the camp. At the same time, the daily ration of the prisoners contained no more than 5 grams of fat.

Mechanisms for the development of atherosclerosis

Taking into account the experimental and clinical data, the main mechanisms of the development of neurogenic atherosclerosis can be presented as follows.

Psychoemotional stress is accompanied by the activation of the pituitary-adrenal and sympathoadrenal systems, which leads to the occurrence of hyperlipidemia. With the termination of nervous excitement or with prolonged excitement, the level of 11-hydroxycorticosteroids in the blood decreases, which causes the development of pathological permeability of the arterial walls and the deposition of blood plasma lipids in them.

At the same time, it should be noted that positive ones in an experiment on animals do not lead to the development of atherosclerosis.

Stress and pressure

Negative impact proven many times over psycho-emotional stress on the occurrence and course of hypertension. A long-term increase in blood pressure was noted after stress, namely:

after prolonged psycho-emotional stress,
after participating in hostilities,
with the threat of unemployment,
in the face of prolonged and excessive demands for information processing.

Numerous studies have indicated a clear predominance of high blood pressure in the population of large industrial centers compared to the countryside. People who moved to big cities from countryside have problems with blood pressure as often and even more often than locals, and they often need an appointment.

There is data on the highest prevalence of hypertension among managers and administrative workers, engineering and technical personnel, researchers... Great importance in the occurrence of hypertension is attached to the nature of the relationship between family members and the environment in the team. According to various researchers, in 64-88% of those suffering from high blood pressure before the onset of hypertension, significant stresses of psychoemotional genesis were noted.

All these examples indicate that psychoemotional loads associated with an abundance of information, a large number of interpersonal contacts, and especially with a change in life stereotypes, for a significant part of people, primarily those with a hereditary predisposition to hypertension, do not pass without leaving a trace. They end with the appearance and progression of an increase in blood pressure.

Stress and diabetes

Nervous stress, leading to the activation of the pituitary gland, cortex and medulla of the adrenal glands, thus affects the state of human health, which contributes to an increase in blood sugar levels. This stimulates the pancreas, which in some people may be accompanied by a depletion of its functionality, namely a deficiency, and ultimately - the development of diabetes mellitus. The diagram above shows the main stages in the development of diabetes mellitus under the influence of nervous stress.

The role of stress in the onset and progression of neurotic disorders, in particular neuroses, is especially important. As a result of one of the studies, it was found that the prevalence of neurosis is 11.5%, including among women - 17.2%, among men - 5.7%. Neurotic disorders were more often observed in urban residents (15.4%) and less often in representatives of the rural group (7.3%). The ubiquitous trend towards an increase in the frequency of neuroses in the process of urbanization is due to personal and social factors, which are characterized by an increase in psycho-emotional tension.

in 56% of the surveyed, the disease is associated with family and domestic psychotraumas,

32% - with industrial conflicts,

12% - with intense mental work and overexertion.

Additional factors have a significant impact on the occurrence of neuroses:

type of higher nervous activity,
violation of biorhythms,
many others, asthenizing the nervous system.

IN last years work began to appear linking the occurrence of oncological diseases, in particular cancer, from stress. In experiments on animals, the influence of the emotional status of a person on genetic variability was found.

Neuropsychic stress in the body causes a sharp change in hormonal status, in particular an increase in the level of corticosteroids. In a number of experiments, it was shown that these hormones cause inhibition of replication and repair DNA synthesis, as well as fragmentation of chromatin in somatic cells, which is mediated by the action of hormones. Stress can lead to increased mutation rates and, as a result, cancer.

Stress seems to act as a link between the environment and the genetic apparatus. Drastic changes environment, causing neuropsychic stress in humans, ultimately lead to a redistribution of recombination events, the appearance of offspring with an altered spectrum of combinational variability. Thus, the environment through a stress response generates variability in the offspring of individuals who do not have individual adaptation to it. Stress can significantly affect the identification of hidden genetic diversity and modulate recombination and mutation processes. This original hypothesis complements our understanding of evolutionary development. The above data on the influence of neuropsychic stress on genetic variability to a large extent substantiate the previously expressed opinion about the possibility of cancer development under the influence of stress.