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Stress resistance is a system of personal qualities that help a person to endure the effects of stressors with calmness, without harmful results for the individual, his body, personality, environment. The concept of stress was introduced by G. Selye, and he designated the state of internal tension, which is caused by the activity of the individual in difficult conditions. Depending on the degree of severity, stress can affect the activity of the individual in a positive way or negatively.

What is stress tolerance? This is the ability to withstand psychological stress and not obey negative feelings that would be displayed on others. Psychological stress resistance refers to the ability to restrain a negative reaction to stress, and calmly endure stressful loads. In a stress-resistant individual, stress ends in a natural way, by restoring the body's resources.

The body of a non-stress-resistant individual reacts to psychological problems with psychosomatics, and often people misinterpret diseases of the body, considering them organic. If a person is ill for a long time and is terminally ill, it is worth applying psychological intervention.

Stress resistance of a high-level organism provides an individual with the ability to maintain a state of inner peace in a critical situation, helps to maintain optimism, joy, promotes the adoption of correct, adequate decisions and effective behavior, not allowing to violate the boundaries of the personality and maintain personal psychological emotional integrity.

The stress resistance of the organism of a low degree makes the personality vulnerable, leads to a rupture of its personal boundaries, destruction psycho-emotional state and various diseases. An individual with weak stress resistance cannot control himself completely, he weakens energetically, his behavior is ineffective. The formation of stress resistance can occur regardless of the current age, so everyone should direct their efforts to the development of stress resistance.

Stress resistance of the individual

To define this concept, you must first understand what stress is. The stress resistance of the body determines the ability of a person to withstand stressful situations without bad consequences for his activities and others. Often a person determines whether he is stress-resistant, taking into account external indicators. So, they believe that if he demonstrates all his experiences, splashing out on others negative emotions- it means that he is not stress-resistant, and gives in to stress. If a person is restrained, calm, cheerful, then he is stress-resistant.

Such a classification of stress resistance by observation is very erroneous. The fact that an individual does not express his negativity in front of others at the time of the action of a stress factor does not indicate that internally he does not experience depression or a feeling of oppression at all. This communicates the ability to be tactful, while playing a role well. However, this person harms his own psyche, because he closes the stress, does not give exits and risks being subjected to internal destructive factors. must find a way out, but only in the right way.

According to modern research, psychological stress resistance is a characteristic of a person, which consists of several components:

Psychophysiological (characteristic nervous system),

Volitional (conscious self-regulation of actions, regarding the situation),

Motivational (the strength of motives determines emotional stability),

Emotional (personal experience accumulated from experienced negative influences of situations),

Intellectual (analysis of the situation and adoption of the correct course of action).

Psychological resistance to stress is determined by the subjective characteristics and motivational system of the individual. People show different reactions to critical situations: anxiety, arousal or. However, there are people who are resilient and able to control emotions. Such individuals can mobilize internal reserves and overcome the situation without negative consequences for them, but these people are very few.

In the world of stress-resistant people, there are about 30%. If not everyone has stress resistance, then people in such professions as firefighters, policemen or the military should work to increase stress resistance, their lives and the lives of others directly depend on it.

The development of stress resistance should be carried out by each person in order to make the body resilient and not allow external negative factors to weaken it.

Increasing stress resistance helps a person:

At work, perform the assigned task under stressful conditions; with external distractions (poor lighting, noise, cold); with the psychological pressure of people around (threats from superiors, distraction by colleagues, supervisory control);

Stand out among others as a balanced and thoughtful person;

Do not respond to criticism, insults, provocations or gossip of others;

It is easy to find a way out in an acute situation.

How to improve stress resistance

The development of stress resistance is necessary for each individual, since negative stresses have a destructive effect on the psyche. Increasing stress resistance allows you to be a more confident person, to maintain physical health. Chronic diseases very often begin precisely from chronic stress. Endurance and composure help to make the right and swift decisions in tense situations. Stress-resistant employees are highly valued by employers. Some employers even test their employees for stress tolerance.

The formation of stress resistance consists of several factors.

Increasing the professional level will increase a person's confidence, strengthen his knowledge, and accordingly ensure psychological endurance in the workplace. V incomprehensible situation you need to weigh every word, this helps not to react sharply to everything at once and to remain patient. Walks in the fresh air, field trips, playing sports contribute to the development of this quality. Also, in order to form stress resistance, you need to master breathing techniques and massage lessons, relax with the right and in healthy ways. You should do self-organization, ordering things helps to streamline wandering thoughts. When doing things, you need to concentrate on doing it. It is important to study the relevant psychological literature for the development of stress tolerance.

Exercises to help you relax creative activity. Active rest should be alternated with passive. To know how to behave in a stressful situation, you need to observe the behavior of others, see how they express their stress resistance and learn from their experience. It is also worth analyzing all stressful circumstances and soberly analyze each case, listen to your own inner voice.

A positive attitude will help to increase stress resistance, it forms positive thinking. Everyone's life is filled with many problems, but no difficulties should interfere with a full life and the ability to enjoy it. It is required to throw out unnecessary and insignificant problems from thoughts, think more about joyful life moments and solve difficulties as they come. Sometimes people mistakenly believe that if they think about difficulties all the time, they will resolve themselves faster, but they will not really resolve themselves, but they will undermine their health.

To increase stress resistance, you need to try to change your attitude to everything that happens. For example, if a person cannot really influence the current situation, then it is worth trying to look at certain things in a different way, much easier.

It is necessary to learn to let go of unnecessary emotions, from holding them in oneself, the individual does not become stronger, on the contrary, it exhausts him. It is important to regularly, in an adequate way, release emotions. A good way to splash out emotions and increase stress resistance is physical activity, long walks, dancing, climbing mountains, etc. Thus, negative emotions are released with negative experiences, turning into positive ones, and this will also provide pleasure.

A person should periodically fully rest. If the rhythm of life is tense, and a person sleeps little, and does not even allow himself to relax a little, then his body will begin to function for wear and tear, this should not be allowed, otherwise the body's stress resistance will become minimal, and its protective function will cease to function altogether. To prevent this from happening, you should give the body a rest. It is necessary to go to bed earlier than the usual time, before taking a fragrant bath and drinking tea with lemon balm. So, a person will be able to sleep well, the body will resume a little, stress resistance will increase.

Since stress resistance is associated with the activity of the nervous system, it means that you need to support it by taking vitamins D and B, and getting a full amount of potassium and magnesium. In order not to have to take multivitamin preparations, it is best to balance the diet, in which all useful substances will be present.

Classical music helps to relax many people, but on the contrary, it annoys some people, then you can listen to the sounds of nature and do yoga or meditation under them in a room filled with fresh air, hidden from extraneous noise.

To improve stress tolerance, it is advisable to make time for enjoyable activities, even when they do not bring immediate benefits. If the life of a person is mainly work duties, then it is difficult for the body to withstand stress. Doing something you love one day a week can help

You don't always have to think about what others will say, how they look at you, what they think. You can’t please everyone, the main thing is to please yourself and surround yourself with people who love you, that’s enough. And thinking about what others think is an extra stress factor that a person creates for himself. It is worth acting according to one's own convictions and conscience, adhering to moral ethics, then thoughts, how it will be perceived by everyone around, will not worry.

The key to good stress resistance - correct placement priorities. The most urgent and urgent things should be done first, minor and less significant things can wait. You need to rely on personal strength and take on the array of work that you can do. When a person starts several things at once at the same time, and does not have time to finish a single one, he falls into, of course, the stress resistance of such a person tends to zero.

Children can inherit stress tolerance from their parents when they are brought up. Such children will be able to stand up for themselves, respond with surrender in a showdown, and not fuss when trying to provoke them. Such children then grow up and become successful leaders whom no one can frighten with their intrigues or threats.

The sense of self-importance and confidence of such people is so high that they do not even take threats seriously, do not succumb to provocations. In the thoughts of a stress-resistant person there is no place for fear, he will not be able to spoil the mood or distract him from the main business. A stress-resistant person confidently and cheerfully goes to the goal, this is his lifestyle.

If an individual needs to immediately protect himself from a negative stimulus, he can use breathing practice. For and stress resistance in situations where physical activity is limited, special breathing is suitable. In a stressful situation, a person's breathing becomes labored and shallow, as the muscles of the abdomen and chest tense up. It is necessary to control your breathing, take deep and conscious breaths and slow exhalations, so as to relax the stomach as much as possible, repeat this several times until the pulse and calm breathing are restored.

In this article, we will tell you about stress. About what it is that starts its mechanism. We will also consider such a concept as stress tolerance, what it is and what to do if stress has come into your life.

The term “stress” has entered our lives very tightly, but as it is introduced, it is not always applied to the place, for example, one cannot simply call the stress experienced by a person stress.

Let's take a closer look at this phenomenon and figure out what is behind this concept.

So, stress is an adaptive reaction of the body, which is expressed in increased anxiety, decline vitality, suspended voltage. The stress response includes both physiological and psychological components.

Through stress, the body puts itself in a state of readiness for adaptation to new living conditions and protection.

Contrary to popular belief, stress can be not only negative, but also very beneficial. Through moderate exposure to stress, for example, you can improve your adaptability to the effects of certain factors. Thus, dosed stress can have a pronounced training effect. It should be understood that weak impacts do not lead to stress. Stress occurs only when the influence of one or another factor (stressor) is large enough and exceeds the adaptive capacity. In the case of the training effect of stress, the impact of the stressor should exceed these possibilities only slightly.

The positive effect of dosed stress can be manifested in the improvement of a number of psychological and physiological properties:

1. Improving attention and intellectual performance. A person is more focused, his attention is more stable.
2. Improved interest. A person is more motivated and interested in achieving the goal.
3. Since moderate stress releases endorphins (pleasure hormone), a person under its influence can experience the "joy of action".

Under stress, the hormones adrenaline, cortisol, and prolactin begin to enter the bloodstream. As a result of their action, the mode of operation of the whole organism is completely changed. Protective functions increase, heartbeat and pulse quicken, blood clotting increases. Thus, the body prepares for the struggle for survival.

Types of stressors.

stressors - unfavorable external and internal influences, significant in strength and duration, leading to the emergence of stressful conditions.

Factors that cause stress are divided into physiological and psychological.

Physiological - physical activity, pain, temperature changes (heat, cold), hunger, ionizing radiation, many pharmacological effects.

Psychological - choice and decision-making, responsibility, resentment, guilt, conflict situation, approaching danger.

Stressors are also real and probable.
At the same time, the strength of the impact of probable stressors (assumed as a probability, but not yet existing at the moment) can be no less, and in some cases more, than from real stressors. For example, collisions with something that we cannot control or with which we are supposed to be unable to cope.

Types of stress.

There are the following types of stress:

Eustress training, positive stress. Thanks to its influence, the adaptation resource of the body is trained, as well as the growth of many parameters to which the stressor is directed. For example, by stimulating muscles with work, we can cause them to grow, increase endurance and strength.

Distress - negative stress, leading to the destruction of the body. Under the influence of this type of stress, the body becomes more vulnerable to the effects of the stressor, the body weakens. Under the influence of this type of stress, immunity decreases, the risk of various diseases increases.

Psychological stress. The most dangerous and destructive for our body are stresses caused by psychological stressors.
Psychological stresses are of the following types:

Informational- arise in conditions of information overload, which is not uncommon in our time, and although the human brain is designed in such a way that it can work with very large amounts of information, the overstrain stage can still occur. As a result, we can observe a deterioration in attention and perception, a deterioration in the ability to draw logical conclusions, the ability to imagine is also lost, and the sharpness of thought decreases.

emotional- are the result of emotional processes going hand in hand with stress. A person reacts to emotions primarily with his body, because in the process of experiencing emotions, the autonomic nervous system and the endocrine component that regulates its work begin to act. Repeated repetition of vegetative stimulation can lead to disturbances in the functioning of the body and various psychosomatic phenomena.

stages of stress.

There are several stages of stress:

1. The alarm stage lasts from several hours to two days. It includes two phases: the phase of shock and anti-shock. At the latter, the body's defense reactions are mobilized.
2. resistance stage. At this stage, resistance to the effects of the stressor increases. This stage leads either to stabilization of the condition and recovery, or is replaced by the last stage.
3. Exhaustion stage - at this stage, the adaptive resources of the body are depleted. In the most advanced cases, this stage can end in the death of the organism.

Prevention of stress and education of stress resistance.

First of all, let's talk about stress prevention measures. In fact, its prevention is the basis of stress resistance.

Stress resistance is a set of personality traits that allow a person to experience stress with minimal devastating consequences for the body and psyche (both one's own and the psyche of the surrounding people).

There is a misconception that this is some combination of internal callousness, rudeness and insensitivity. Some people even try to work on themselves, moving in this direction (it is said that some even succeed on this path). The question is, would anyone want to deal with a person with such an arsenal of qualities?

It is important to understand that stress resistance is not the ability to endure stress for a long time and not insensitivity, but, above all, the ability to make the right decisions and make the right choices in order to reduce its impact.

Take a look at the first two items in the list below.

1. The most important! Learn to feel and regulate stress (physical, mental, mental, etc.). Try not to overwork and take time off.
2. Very important! The human nervous system is designed in such a way that it is not adapted to withstand prolonged exposure to stressors. Therefore, feeling the impact of any stress factor, firstly, you must determine it, and secondly, take measures to eliminate it or reduce its effect. Do not try to reduce stress with meditation, breathing exercises and other options below. These methods are not useless, but first of all they help to bring oneself into a state of balance and harmony after the stressor is localized and a competent decision is made regarding it, reducing its impact or minimizing it. Therefore, first of all, think about how to reduce the impact of the stressor.
3. Some people are less stressed than others. If we consider their way of life and thinking, then they can distinguish the following personality traits that distinguish them from others:

• positive thinking
• sense of humor
• love for life and gratitude for having it
• focus on the good that is in their lives and a grateful attitude to fate for what they have

All these aspects are the keys to positive resource states, which can significantly increase the adaptive capabilities of the body and psyche.

1. Physical activity - allows you to burn the remnants of stress hormones, which primarily have a natural focus on fight or flight, i.e. physical activity. Therefore, intense physical activity allows them to be used for their intended purpose. In addition, reasonable physical activity contributes to the production of endorphins (pleasure hormones), which can significantly improve your psychological state and mood.
2. The ability to relax - can allow to some extent to deal with the effects of stress on the body. You can use autogenic training for this, you can do yoga nidra, you can just take a relaxing bath or go for a walk.
3. Breathing exercises. Tai chi, qigong. Breathing and movement are functions that we can control absolutely. When we breathe slowly and deeply, we come into a state of calm, at this moment we kind of involve all our attention in this process. The same applies to finely coordinated movement, at the moment of implementation of which we are fully involved in the process of its implementation (look at the records of the implementation of tai chi exercise complexes). The combination of breathing practice and motor practice is especially effective. This compound promotes independent psychoregulation and leads a person to a state of inner harmony and bodily integrity, which in turn eliminates all the consequences of stress, erasing them from both consciousness and muscle memory.
4. Hobbies and creativity. Creativity can be a powerful healing factor. In order to create something that is not yet in this world, a person plunges into a holistic state of the psyche, which literally heals and cures him of stress. Creativity is an additional or even the main method in the treatment of many mental disorders (I recommend reading the books of the great psychiatrist-psychotherapist Mark Evgenievich Burno).

This concludes this article. I wish you health and only positive effects of stress!

Sincerely.
Psychologist of the Center for Family Help "Family Energy"
Alkhimenko Ilya Alexandrovich.

Bibliography.

1. Malkina-Pykh I.G. Psychosomatics and endocrine diseases. Why are you sick? - St. Petersburg: BHV-Petersburg, 2005. - 160 p.: ill.
2. Big psychological dictionary / ed. B. G. Meshcheryakova, V. P. Zinchenko. - 3rd ed., add. and reworked. - St. Petersburg,: PRIME-EUROZNAK, 2006. - 672 p. — (Large University Library).
3. Selye G. Stress without distress. - Moscow, Progress, 1982. - 125 p.

How often in a resume you can find a beautiful concept: “stress-resistant”. However, in reality, not everyone can cope with the problems and difficulties that arise in life. Low stress resistance threatens with nervous breakdowns and a depressive state. In order to get rid of negative consequences stress, you must always be ready for them. But how to do it in practice?

Why stress is dangerous

In fact, stress does not always have only a negative effect on the body. "Mild" stresses, on the contrary, are even useful - they mobilize all the forces of the body, forcing the brain to work faster, activating the defense mechanism. If stress is not a constant phenomenon of life, then sudden stressful situations train the psyche, help to cope with complex tasks that arise one way or another every day.

Another thing is if stress is a constant phenomenon. Regular pressure on the psyche does not activate, but, on the contrary, depresses the body's defenses. After all, why struggle with a problem if it is unsolvable anyway? Nervous tension flows from one area to another - from work to personal life, because the brain simply does not know how to relax and is constantly in a stressful state. People begin to lose weight, sleep and appetite, apathy and even depression appear.

Here is a short list of negative manifestations of stress:

1. The risk of stroke and heart attack is increasing - it is not for nothing that they say that many managers are literally “burning at work”. Constant stress, overwhelming sense of responsibility and fear of failure increase the risk of heart problems by 31%.
2. Diabetes is another manifestation stressful situations on the body as a disease. Regardless of genetics, age and weight, constant stress can lead to at least type 2 diabetes.
3. Lack of immunity due to the stress hormone (cortisol). As you understand, this increases the risk of contracting any disease, moreover, treatment can be delayed and complicated.
4. Children who are attacked by their peers also have serious health problems, in addition to a disturbed psyche. Scientists have proven that school stress can lead to brain cell death and premature aging in the future.

Understanding a problem is a huge step towards solving it. If you stop hushing up the fact that work does not bring pleasure, but constant stress and anxiety, then you can get neuroses and health problems. Having accepted the emerging stresses as a problem, you can already start the fight.

Problems that arise should be treated more calmly - yes, it is difficult, but this is precisely the way to increase stress resistance. We offer you several techniques that will help you learn to relax. Remember that every day you need to learn how to “turn off” from problems, leaving them within the walls of the office. Pleasant moments are important in your life, not work achievements.

1. Sign up for yoga or tai chi courses, learn breathing exercises and meditation. These classes will help you find a balance of calmness, teach you to relax even in a stressful situation, and additionally, they will heal your body, make it more flexible and plastic.
2. Any physical exercise - daily walks, jogging, cycling, rollerblading, swimming in the pool will help increase the level of hormones responsible for reducing anxiety levels. Psychologists also advise power sports and martial arts, during which you can “let off steam” and forget about the problem.
3. Engaging in your favorite hobby will help improve your mood - even if it is not calm and relaxing. The main thing is that you enjoy doing what you love.
4. But “sluggish relaxation” behind a monitor or screen will not bring the desired result. Thoughtless viewing of programs and videos on the Internet does not unload the brain at all, as we used to think. It just fills your head with unnecessary information for a while, which disappears exactly at the moment when the monitor goes out. So free time should be spent in conversations, sports or walking.
5. Sometimes relatives and friends who need you do not allow you to relax even on a legal day off. It is worth learning to say “no” to the next requests that eat up your free time. Use it for the benefit of your own body.
6. Use every opportunity to listen to classical music. Modern rhythms excite the nervous system. Listening to the radio on the way to work, we come to the office already rather excited from loud music and noisy voices of the presenters. In addition to the classics, it is useful to listen to the noise of nature - the sea, rain, birds.

A harmful way to escape from daily problems and routine is the use of alcohol and delicious foods. However, this harms the body and creates only a false sense of relaxation - remember how tired you feel the morning after the party. And carbohydrate-rich foods made from white flour increase levels of cortisol, the stress hormone. It is more useful to eat foods high in omega-3 acids - these are halibut, salmon, mackerel, flax seeds. Vitamin B5 foods such as whole grain pastries, eggs, and broccoli are also beneficial.

Frequent exposure to fresh air is beneficial, as it fills our body with vitamin D, nature's best antioxidant.

Of course, the best way to improve stress resistance is to learn to solve problems, perceiving them not as a threat to your entire future life, but as a small obstacle in the routine of daily activities.

Video: how to develop stress tolerance in a child

Emotions

How to increase stress resistance?

17.06.2017

Snezhana Ivanova

Stress resistance is the ability of a person to cope with psycho-emotional stress.

Stress resistance is the ability of a person to cope with psycho-emotional stress. If tension builds up periodically, it can lead to health problems. The development of stress resistance can help you better overcome life's difficulties, more effectively solve everyday troubles. Every day in a person's life certain events occur, to which he is forced to react, spending mental strength on this. The emotional component is very important here. Many people are beginning to think about how to increase stress resistance, become mentally stronger and more resilient.

Resilience levels

Each person has their own stress tolerance limit. You should not compare the patience and mental endurance of one with another. Levels of stress resistance reflect the degree of development of readiness to take responsibility for what is happening. The level depends, first of all, on how much a person has the skills to effectively cope with emerging difficulties. As a rule, in life we ​​are overtaken by many surprises. Some of them are extremely unpleasant, make you suffer, unsettle for a long time. Feeling guilt, bitterness, disappointment, envy and anger, people do the most thoughtless things. Depending on how we react to certain events, we can talk about developed stress resistance. Let's take a closer look at stress levels.

High level

High level Stress resistance allows a person to remain self-confident in various situations that would lead another to a state of panic and mental confusion. Usually such people are called strong and hardy, attributing to them incredible strength of character and fortitude. Meanwhile, it should be remembered that all people have different experiences without exception. It is impossible to always be strong and take on super-tasks. It's just that someone has successfully learned to cope with them, while others continue to endlessly complain about life. A high level of development of stress tolerance allows a person to remain calm and unruffled even in moments of strong emotional stress.

Average level

Average level stress resistance is inherent in most people. This level reflects the ability to actively confront everyday troubles. Adversity and difficulties happen to everyone, there is nothing supernatural in this. In ordinary life, people know how to successfully cope with them: they experience a break in relationships, problems at work, a period of acute shortage of funds. The average level of stress resistance makes you constantly look for the best way out of the current situation. The lack of material well-being can be a good incentive to start working on yourself and your character, improve your existing skills and abilities.

Low level

A low level of stress resistance characterizes a weak personality. It is sometimes quite difficult for such a person to adapt to changing conditions. It seems to him that circumstances are stronger than him and nothing can be done about it. A low level of development of stress tolerance is observed, most often, in those who have experienced some kind of serious shock in their lives. Such people are lost even in frivolous problems, when it is not difficult to solve the difficulty. Usually, the inability to solve everyday tasks is associated with the development of a strong emotional susceptibility. Hypersensitivity causes a person to constantly react to any adverse events, actions or actions of others.

How to improve stress resistance

Developing resilience is a necessary and necessary skill. V modern world so many stresses from which it is impossible to hide. If we learn not to react to at least some stimuli, we can save our mental health. and improve stress resistance. Below are actionable recommendations.

sleep well

The modern rhythm of life often makes us live on the run. Constant haste creates additional nervous tension. As a result, people become lethargic, irritable, apathetic. Hence the depletion of the nervous system. The need to sleep well is a basic need of every individual, which must be satisfied. A person simply cannot exist normally without proper rest. If you are thinking about how to increase your stress resistance, start getting good sleep.

Relaxation methods

It is advisable to start the development of stress resistance with relaxing exercises. You can adopt breathing practices or conduct meditation right at home. Today it will not be difficult to find in your city special courses on the development of consciousness and gaining self-confidence. The ability to trust yourself is the key to success in life. After all, it is so important to actually deal with negative manifestations. Do not allow a person to spoil your mood, periodically accusing you of something. Such thoughts are very destructive to the psyche. The skill of stress resistance allows you to minimize all manifestations of negative events. You will soon notice that you have become easier to relate to life, you no longer react so sharply to everyday stimuli.

Calming agents

When there is a lot of stress, you should use sedatives. You should not keep a long emotional stress in yourself, this will only make it worse. To understand how to increase stress resistance, sometimes you need to be able to let go of a traumatic situation in time. Valerian and motherwort tincture will undoubtedly help to bring the nervous system in order.

Healthy lifestyle

Today people sometimes forget to take care of themselves. healthy image helps build resilience to stress. It includes proper nutrition and daily walks. Staying in the fresh air helps to strengthen the nervous system, the development of stress resistance. You should try to find time to relax. You can't go to work all the time. Communicate more with your family, play with children, go for walks, learn something new. Gradually, you will feel how a special taste for life will come: you will want to make amazing discoveries, do something good, give joy to loved ones.

Thus, stress resistance is not just a quality of strong people, but of those who are able to maintain self-confidence despite depressing circumstances. You should always remember about your own internal resources, then it will become easier to deal with the consequences of any negative situations.