Stress chronic - Causes, symptoms and treatment. MF.
How often in the furious rhythm of modern life we meet with the word "stress"!This concept for many people includes various unpleasant situations arising at work, in personal relationships, in forced communication with strangers. Many believe that their life is under constant stress, and, perhaps, they are not far from the truth. Life in a metropolis in general is a test for stress resistance, because from early morning until late in the evening the urban inhabitant is surrounded by vanity, a lot of unfamiliar and not always positive people. Accumulations of cars on the roads pollute the air and create a nervous atmosphere of eternal haste and eternal delays. Even at home sometimes you can not fully relax: from the open window, the same highway noise and the smell of exhaust gases, information comes from TV screens about economic and political turmoil, crimes. Yes, and when to fully relax? Many of us after work have enough time for dinner from semi-finished products, after which it would be better to go to bed, because tomorrow everything should be repeated again. .. And of course, not everyone can take his short leisure with health benefits, rest is often associated with inaction,and sometimes with the abuse of food and alcohol. As a result, doctors are increasingly faced with various diseases caused by stress.
From the medical point of view, stress is a condition of the organism, in which all its reserves are in tension. And stress can arise both under the influence of negative factors of the environment, and in the presence of positive emotions( for example, creative upsurge).
Causes of stress
The factors that lead to stress are called stress factors. They are individual for each person - what one can cause surprise or grin, for another will be a stress factor. Also, the onset of stress is affected by a hereditary predisposition to such reactions, and the presence of certain diseases increases the likelihood of stress( eg, anxiety disorder, diabetes, autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, thyroid disease).
The previous life experience of a person, the novelty of the situation, the intensity and duration of the stress factors are important. We can say that we are daily faced with the causes of stress, but the likelihood of the development of a stressful reaction is influenced also by our way of life, state of health, psychological mood.
Symptoms of stress
How can I determine if a person experiences stress? The main component of a stress reaction is anxiety, often without any apparent cause. She may be accompanied by an unmotivated decline in mood( ie depression), sleep disturbances( insomnia at night and / or drowsiness during the day).A person in a state of stress copes worse with his work duties, he gets tired faster, often distracted, irritable.
The physical state can also signal stress. Characteristic of the presence of rapid heart rate and breathing, increased blood pressure, back pain, abdomen of uncertain character, headaches, decreased appetite and immunity.
Unfortunately, there is no such symptom, in the presence of which it would be possible to say exactly that a person is in a state of stress. Therefore, it is unlikely to diagnose stress independently. Be sure to consult a doctor if you have listed symptoms.
Diagnosis of stress
It is better to start with a consultation of a therapist who will conduct a survey to identify chronic cardiovascular diseases, digestive organs, and evaluate the hormonal background of the body. This is necessary to exclude the presence of such diseases as arterial hypertension, diabetes mellitus, gastritis, hypothyroidism, atherosclerosis. To clarify the status, you may need to consult other specialists, such as a neurologist, an endocrinologist. The doctor will prescribe a blood test, urine, electrocardiogram.
If, however, all the examinations that are prescribed by the doctors are within the norm, and the patient's condition is far from satisfactory, the doctor may recommend referring to a psychiatrist or psychotherapist. These specialists, having familiarized themselves with the results of the polyclinic surveys, can already diagnose chronic stress. Sometimes a psychiatrist directs the patient to additional examinations, for example, an encephalogram or a psychologist's consultation. This is necessary to exclude mental and neurological diseases, such as epilepsy, panic disorder. It is clear that without the participation of doctors it is impossible to say with certainty whether a person suffers from a stress disorder or not. The danger of self-diagnosis is that by writing off the ailments for stress, you can skip the onset of serious illnesses, up to oncological ones.
Treatment of chronic stress
If the doctor has established the presence of chronic stress, then he will tell you about the methods of dealing with it. Treatment includes a medicinal component - usually prescribed drugs that help the body cope with increased stress. These are all known vitamins, especially, group B, and also preparations - adaptogens, which include medicinal plants - eleutherococcus, lemongrass, rhodiola rosea, sea buckthorn and others, and preparations of animal origin, for example, apilac( the product of the life of bees).These medicines are sold in pharmacies without a prescription, but they also have side effects and complications, for example, apilac is a fairly strong allergen, eleutherococcus can cause insomnia, so still the decision to take these funds is better for the doctor.
If there are serious sleeping problems, the doctor can prescribe a sleeping pill( sangval, relaxin and other medications), if the patient has severe anxiety, it is possible to use soft tranquilizers( grandaxin, rudothel, atarax), with a predominance of symptoms of depression, the doctor will recommend an antidepressant( for example, Fevarin, which also improves sleep at night).
When choosing a drug, the patient's lifestyle is taken into account, therefore, if your work requires a high concentration of attention or you drive a car, you should inform about it at the reception. It is also necessary to inform the doctor about allergic reactions, if any.
Separately it is necessary to say about the inadmissibility of drinking alcohol and especially narcotic drugs during treatment. The combination of alcohol with tranquilizers and sleeping pills can have tragic consequences - severe poisoning( possible fatal outcome), psychosis. In addition, the intake of alcohol and drugs increases stress itself( although subjectively a person can feel some improvement in the condition) and reduces all specialists' efforts to "no".
However, medication is not a primary, but rather an auxiliary method of treating stress. It is not enough to remove symptoms simply, it is necessary to teach a person to resist stress factors independently. For this, there are psychotherapeutic techniques, combined under the name anti-stress psychotherapy .This is rational psychotherapy, hypnosis. The disadvantages of these techniques are that they require a serious concentration of attention, which not all patients are able to under stress. In this regard, various methods of meditation( mantra, deep breathing) are popular.
Stress associated with professional work can be reduced through proper organization of work and rest, for example, during a working day it is useful to do simple exercises( alternately stretching and relaxing the muscles of the head, neck and shoulders, squeezing the tennis ball and others).It is desirable that rest was not a passive pastime, but was saturated with interesting and useful activities. It can be a hobby, a small trip, a trip to the gym, spa procedures, meetings with friends in nature( remembering the harmful effects of alcohol).
Nutrition should help the body to restore strength and not give unnecessary strain on the gastrointestinal tract. Preferred simple dishes, steamed, or baked or stewed. It is necessary to give priority to fresh products, not to get involved in spices and eating meat and fatty foods. The meal should be regular, light snacks between the main meals are welcomed to relieve the feeling of hunger.
Folk remedies with stereotypes
Some people prefer to dispense with folk medicine, avoiding treatment to doctors, especially to psychiatrists. Arsenal of traditional medicine includes medicinal fees( usually contains lemon balm, chamomile, St. John's wort), taking baths with infusions and decoctions of herbs( wormwood, rosemary, linden).Valerian, motherwort, mint is often used. These methods of treatment can well complement the therapy prescribed by the doctor, but the use of some folk medicine is usually ineffective. In addition, the refusal of examination from specialists increases the risk of missing a serious disease that disappeared under the guise of stress, for example, hypertension, hypothyroidism, and hormonal exchange disorders.
Complications of stress
With constant exposure to stress factors and lack of treatment, chronic stress can cause a malfunction in the body. As stated at the beginning, stress is a condition in which the body switches to a "full alert mode", i.e.heartbeat and breathing are quickened to ensure a greater flow of blood and oxygen to vital organs, while the blood supply in the digestive system is reduced, which causes disruption in her work. Increased levels of stress hormones - adrenaline, hydrocortisol, insulin. With the long development of these hormones, the glands are depleted, hence adrenal insufficiency, as a complication of prolonged stress, and diabetes mellitus. A frequent complication is hypertensive disease. In men with long-acting stress factors, a decrease in potency is possible. To prevent these complications, it is necessary to consult a doctor in a timely manner and carefully follow its recommendations.
Stress Prevention
Stress prevention is simple enough and is known to almost everyone, but, unfortunately, not everyone makes it difficult. This is the right way of life, which includes the rational organization of the regime of work and rest, maintaining a good physical form, eating healthy, refusing excesses.
Optimism, ability to switch from negative thoughts, playing sports, having a hobby, changing the situation is guaranteed to reduce the risk of stress. Many people in this help to maintain a diary, methods of auto-training. Even if you simply spend more time outdoors, or watch a comedy that will make you laugh or take a fragrant bath, you will already feel relief, and the level of stress hormones will be reduced.
Live fully and enjoy life! Remember that any health problem can be solved if you do not ignore it and consult a doctor in time!
Doctor psychiatrist Bochkareva OS