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What is stress?
Stress is a body response to a wide range of internal and external stimuli.
Therefore, it is a vital reaction of our organism to cope with everything around us – this involves our emotions as well.
When does stress become a problem?
Depending on how powerful the stressor is (stimulus which causes the stress) and how long the stress reaction lasts.
Can we draw a target level for everyone?
No, we can’t because each one of us – depending on inherits and acquired amount of adaption energy – may have a higher or lower level of adaption to the stress.
Stress and General Adaption Syndrome (Gas):
The scientist Hans Selye was the first person to describe Stress and General Adaption Syndrome (GAS), as a three-stage process that the body goes through when it is exposed to stress.
1)Alarm reaction: Through the activation of the sympathetic system and the release of stress hormones such as Cortisol and Adrenalin. This reaction prepares a person to respond to the stressor they are experiencing. This is often known as a “fight or flight” response.
2) Resistance stage: The resistance stage appears when the body is exposed to the stress for a longer amount of time. The body tries to counteract activating the parasympathetic system and trying to adapt to the stressful condition.
3)Exhaustion stage: In the case of very prolonged exposure to these stressors, the system is no longer able to face them. There will be an exhaustion of the nervous energy reserve.
Symptoms of the Exhaustion stage:
Physical and mental symptoms of exhaustion during a minimum of two weeks:
- Sleep disturbances;
- Body tension and/or pain;
- Emotional instability or irritability;
- Marked physical weakness or fatigue;
- Concentration difficulties or memory problems;
- Markedly reduced ability to manage demands or to perform under time pressure;
- Markedly lacked mental energy, which is manifested by reduced initiative, reduced endurance, or prolonged recovery time after mental strain;
- Physical symptoms such as pain, chest pain, palpitations, gastrointestinal symptoms, dizziness, or sensitivity to sound.
The symptoms cause clinically significant suffering or reduced ability to function at work, socially, or in other important situations. Overtime can trigger the presence of Anxiety/Depressive disorders and Higher susceptibility to infection.
The symptoms are not related to direct physiological effects of a substance (e.g. drug abuse, medication) or somatic disease/injury (e.g. hypothyroidism, diabetes, infectious disease).
All the 3 stages are usually reversible if sustained for a short period of time, which as stated above can largely vary between individuals.
More information can be found here
What can we do?
The best advice we can give you is to understand your stress limit, planning your day-life and your projects in order to do not overstress your body system over a long time period.
At 5 STAR CLINIC, we use Rééquilibration Fonctionnelle, a method developed from Roland Solère, which considers the different levels of compensation in the organism, drawing a tailored acupuncture treatment to help the homeostasis.
References:
Adamsson A. and Bernhardsson S., (2018), Symptoms that may be stress-related and lead to exhaustion disorder: a retrospective medical chart review in Swedish primary care
DOI: 10.1186/s12875-018-0858-7
SELYE H.,(1951), THE GENERAL-ADAPTATION-SYNDROME.
DOI:10.1146/annurev.me.02.020151.001
SELYE H. (1946). THE GENERAL ADAPTATION SYNDROME AND THE DISEASES OF ADAPTATION1. The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 6(2), 117–230.
DOI:10.1210/jcem-6-2-117
