How to curb the uncontrolled stress

Stress - a natural reaction to novelty. Uncontrolled stress arises when it is impossible to adapt to the situation, avoid it and predict its consequences and the end.

Most seriously injure the psyche of the inability to control the situation.

To cope with stress, it is important to look at the situation and build a system of pluses in the midst of chaos, says psychologist Svetlana Grunina.

The word "stress" we are used to describe the variety of its state: anxiety, discomfort, tension. But from a biological point of view, stress - it is just a reaction to the originality. Therefore, the daily trip to the subway to and from work can hardly be considered stress: one way or another, we're ready for what awaits us there, adapt, adapt.

Stress - biological reaction, and in this sense for billions of years, nothing has changed. In moments of stress at work have included the same mechanisms as that of our ancestors, who swept the tiger. Our body is preparing to defend themselves. Nature invented for this two main strategies.

"Bay Run" or "Freeze, Die, arise"?

In our arsenal are two types of reactions: the "fight or flight" and fading. The first most clearly illustrates the parable of the frog fell into a vat of milk. Pick a fight, she whipped butter and saved. This strategy is relevant in extreme conditions: for example, during the war.

In daily life, oddly enough, benefit those who freezes. Realizing that the fight is useless, they gradually adapt to the changed conditions.

This strategy is illustrated by the experimental results with the aquarium fish.

By limiting the oxygen supply to the aquarium, the researchers noticed that the fish were divided into two groups: the beginning of the rush, some stood still, saving oxygen. Survived is "frozen" fish: they panicked fellow poisoned adrenaline.

Enemies must know in person

Although people inherently tends to development, cognition, opening something new, it must be the new frame boundary. We need to feel confident in the future, need to know that we can influence it, are able to control the situation.

Otherwise, there is an uncontrollable stress, which poses a threat to health and may lead to development of neurosis and depression. He appears in the case of impossibility:

Adapt to the situation,

Avoid the situation,

To predict the effects and end the situation.

Uncontrolled stress leads to a violation of the three functions: cognitive (mental), affective (sensory) and motor (all that concerns our movements). Hardest psyche thus injure the inability to control the situation.

A striking example of how people drive in an uncontrolled stress and what happened to them afterwards, were labor camps in Nazi Germany, which sent the Germans - the opponents of the Nazi regime.

Terms and Conditions in the camps were constantly changing: the prisoners performed a meaningless job, never know for sure how much it will start and end of their working day. As soon as they started to get used to the rules are reversed. People were placed in a situation that could not explain itself, monitor, predict, and it is gradually introduced them to a state of "learned helplessness."

But it turned out that it is possible to deal with this condition. Among the prisoners was a psychologist Bruno Bettelheim. He realized that in order to counter the uncontrolled stress, you need to eliminate at least one of the three conditions of its origin. Yes, he could not control when and where to work, what will be done, how much will go to bed and wake up, but he could decide when to exercise, what exactly do the exercises, how many times and when to clean the teeth.

When the brain focuses on what we decide, expect, what does do, it is not exposed to uncontrollable stress. Therefore, it is important to create a "control island", logic and sequence.

WHIP WITHOUT gingerbread

Fortunately, few of us gets in such extreme situations. The fact that the easiest way to introduce an adult in a state of uncontrolled stress - is to deprive him of financial stability. And this is often abused by employers. In the corporate environment, it is assumed that when a person adapts to the work commences its confidence and reaches certain level, it becomes comfortable and it stops moving forward.

Therefore, to ensure that the company has grown and developed, it must be periodically - not more often than once every three years - withdraw employees from the comfort zone. How? Will drive them into a state of stress: changing something in the working conditions or pay. Some employers have sharply reduced the salary of the bonus system and change, others increase the sales plan, others taken away from employees of a customer base.

In general, from the point of view of the company is the right approach: to change the terms periodically need to, otherwise there is stagnation. But being in this situation, the employee ceases to control how much he earns, does not know whether can pay back the loan, mortgage. This situation gets in his self-esteem, reduces its productivity and loyalty to the company.

If conditions change, not to communicate with each employee, not to explain to him why this was done, that it will, as a person he can regain his usual level of income, the business eventually just lose.

HIGHLIGHTS - to build a system

For example, we found ourselves in this situation, but suddenly change it dramatically (eg, fired) can not. As in this case, to cope with the stress?

1. Draw a picture of the future - in the best possible detail and detail. What we want to find a job? What do we do there? What does this give us? This estimate is real if our plan, whether there is a place of work, of which we dream. If dreams are far from reality, it is necessary to correct them.

2. What would be the negative or the situation, to build a system in chaos, and to find in the current circumstances, the pros. It could be anything, any little thing, particularly important to you: flexible, pleasant surroundings, close to the house, a floating break for lunch (and hence the opportunity at this time to do some kind of their own thing).

No matter how trite it sounds, it is necessary to life than work, was something else: a gym, a swimming pool, a hobby. It is important to know that the working day is over and then we are waiting for something nice planned by us, something that we can switch. Unloading is required, otherwise even changing jobs does not always help.

To continue to avoid such situations, it is important prevention. Experts advise every three years to change jobs. This will allow you to develop, acquire different experience, to keep abreast of the situation on the market. In this case, changes in the company and the transition to a new job will not be to your stress.

Of course, in the short term from this, you can lose: in the office, as well as money. But the winner is the one who moves in the long term.