Psychological Stress Definition
Are you also a victim of Psychological stress?
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There are two kinds of stress, that is, psychological and physical stress.
Threatening, being demeaning or abusing is an example of psychological stress.
Infection is an example of physical stress.
In layman language, psychological stress can be defined as a scenario in which a person feels unequipped to handle a situation which may be a result of a past event. Even the unrealistic expectation from your future can be the cause of the psychological stress.
Psychological stress is totally dependent on an individual mental strength to deal with a particular situation. A situation can be a challenge or an opportunity.
A psychological stress can also be defined as an emotional and psychological reaction experienced by an individual as a result of a confront to a particular situation which he thinks as an out of the scope of his coping capabilities.
Related: Psychological Stress Symptoms
Troubled married life, critical incidents, financial crisis etc are some of the situations or events that can lead to the trigger of psychological stress.
Before we discuss the topic in depth, let's have a look on some of the handpicked articles.
Psychological stress can affect anyone and everyone irrespective of age and gender.
Let's discuss some of the common scenarios that trigger psychological stress.
Cancer is a life-threatening disease and it affects an individual to an extreme. An individual diagnosed with cancer can show symptoms related to psychological stress. It's advisable to contact a psychiatrist when someone is detected with the symptoms of cancer.
A cancer patient is already in lots of pain because of the disease. It's really important for the caregiver and the well-wishers to support the patient mentally.
For Example, a woman suffering from breast cancer can be under extreme psychological stress if the doctor says that she has to remove one of her breasts because of the severity of stress.
Here, the role of family is very important. Being optimistic and positive can really help the breast cancer patient cope with the psychological stress.
On the other hand, if the psychological stress is NOT addressed at the correct time then it can further lead to many complications.
We all humans have one thing in common. We perceive any situation as a threat or stressful only if our mind thinks that the resources that we have to cope with the situation aren't enough.
It's important to discuss some of the psychological response. By knowing a bit about it can help you to get a better insight into the situation.
The Alarm Reaction: This is the stage when a stressor is first time represented to your body. Since the stressor is represented to the body first time, it starts collecting information about the source of the stressors. A lot of chemical reactions occur to know about the source of stressors and to keep a track of the stressors.
Let's know them one-by-one.
The first thing that body wants to do is to adjust its process. Hormones like cortisol, adrenaline (epinephrine), and norepinephrine are released into the bloodstream by the adrenal gland.
What these hormonal adjustments do?
Any guess?
In fact, these hormonal adjustments increase energy level, increases muscle tension, increases blood pressure, decreases sensitivity towards pain, decreases digestive process etc.
The Stage Of Resistance: This stage is very important when it comes to psychological stress. In this stage, the body keeps on building resistance until a threshold is reached above which the exhaustion stage begins.
Either of the two things happens at this stage. There are chances that the body is on the verge of utilizing all its resources and entering the exhaustion phase or the stressful stimulus is removed.
The Stage Of Exhaustion: This is the worst among the response phases and body is NOT left with much to do indeed. Already the body has utilized all the available resources to the full of its potential.
You will be astonished to know that at this stage the body is completely drained out of hormones and resources on which it was depending to manage the stressful stimulus.
This is the stage at which an individual starts showing the symptoms of psychological stress like anger, insomnia, anxiety, stomach upset, irritability etc
Especially in the case of psychological stress, a high level of sympathetic nervous system aka "fight" or "flight" response is activated.
Conclusion: This post talks about the psychological stress definition. It will be of great help in case you let us know if we missed something.
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