WHAT A STRESS!

WHAT IS STRESS?

Stress is defined as the reaction to an external stimulus that involves a change in the person’s habits, and for this reason it is also incorporated into the definition of general adaptation syndrome.

However, stress does not always have to be understood as something negative. In fact, there is the so-called “eustress” which is beneficial as it gives a “a shock” to the individual who responds to this stimulus by increasing his vitality and reacting positively. On the other hand, the so-called “distress” is s detrimental stimulus that can lead to real physical consequences, such as baldness or even lowering of the immune defenses.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF STRESS?

Stress can be felt in various ways and the reactions of each person can also be different, based on intrinsic personal characteristics but also based on the type of event that generates the stress.

The symptoms of stress can be of various types. These include: tachycardia, extrasystole (most common form of cardiac arrhythmia), sleep problems, compulsive hunger, anxiety and nervousness.

The intensity of stress and the symptoms related to it are naturally not identifiable in the same way in all people as they can be closely related to the characteristics of the subject (age, personal history, emotionality, adaptive capacity) and to the characteristics of the stressful event, which can be more or less traumatizing.

For these reasons, also the stress detection cannot always be related to objective parameters and questionnaires that investigate the presence of stress factors in people’s life, including the occurrence of depression, anxiety and insomnia, as well as tachycardia.

HOW CAN CHRONIC STRESS BE COMBATED?

Chronic stress can be alleviated by intervening directly on the symptoms that this situation can create. We therefore try, during the therapy, to control heart symptoms, such as tachycardia and extrasystoles, and above all to act on the emotional state of the person, in order to reduce the situations that, linked together, can give life to the vicious circle of stress, that is anxiety, anger, insomnia and the whole psychic component.