How do stress defense mechanisms work?
Most psychologists recognize the extreme importance of psychological mechanisms
to overcome stress.
Psychological mechanisms include those techniques
that we subconsciously use to get rid of anxiety.
Experts call suppression the first among them, since it is what underlies most other psychological mechanisms. Repression
is the process of pushing various memories, thoughts or feelings into the subconscious.
Let me give you this example
: sometimes a person “forgets” to come to the dentist because he is so afraid of this visit that he cannot cope with his anxiety.
The next technique is projection
. This is what we use in cases where we want to justify our own shortcomings, actions or motives. Without noticing it, a person unconsciously begins to attribute them to others. When we use projection, we often expose others to the very wrong thing that we do or would like to do ourselves.
Another fairly common technique is regression
.
It manifests itself in our attempts to behave as we did in some earlier periods of our lives. For example,
a silent and indifferent person who is under stress often assumes a “fetal position” without noticing.
There is also such a technique as rationalization
, the essence of which is well known to all of us. Remember the situation when a student who has failed an exam or test begins to blame an evil teacher, a limited amount of time, work, friends, classmates, anyone and anything, but not himself. As a rule, this technique is used in order not to lose the respect of others, and also in order not to lose respect for oneself.
And finally, psychologists call sublimation
- transformation of socially unacceptable impulses into acceptable behavior. For example, instead of being aggressive towards someone around us, we can push them aside in various forms of competition - sports, political, business, etc.
Overcoming a stressful situation that can catch each of us at any time requires its objective assessment
and
developing an action plan
.
Don't be alarmed, everything is quite simple. As with any problem in life, there are 3 approaches
: attack, escape and compromise.
In case of attack
we face the problem, analyze it in detail and determine an effective course of action. For example, we notice that often a specific person (colleague, relative, neighbor) causes us stress. The next time we meet with this person, we choose a moment, explain ourselves to him and ask him to change his behavior. This approach does not always, but very often gives positive results.
If the attack doesn't work, you can try the escape
or
escape
. Of course, this is not the best step, but it is also quite effective. We accept defeat, even if the cats are scratching at our hearts, we leave the battlefield and develop a new model of behavior: we don’t communicate with this person, we change our place of work, we leave, etc. At the same time, we shouldn’t feel remorse and think that only people do this weak and weak-willed people. If the attack didn’t help, why not try beautiful and dignified care?
And finally, the third approach is a compromise
. The name speaks for itself. It is precisely this that is so necessary in communicating with many people who, unfortunately, have no idea about its existence, do not want to remember it, or simply do not understand anything about its effectiveness. Some people naively believe that by compromising, they are sacrificing their pride. Such people are deeply mistaken. The inability to compromise is a sign of self-doubt, and self-respecting people freely and confidently consider any alternatives, in the end, the choice is always yours.
As you can see, friends, at first glance it seems that everything is too confusing and complicated. But once you figure it out, many problems will be clearly visible: let’s put everything on the shelves, and then we won’t be afraid of any stress!
I wish you spiritual harmony, peace of mind and faith in your strengths!
Tags: person, problems, stress, psychology
Principles of coping with stress
Accepting reality
Our ability to think adequately is directly related to the quality of our life. Living in illusions and not wanting to accept reality, we expose ourselves to endless suffering, because... We live in constant resistance to the present, to what really is. When we encounter injustice, we begin to worry. But will reality change because of our experiences? Of course not. People and events will continue to bring us pain because... we are open to their blows because of our unwillingness to accept what is. What to do? If what you want does not coincide with reality, do not waste energy on illusions and negative emotions, resentments and regrets, but accept the situation as it is and begin to take concrete steps to solve it. This is the only way you will be able to change something in your life.
Forgiveness
A very powerful principle for overcoming stress and spiritual development. Forgiveness turns negative energy into positive energy, gives freedom, joy and happiness, and frees up space within us for spiritual growth and love. In order to forgive a person, it is not at all necessary to do it personally. It is enough to do this with the help of meditation, letting go of the emotional burden that is trailing behind you.
Positive thinking
How often do we regret bad experiences in the past or worry about future developments? “If only I could take everything back!”, “How many mistakes I made!”, “If I could fix everything...”, “What next, what if it happens...” - alas, all these thoughts often pop up in our heads and serve as a source of stress and depression. Look at the past as a source of valuable experience, and at the future as an opportunity to solve problems, not cause them. Let the present become a source of strength instead of disappointment and self-doubt.
Responsibility
Many of us are accustomed to playing the role of the victim, blaming others for our troubles and failures and groaning at the injustices of life. And aren't you tired? Put an end to this! Understand that no one but you is responsible for your feelings, thoughts and actions. Don't let circumstances and people control your life. You yourself choose everything that happens inside and outside of you. By taking responsibility for your life, you will gain much greater opportunities for self-realization, harmony and happiness.
Changing yourself
If you decide to change the world, you should start with yourself. Determine your goal, aspirations, choose a path that will contribute to your personal growth, create a sense of harmony within you, and take real steps towards your plans. The main thing is to understand that no one will bring you what you want.
It is important to note that willful efforts and harboring destructive emotions within oneself will not lead to good results in overcoming stress. To do this, correction and correction must occur at a deep, subconscious level. If you cannot cope with stress on your own, you can seek help from psychologists. Or perhaps daily exercise, healthy sleep and socializing with friends will be enough for you. The main thing is not to isolate yourself, do not hold back the emotions that caused stress, learn to relax and enjoy the present moment.
Health and prosperity to you!
Stress helps communication and stimulates social connections
Your stress response does more than just provide you with energy. In many situations, it also forces you to make connections with other people. This aspect of stress is controlled primarily by the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin has become widely known as the “love molecule” and “cuddle hormone” because it is actually released by the pituitary gland when you hug someone. However, in reality, the functions of oxytocin are much more complex. It is a neurohormone that fine-tunes the social instincts in your brain. Its main function is to create and strengthen social bonds, which is why it is released during cuddling, as well as during sexual intercourse and breastfeeding. Increased levels of oxytocin make you attracted to people. It creates a desire for personal contact - through touch, SMS or meetings over a glass of beer. In addition, oxytocin helps the brain better understand what other people are thinking and feeling. It enhances empathy and intuition. When oxytocin levels are high, you are more likely to trust and help people you care about. Oxytocin makes the brain more receptive to social contact and thus increases the warm feeling you get from caring for others.
But oxytocin's functions are not limited to the social sphere. It is also the hormone of courage. Oxytocin suppresses the brain's fear response, the instinct that makes you freeze in place or run away. This hormone not only makes you want to seek someone's hug; it makes you courageous.
Oxytocin is as much a part of the stress response as adrenaline, which makes your heart pound. During times of stress, the pituitary gland releases oxytocin to stimulate social bonding. This means that stress makes you better without additional investment in personal growth and socialization training.
Hans Selye
Released during a stress response, oxytocin causes you to turn to those who can support you. It also helps strengthen the connections that matter most to you, making you more responsive. Scientists call this a caring and friendship response.
. Unlike the fight-or-flight response, which is primarily related to the instinct of self-preservation, this response causes you to protect those you care about. And most importantly, it gives you courage.
When you want to talk to a friend or loved one, this stress response prompts you to seek support. If something bad happens and you immediately think about your children, pets, relatives or friends, this stress response motivates you to protect your “tribe.” When someone is being dishonest and you rush to defend your team, your company, or your community, it's all part of a prosocial stress response.
Oxytocin has another amazing quality: this so-called love hormone has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. The heart has special receptors for oxytocin, which promotes the regeneration of cardiac muscle cells after microtrauma. If your stress response includes the release of oxytocin, stress literally strengthens your heart. We usually hear that stress can cause a heart attack! Yes, Stress-Related Heart Attacks Are Real
sometimes they happen, and they are usually caused by a sudden surge of adrenaline, but not every stress reaction causes damage to your heart.
I found one study that showed that if you put rats under stress and then try to chemically induce a heart attack in them, they show a very significant resistance
to cardiac injury. However, when the rats were given a substance that blocked the release of oxytocin, stress no longer had such a beneficial effect on them. This research reveals one of the most surprising aspects of stress. It turns out that the stress response is our innate mechanism for maintaining stability, which makes us care about others, but also strengthens our heart.
Stress gives you the strength to face challenges
As Walter Cannon noted, the fight-or-flight response is triggered when your sympathetic nervous system is activated. To make you more alert and ready for action, this system forces your entire body to mobilize all available energy resources. The liver releases fat and sugar into the blood to serve as fuel. Breathing becomes deeper so that more oxygen reaches the heart. Your heart rate speeds up to get oxygen, fat and sugar to your muscles and brain faster. Stress hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol help your muscles and brain use this energy more efficiently. As a result, you are ready to overcome any obstacles.
It is this response to stress that provides a person with exceptional physical capabilities in special situations. There are often news reports about the incredible strength a person can gain in stressful situations, such as the story of two teenage girls from Lebanon, Oregon, who managed to lift a 1.5-ton tractor with their father trapped under it. “I don’t know how I was able to lift him, he was very heavy,” one of the girls told reporters. “But we just took it and raised it.” Many people experience something similar under extreme stress. When something very important is at stake, the body uses all its energy resources to do what is necessary.
The energy that stress gives you not only helps your body, but also stimulates your brain. Adrenaline heightens the senses. The pupils dilate to let in more light, and hearing improves. At the same time, the brain processes signals coming from the senses faster. Unnecessary thoughts are turned off, less important tasks temporarily lose relevance. Attention is concentrated, you absorb and process more information.
The chemical cocktail of endorphins, adrenaline, testosterone and dopamine gives you a boost. This is one of the reasons why some people like to experience stress - it gives them a pleasant stimulation. The combination of the above substances increases your sense of self-confidence. You can act more purposefully and strive for what can give you satisfaction. Some scientists call this side of stress “excitement and awe.” Skydivers, parachutists, and lovers also experience such sensations. If you get a pleasant shiver down your spine from playing a game of chance or trying to complete a difficult task on time, then you know what it is.
When it comes to true survival, these physiological changes are most pronounced and you may experience the classic “fight or flight” response. But if your life is not directly threatened, the body and brain switch to another state - the reaction of striving for a goal
. Like the fight-or-flight response, this stress response gives you strength and helps you perform in difficult situations. The heart rate increases, adrenaline levels soar, the muscles and brain receive more fuel, and “good mood hormones” are released into the blood. But this reaction differs from the previous one in several important ways. You feel focused, but not afraid. The level of stress hormones is also different, in particular, the level of DHEA is increased, which helps to recover faster from stress and learn useful experiences. The result is an increase in your stress response index—that is, a favorable ratio of stress hormones that determines how harmful or beneficial stress is for you.
People who are completely immersed in and enjoy what they do show clear signs of the goal-striving response. Artists, athletes, surgeons, gamers, musicians, completely devoting themselves to their favorite pastime, experience exactly this reaction to stress. The best in these fields do not remain cool under pressure; It would be more accurate to say that they are experiencing a goal-striving stress response. It gives them access to mental and physical resources, which in turn provide increased confidence, concentration and performance.
Is a stress reaction normal?
Hans Selye is usually blamed for stress's bad reputation, but he is not the only culprit. There is also Walter Cannon with cats and dogs. Cannon, a physiologist at Harvard Medical School, first described the fight-or-flight stress response in 1915. He studied how fear and anger affect animal physiology. In order to anger and frighten his subjects, he used two methods: he pinched the cat's mouth and nose with his fingers until it became unable to breathe, and he put dogs and cats in the same room to fight.
According to Cannon's observations, frightened animals release adrenaline and are in a state of increased sympathetic activity. Their heart rate and breathing quicken, their muscles tense - this is how they prepare for action. Digestion and other physiological functions that are not necessary at the moment slow down or stop. The body prepares for the fight by storing energy and mobilizing the immune system. All these changes are automatically triggered when a threat to life occurs.
The fight-or-flight instinct is not limited to dogs and cats; it is present in all animals. It often saves lives - both animals and humans. This is why it is so stable in evolution, and we should be grateful to nature for writing it into our DNA.
Walter Cannon
However, many scientists point out that close combat or hasty escape are not the best strategies for the situations that modern people face every day. How might this response help you survive traffic jams or the threat of being fired? What will happen if, when any difficulty arises, you simply run away from relationships, children, work? You can't fall behind on your mortgage and disappear every time there's a conflict at home or work.
From this point of view, you should suppress the stress response at all times, except in cases of purely physical danger, such as escaping a burning building or rescuing a drowning child. In all other situations, this is just a meaningless waste of energy that interferes with successfully counteracting stress. This is what the mismatch theory
stress reaction to a stressful situation: the reactions that saved our ancestors are not suitable for you and me. The stress reaction, which has no adaptive significance in the modern world, only hinders us. […]
Let's be clear: a response that supports only two survival strategies - fight or flight - really does not correspond to modern life. But it turns out that human stress reactions are actually much more complex. They evolved along with humans, adapting to a changing world over time. The stress response can activate different biological systems that support different behavioral strategies. This allows you to not only escape from a burning building, but also help you understand problems, gain social support, and learn from the experience. […]
There are several types of stress reactions, and each has a different biological profile that motivates different strategies for dealing with stress. For example, the reaction of striving for a goal
increases self-confidence, motivates action and helps to use learning, while
the caring and friendship response
stimulates courage, creates a desire to care for others and strengthens social bonds. These reactions, along with the fight-or-flight response, make up your body's complex stress response. To understand how stress stimulates these very different responses, let's take a closer look at the biology of stress.
