Stress

Stress is a body reaction that arises when a person faces a threat, pressure, or change. Stress can also occur due to situations or thoughts that make a person feel hopeless, nervous, angry, or excited.

The situation will trigger the body's response, both physically and mentally. The body's response to stress can be breathing and a rapid heartbeat, muscles becoming stiff, and blood pressure rising.

Stress is often triggered by inner stress, such as problems in the family, social relationships, heartbreak, unrequited love, or financial problems. In addition, stress can also be triggered by job pressures, job cuts (layoffs), or diseases suffered. Having a family member who is easily subjected to stress, will make the person also more easily experience stress.

Everyone, including children, has experienced stress. This condition does not always bring adverse effects and is generally only temporary. Stress will end when the condition that causes the pressure or frustration is passed.

Prolonged stress can interfere with physical health as well as weaken endurance. In addition, stress can also cause disorders of the digestive system and reproductive system. People who experience prolonged stress will usually also experience sleep disturbances. Symptoms of Stress

Symptoms that appear when a person experiences stress can vary, depending on the cause and how to deal with it. Symptoms or signs of stress can be distinguished into:

• Emotional symptoms, such as irritable, frustrated, volatile or moody moods, difficulty calming the mind, low self-esteem, and feeling lonely, useless, confused, and lost control, to appear confused, avoid others, and depressed.
• Physical symptoms, such as weakness, dizziness, migraines, tension headaches, indigestion (nausea, diarrhea, or difficulty defecating), muscle pain, heart palpitations, frequent coughing colds, sleep disorders, decreased sexual desire, body trembling, ears buzzing, accomplices feeling cold and sweaty, or dry mouth and difficulty swallowing. Stress in women can also cause menstrual complaints or disorders.
• Cognitive symptoms, for example, often forget, difficulty focusing, pessimistic, having a negative outlook, and making bad decisions.
• Behavioral symptoms, such as not wanting to eat or even overeating, avoiding responsibility, and showing nervousness such as biting nails or walking back and forth, smoking, to consume alcohol in excess.

Causes of Stress

When a person faces a condition that triggers stress, the body will react naturally, namely by releasing hormones called cortisol and adrenaline. This reaction is actually good to help someone deal with a dangerous or threatening situation, so that they can get out of the situation.

There are various situations or events that can trigger stress, including:

• Don't have a job
• Burden at work
• Going through a job interview
• I don't get pregnant when you've been married long enough.
• Worry about not being able to care for a child
• Fighting with a partner
• Bad relationship with your boss
• Being a victim of abuse
• Getting married or divorced
• Kicked out of the house
• Undergoing judicial proceedings
• Suffering from a severe disease or difficult to cure.

Stress is hard to avoid. So, the most important thing is how to cope with stress, because when stress occurs prolonged, it can cause health problems. Diagnosis and Treatment of Stress

When a person is unable to cope well with stress and the stress becomes prolonged, it is recommended to consult a psychiatrist. Especially if stress is experienced repeatedly to cause physical symptoms.

Through counseling sessions, psychiatrists will find out the triggers, so that the treatment can be determined. When stress has affected the work of internal organs, the psychiatrist will recommend supporting examinations, such as laboratory examinations or heart records.

After evaluating the patient's problems, mental state, and physical condition, the psychiatrist will determine the appropriate course of treatment. The focus of handling stress is to change the way the patient's perspective and response to situations that cause stress.

Stress management methods include lifestyle changes, relaxation techniques, and psychotherapy.

Lifestyle changes include:

• Exercise regularly
• Implement a diet with balanced nutrition
• Limit caffeine consumption
• Avoiding alcohol and drug consumption
• Enough sleep
• Doing fun activities, such as watching events on the internet such as mukbang videos.

In addition to lifestyle changes, stress management efforts can also be done by doing relaxation techniques that can relieve stress, such as meditation, aromatherapy, or yoga.

In psychotherapy, psychiatrists will try to instill in the sufferer to always have a positive outlook in all conditions. In addition, the psychiatrist will ask the patient to make goals in his life, starting from goals that are easily achieved. Psychotherapy will be done in several sessions.

Don't hesitate to consult a psychiatrist if you feel prolonged stress.

Last updated: March 18, 2019