Chronic Stress: Causes, Symptoms and Treatment

A constant source of anxiety that, if left untreated, can take control of our lives.

Stress is a widespread phenomenon in today's world.. There are many causes for the onset of its symptoms, but the lifestyle and culture of Western societies contribute significantly to the emergence of this condition.

There are different types of stress: acute stress, chronic stress, post-traumatic stress, etc. If you want to know more about the different types of stress, you can visit our article: "Types of stress and their triggers".

Chronic stress and acute stress

It is important to differentiate between acute stress and chronic stress.. Acute stress occurs at specific moments and temporarily, as a response to the experience of one or more highly stressful events, and as a result the person suffers from anxiety. Although stress can be positive in small doses, in high doses it can affect both our mental and physical health: muscle aches, headaches, exhaustion, gastric problems, tachycardia, etc.

Stress, however, can also be chronic, which is a more harmful way of experiencing this condition. When stress is prolonged over timeWhen stress is prolonged over time, it leads to physical, emotional or mental exhaustion that has consequences on the self-esteem and health of the affected person, even causing severe depression. Whether it is because the person lives in a hostile wartime environment, is unable to pay a mortgage debt, suffers from burnout syndrome at work or is unable to cope with divorce, the result is devastating and has a strong impact on their emotional and general well-being.

Causes

Chronic stress has a particular characteristic that differentiates it from other types of stress. The stressor is that the event or stressor manifests itself over and over again, i.e., the stressor is not temporary and remains unchanging over time. the stressor is not temporary and remains unmodifiable over time..

For example, a university student may experience a stressful situation when exams are approaching and he realizes that he has let time pass this course. For a month he tries to study everything he should have studied during the year, but he does not have enough time or resources to pass the subject. Once the exam period is over, this stressful event will disappear, and the student will be able to better plan and manage his time for the next course. The student has experienced an acute stressful situation.

An example of chronic stress

This is not the case in chronic stress, because the stressful event occurs over and over again, repeatedly over time. You may feel burned out at work. because your superior's leadership style is causing you a distressing situation day in and day out.The boss does not take into account his potential, criticizes him constantly and, by not giving him clear and concrete orders, is causing him ambiguity and role conflict.

It can also happen that an individual is involved in a mortgage debt that forces him to pay an amount he cannot afford. The months go by and he is increasingly in debt, which is causing anxiety, despair, insomnia, severe depression and, in addition, he sees no way out. Both cases are examples of chronic stress.

As you can see, the causes can be varied, however, the frequency of presentation of the stressor is what causes the harmful consequences for mental health. However, it must be clear that, on occasions, it is not the stressful event itself that causes stress, but how we interpret this event and how we deal with it.. Our beliefs and our resources are of great importance. Therefore, what may be stressful for one person may not be stressful for another.

Symptoms of chronic stress

The person with chronic stress, unlike the one suffering from acute stress, is often unaware of what is happening to him/her, as he/she has become accustomed to this situation even though he/she has not overcome it. This can have a very detrimental effect, known as learned helplessness (click here to learn more). Learned helplessness makes it very difficult to seek help and treatment.

So it is important to pay attention to your it is important to pay attention to both your physical and psychological symptoms in order to get out of this situation. Generally, chronic stress manifests itself in different ways:

• Diseases of the digestive system, skin diseases and Heart problems.
• Feelings of insecurity and the feeling of learned helplessness.
• Insomnia
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Emotional fatigue
• Alcohol or substance abuse

These symptoms and many others not only affect the person, but also his or her immediate environment, making it difficult to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships with his or her family or partner.This often makes it difficult to maintain healthy interpersonal relationships with your family or partner.

Burnout or chronic stress at work

One of the most frequent types of chronic stress is burnout or burnout syndrome, which occurs in the work environment and is often associated with a lack of motivation.It occurs in the work environment and, in recent years, has worsened in many professional sectors due to the crisis and staff cutbacks.

The causes of burnout can be diverse, and have their origins in both have their origin in the expectations of employees or their ability to cope with the problem.The company or organization's practices are also responsible for a number of factors. For example: leadership styles, failure in selection processes or role overload.

Studies in this line of research indicate that burnout manifests itself as follows:

• Burnout and emotional exhaustionFatigue and mental exhaustion.

• DepersonalizationNegative attitudes towards the company and work, e.g. irritability or loss of motivation.

• Lack of personal and professional fulfillmentnegative effect on personal self-esteem, frustrated expectations and manifestations of stress at physiological, cognitive and behavioral levels.

• You can read more about this topic in our article: "Burnout: how to detect it and take action".

Treatment of chronic stress

Since the first research on stress, carried out by Hans Selye in the 1950s, many experts have been contributing more and more knowledge about what it is, how it works and the best way to treat this condition. One of the most widely used theories is the Demand-Control-Social Support Model of Karasek and Johnson (1986), which works particularly well. (1986), which works particularly well for work-related stress.

From this model it is understood that the source of stress is found in the mismatch between existing demands and the control that the person has to cope with these demands. to cope with these demands. In other words, what determines the occurrence of stress is the interaction between the person and the stressful situation. Therefore, the problem can be attacked in two waysby changing or avoiding the stressful event or, on the other hand, by changing the way the person perceives and copes with this situation.

Seeing a psychologist to overcome stress

The best way to overcome chronic stress, obviously, is to eradicate the causative factor, although this is not always possible. It may be an alternative to leave the job or divorce when the problem is in our employment or relationship with our partner, but what about a long-term unemployed or a member of a family without economic resources who is unable to pay his debt?

These cases require professional psychological help, because this situation can lead to serious problems in the future if this phenomenon is not adequately combated. In other words, it is necessary to seek treatment and learn practical tools to deal with this negative situation. The need to see a clinical psychologist can be key to learning how to manage the negative emotions and feelings associated with stress.

In the best case scenario, a radical change in lifestyle will suffice, such as taking care of your diet, exercising regularly, dedicating time to leisure and finding moments for relaxation. You can learn more about these tips and many more in our article: "10 essential tips to reduce stress".