Introduction
Stress is a phenomenon that triggers both physical and psychological reactions in the organism. From a medical point of view, stress leads to an activation of certain brain regions, which in turn cause increased muscle tension and hormone release. Those affected perceive these physical effects as tense neck and back muscles or abdominal pain.
Psychologically, an inner restlessness or tension is often perceived. From a purely evolutionary point of view, stress reactions are very useful, as they require an increased mobilization of our reserves. However, if the stress phases last too long, they lead to an excessive demand on our own performance.
This explains why stress nowadays is more and more associated with negative associations and loses its protective character in the general view. However, experts still distinguish between so-called “good stress” and “bad stress”. An example of “good stress” would therefore be, for example, increased tension in an exam situation.
The excitement causes stored information to be better retrieved. However, if the tension is too great, it blocks the person concerned in his or her performance. This is often an expression of excessive demands, which in turn is seen as “bad stress”. Stress is therefore a multifactorial event that depends on both external factors such as the work situation and internal factors such as personal resources. If the balance between requirements and one’s own abilities is not right, the person affected loses his inner balance and experiences this as stress.
General consequences of stress
Physical symptoms:
- General consequences of stress are mainly physical symptoms, which are often perceived as unpleasant by the person affected. Brief stress situations primarily activate the cardiovascular system. Thus, an increase in the heart rate and a rise in blood pressure are typical of an extraordinary external stimulus.
Affected people therefore often notice how their heart starts to race and the blood shoots into their head, metaphorically speaking.
- If this stressor persists, the skeletal muscles are additionally tensed. A permanently tense musculature leads in turn to muscle tension, which causes pain and restricted movement. It is noticeable that especially the neck and back muscles are very often affected.
The first signs are thus a stiff neck with possibly accompanying headaches or back pain after sitting for a long time. The psychological effects of stress are not always consciously perceived.
Psychological symptoms:
- It is much more often the case that those affected are able to classify their psychological symptoms correctly afterwards. Long-lasting stress often leads to an impairment of concentration performance such as lack of concentration, as the focus of thoughts is directed to the stress trigger. Objectively, this can result in a decline in memory performance
