How to recover and get out of a professional state of stress, diagnosis, treatment and prevention

What is stress?

This is the feeling that you are under psychological pressure. This pressure is associated with various aspects of daily life. For example, increased workload, transition, family quarrel or financial problems. You find that it has a cumulative effect as each stressor piles on top of the next. And it’s difficult to get out of this period on your own.

During these situations, you feel upset and insecure, and your brain triggers a stress response. This causes various symptoms, changes behavior and leads to more intense emotions. And professional activity does not allow you to be led by emotions. The inability to express and process negative emotions is itself a stressor and makes an already difficult situation worse.

How can you spot the signs of stress?

Every person experiences stress at one time or another in their life. But whether he gets stuck in these emotions and puts his mental and physical health in danger or easily overcomes stress depends on how he knows how to manage tension and problematic situations. In order to understand whether you can cope on your own or it’s time to seek professional help, you need to be able to notice the symptoms of stress in time:

constant worry or worry
depression
difficulty concentrating
mood swings or changes in mood
irritability or short temper
decreased control
depression and recovery difficulties
low self-esteem
changing eating habits
changes in sleep habits
using alcohol, tobacco or drugs for relaxation
pain, especially with muscle tension. Sometimes you have to seek the help of a doctor.
diarrhea and constipation
feeling nauseous or dizzy
loss of sexual desire.

If you experience these symptoms for a long time and feel that they are affecting your daily life or making you feel unwell, you should contact your doctor for professional help.

Tips on what to do before exams.

Suitable for both students and experienced professionals.

You can even read them with your child while preparing for exams, for example, at school.

Rest. By frantically repeating all the material before the exam, we artificially create a stressful situation. Which subsequently negatively affects our cognitive processes. During stress, the characteristics of memory, attention, and thinking deteriorate.
Simulate the day of the exam in the smallest details. This simple exercise can help reduce your emotional response to a replayed situation.
Eat right. The level of the necessary supply of vitamins, minerals and other “building blocks” for the normal functioning of the body during the exam period increases sharply. Therefore, we postpone all diets until later!
Healthy sleep. If our bodies don't get enough sleep, we become more irritable and susceptible to stress. As a result, any neutral situation will cause a storm of emotions of the most negative nature.
Allow yourself emotions. If you want, you can even cry. Don’t try to pretend to be an “iron man”, admit frankly “yes, I’m worried.” Being honest with yourself is the key to managing stress. You can read more about this in my book: “How to allow yourself strong experiences, emotions and feelings without destroying yourself and others.”

Occupational stress management

Three steps to take when you feel stressed:

1. Understand when the enemy has shown up.

Try to make a connection between feeling tired or sick and the stress you are facing
Pay attention to your body's warning signs, such as tense muscles, extreme fatigue, headaches or migraines. This will allow timely prevention.

2. Determine the reasons for this.

try to identify the root causes. Identifying the causes will help prevent them from happening again.
sort possible causes into three categories: 1) those that have a practical solution; 2) those that will weaken or disappear completely over time; 3) those with which you cannot do anything and it is impossible to control them.
try to stop worrying about those reasons that are in the second and third groups, and let them go

3. Reconsider your lifestyle and attitude towards work.

Are you taking on too much? It’s worth thinking about how to get out of this state.
Are there professional things you do now that could be transferred to someone else?
Do everything calmly. Get out of squirrel mode

To act on the answer to these questions, you will have to prioritize what you are trying to achieve professionally and rebuild your life. This kind of prevention will change your stress state. This will help relieve the pressure that comes with trying to do everything at once.

Methods for preventing professional stress

Eat healthy. Eating healthy will reduce the risk of diet-related diseases. Restoring normal nutrition is a real prevention of psychological health problems. And any doctor will confirm this. There is a large body of evidence on how food affects your mood and how a healthy diet affects your recovery rate. Choosing a healthy diet with enough protein, good fats, minerals, vitamins and carbohydrates, and water will allow you to prevent stress and also recover faster if it has already had a detrimental effect on you.
Be careful with alcohol, illegal substances and smoking. Even though they may seem like a great way to reduce stress and help you relax, they are actually some of the biggest stressors. Alcohol and drugs disrupt the synthesis of dopamine, increase anxiety, and over time disrupt brain chemistry so much that a person becomes unable not only to enjoy without these substances, but even to simply exist normally. These substances plunge a person into stress and depression quickly, deeply and ultimately irrevocably.
Try to incorporate physical exercise into your lifestyle; you don’t have to master complex techniques or spend a lot of time and effort on it. Even simple walks in the park at a fast to moderate pace are very effective in managing stress. If your place of residence allows you, try getting to work and returning home on foot. This will help you manage your professional stress better.
Maintain a balance between professional responsibility to others and responsibility to yourself, this will really reduce stress levels, this is real prevention. We all need time out from time to time, if you can't take a vacation right now, find ways to switch from work to personal matters. Take a break, turn off your work phone in the evenings, and don’t check work email on weekends.
Be aware. Mindfulness is an approach to life that helps us relate to experiences in different ways. This includes having a certain attitude towards your thoughts. When you just allow them to be without any emotional involvement. This promotes the perception of the situation as it is, without regrets about the past and without worries about the future. And that means you can find the optimal solution and waste less mental energy on empty worries and tossing. Try to practice meditation regularly - this will teach you to be mindful. You can do this almost anytime, anywhere. You don't need a doctor or a mentor for this. Professional studies have shown that meditation reduces the effects of stress, anxiety and related problems such as insomnia, poor concentration and low mood.
Customize your sleep routine. Good sleep is very important for mental and physical health. If you don't sleep enough or deeply enough, your body simply doesn't have time to recover. Restoration of all systems occurs during the slow-wave sleep phase, when you do not dream, and this phase is very important. NREM sleep alternates with fast sleep, during which we dream, and at least 4-5 such cycles must pass per night, which corresponds to approximately 8 hours of sleep. The amount of sleep you get varies from person to person, but if you always wake up groggy and don't feel rested, you're not getting the amount of sleep you should. Here are some tips to improve your sleep.
- Do not spend time looking at your phone or computer/TV screen at least 30 minutes before bed and 30 minutes after waking up
try to go to bed at the same time, before 12 am, at a time when melatonin, the sleep hormone, is most actively produced. Melatonin is destroyed in bright light, so dim the lighting and track when you start to feel sleepy, this will be the best time for you to go to bed.
Maintain the temperature in the bedroom no higher than 20 degrees, complete darkness and regularly ventilate the room. Ideally, you can maintain humidity at least 60%
buy the best mattress and pillow you can afford
If possible, make the bedroom a bedroom, not an office or a playroom. Remove everything from the room that is not related to sleep.

How to cope with a stressful situation on your own

When “business” stress develops, it is necessary to actively combat it. To do this, you should carefully understand the reasons that provoke its development. If a complete lack of desire to go to work is associated with high workloads and a large number of instructions from superiors, it is advisable to draw up a plan for the upcoming work.

It first describes the main tasks that must be completed during the working day, and then describes secondary tasks. It is worth learning to refuse colleagues who are trying to shift their work, because if it is done unsatisfactorily, this will most likely lead to stressful situations in the workplace.

The preventive system of stress should include hourly 10-minute breaks. At this time, you can get up, walk, warm up, or do light exercises. Definitely worth it:

hold dinners;
try not to argue with colleagues;
do not insult others;
prevent the emergence of conflict situations.

Lunch with a colleague is a great stress preventative

For those who want to understand how to properly avoid stress, it is important to know how you can relax in a work environment. This will help protect yourself from unpleasant conflict situations. Don’t forget about your own hobbies, sports, walks and communication with loved ones.

Nothing can improve your mood better than physical activity. If your job involves sports, you can try meditating or reading a book. A well-known method of relaxation is yoga.

Depending on the type and degree of workload in the workplace, it is important not to forget about your own health. Some people sacrifice their own health in order to earn a decent amount of money. This negatively affects a person's mental state. Therefore, in this case, it is better to find another job than to have an emotional breakdown.

A stressful situation can also arise for objectively frivolous reasons - the whims of children, criticism (even constructive) from the boss. To prevent stress, you need to mentally give yourself the command “Stop!” - this will slow down the further development of the negative state and develop mental control skills.

Next, you should follow the stress prevention methods listed below, so that at a critical moment you can relax, start thinking clearly and avoid a situation of loss of control over yourself:

Breathe slowly through your nose. When you inhale, hold your breath and then slowly exhale. During the exhalation, you need to imagine how it takes away with it all the tension that has arisen.
This exercise lasts for a minute. It is necessary to relax and lower your shoulders, get rid of tension in the corners of your mouth. You should take deep breaths and completely relax your facial muscles, since our facial expressions and facial expressions affect our internal state.
Take a look at the environment you are currently in. Take a closer look at even the smallest details. Mentally move from one object to another, pronouncing their names and definitions - “blue curtains”, “wooden table”, “old carpet”. This consistent concentration on objects will allow you to distract yourself.
Leave the room where you felt unpleasant emotions. It’s great if you can go outside and be alone. As in the previous exercise, examine the situation, nature, nearby houses and buildings.
Bend forward. Try to relax completely, with your arms, shoulders and head hanging down. Take calm, deep breaths in and out for a couple of minutes. When lifting, be careful not to feel dizzy. This is an effective remedy for combating negative thoughts.
Distract yourself by doing something - cleaning, washing dishes. These exercises are an effective way to cope with stress, since physical labor always distracts from unpleasant experiences.
Listen to your favorite soothing music and focus completely on it.
Talk to someone about neutral topics. If there is no one near you, call close friends and relatives.
Do breathing exercises.

Prevention of stress is primarily aimed at the formation and development of stress resistance - a person’s ability to endure significant stress without harmful consequences for health.

After this stress prevention, you will completely calm down and be able to continue work or any other activity.

What does long-term stress lead to?

Stress is a natural reaction to many life troubles (and sometimes positive moments), such as problems at work or a change in professional activity, problems and changes in the family, difficulties in relationships with loved ones and financial difficulties.

Moreover, a moderate amount of stress helps us work better in difficult situations, collect ourselves and mobilize resources. But too much or prolonged occupational stress can lead to physical problems. These include decreased immunity, digestive and intestinal problems such as irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or psychological disorders such as depression, anxiety, and panic attacks. This means it's important to look into managing your condition and keeping it at a healthy level to prevent long-term damage to your body and mind.

Rules of conduct under stress:

observe yourself (meaning, it is necessary to monitor and realize changes in your reactions and behavior in a situation of stress);
look for ways to “stop” yourself (such as “take a break”, “take a break in communication”);
transfer your energy to another form of activity (get distracted and switch to another activity);
think about what helps relieve stress (What makes you more happy? What do you do with passion?...).

All of the above recommendations can help an employee learn to control the level of stress received during professional communication, regulate their behavior, stop “getting hung up” on the negative emotions received, and not take to heart situations that are most often associated not with a personal threat, but with the general psychological tension of the team when solving a general problem.

Thus, the employer’s task is to create optimal conditions for the employee, but an important resource is also the independent and conscious preventive work of the employees themselves, which must be stimulated through various organizational measures.

What happens to my body when I'm stressed?

People react differently. Common symptoms include trouble sleeping, changes in appetite, decreased sex drive, and anhedonia.

These symptoms are caused by a surge of stress hormones, they include the primary “fight or flight” response, which allows us to not be distracted by anything in order to make a quick, correct decision and avoid danger. Hormones called adrenaline and norepinephrine increase blood pressure, increase heart rate and increase metabolism, while suppressing immunity. This prepares your body for an emergency response, and allows you to manage the situation without being distracted by anything else. These hormones also reduce blood flow to the skin and stomach activity, so sometimes stress can cause a person to feel sick or have diarrhea. Cortisol, another hormone that releases fat and sugar to quickly boost energy.

As a result, you experience headaches, muscle tension, pain, nausea, upset stomach and dizziness. You also breathe faster and your heart rate increases. All of these changes are the body's way of facilitating fight or flight, and once the pressure or threat passes, your stress hormone levels return to normal.

However, if you are constantly stressed, these hormones remain in your body, leading to chronic symptoms. If the stressor doesn't go away and you can't fight or escape, you don't utilize the chemicals your own body produces to protect you. Over time, their accumulation and the changes they make will harm your health.

What are the behavioral and emotional consequences of stress?

When you are under psychological pressure, you may experience many different feelings, including anxiety, irritability, loss of control, which will cause you to become withdrawn, indecisive and whiny.

You experience periods of constant worry, racing thoughts. You experience changes in your behavior and find it difficult to concentrate and manage stress. You lose your temper more easily, act irrationally, or become more aggressive. All these feelings lead to changes on the physical level. For example, extreme anxiety, panic attacks, causing attacks of dizziness and rapid heartbeat will make you feel so bad that you begin to seriously worry about the health of your heart and/or blood vessels. And only a doctor will help you recover. But prevention is much more important.

Down with multitasking

Never do several things at the same time. Not only is this behavior completely unproductive, but it is also one of the biggest sources of anxiety and stress in the workplace.

When it comes to multitasking, some people make this mistake. They seem to follow the rule - one moment in time, one thing. But at the same time, thoughts are already moving on to the next task.

This covert multitasking is no less alarming, and perhaps even more so, than overt multitasking.

What causes stress?

All sorts of situations can cause stress. The most common ones are related to work, money issues and relationships with partners, children or other family members.

Changes can be caused either by major upheavals and life events such as divorce, unemployment, moving house and bereavement, or by a number of minor irritations such as feeling unappreciated at work or an argument with a family member. Sometimes there are no obvious reasons.

Make your work schedule more flexible

Identical, similar, like twin brothers, days of the working week have a depressing effect on the human psyche. Try making your work schedule more varied. For example, ask your boss if you can stay at work longer on Monday evening and then leave early on Friday. Or don't come to work on Thursday, but go to work on Saturday.

Of course, not all jobs allow you to take such liberties. If you work in a reputable law firm or in a factory with a strict shift schedule, you are unlikely to succeed in such tricks. However, you still need to change your working mode.

If your bosses do not approve of your unauthorized comings and goings, then you can change the duration (within acceptable limits) and place of your lunch. Try to have lunch in different places and with different colleagues. You can also try leaving the house earlier. And one day just walk longer, arriving at work on time. And on another day, drive up and be at work ahead of time. The main thing is to have variety.

Work and stress

We are currently under a lot of professional pressure. Standards for workers are becoming increasingly higher, ambitions are growing, as is responsibility. The line between personal and professional life is blurring, we practically cannot switch: colleagues, boss and clients can reach us at any time and anywhere, thanks to advanced technologies, the Internet and cellular communications.

Increased stress levels, if left unmanaged, will lead to burnout or more serious health problems.

How to recover from severe stress?

Remember to ask for help and support when you need it. It is important to prevent the disease, because recovery is much more difficult.

Use the coping strategies available to you, which we wrote about above. They are simple and work very effectively: physical activity, proper eating habits, healthy sleep and meditation work wonders for our psychological and physical health.

Remember that it is okay to seek professional help. If you feel like you're struggling to cope on your own but can't, reach out to a professional counselor. It is important to get help as soon as possible and begin recovery. You can always get fast and high-quality help from a trusted and experienced psychologist in the Helppoint online psychological assistance service. Instant selection of the right specialist for you and any format of consultation - correspondence and video chat - is an opportunity to get help on the same day and hour when you need it, without waiting and wasting time.

Author: Editorial staff of the Help-Point.net portal

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Recommendations and advice from a psychologist on finding and changing jobs

In a new place

It is also worth noting the high likelihood of stress in a new job. Many people face stress during adaptation, which appears due to:

the need to establish contacts in the team with new people - both work and personal;
difficulties in understanding professional tasks that are not always clearly defined;
the desire to get into the working regime as soon as possible, arrange the workplace and get acquainted with the unspoken norms accepted in the team;
insufficient support from close relatives.

It will be easier to cope with stress in a new job if you follow these important rules:

Never be late. This is completely unacceptable, especially in the first months in a new place. It is better to arrive half an hour before than to be 5 minutes late.
Don't stay late after work. You don't want to always be burdened with additional responsibilities, do you?
Never show that you are not doing anything at the moment.
ADVICE! If you really have nothing better to do, read any document regarding your job responsibilities or rules of conduct at your new job.
Keep personal conversations on the phone to a minimum. Conversing with relatives or friends during working hours is considered indecent.
Do not gossip or participate in gossip discussions. Otherwise, you risk making irreconcilable enemies or being known as a gossip.
If something is unclear to you, do not hesitate to ask your colleagues. Especially during the first three working days. And remember your first and last names so you don’t end up in an awkward situation at a new place of work later.