■ Mental Stress Reaction
Stress Reaction
Stress reaction appears differently for every person, but in the world of psychiatry and psychology it is said that stress reaction mainly appears in 3 sections; action, body, and mind.
For example, what would you think if your colleague who was always eating lunch together suddenly stopped asking you out for lunch?
You might think that you have done something to him or her which made that person to stop taking contact with you.
However, it might turn out that you colleague was under major stress at work, and he or she was mentally disordered (reaction in the mind), and lost his or her appetite (reaction in the body), and started to avoid other people (reaction in the action).
By taking the stress check test, you will be able to check your stress reaction by 6 sections.
How to eliminate fatigue accumulation state, and how to handle stress
There are 2 ways to reduce stress and to eliminate fatigue accumulation.
First is to maintain enough time to sleep. By doing so you will get enough amount of rest, which will reduce the stress which distracts you.
Secondly, ask for somebody’s help, and do not keep the stress to yourself.
By talking with someone, you could get relieved and make undefined problems clear.
Varieties of stress reaction
Here we will introduce the varieties of stress reaction.
・ Active
・ Physical complaint
・ Frustration
・ Fatigue
・ Anxiety
・ Depression
Which category did you score low?
See below for further advice on categories which you scored low.
A good condition full of energy and liveliness.
It is different from work engagement, so it does not mean that it is always related to work.
★Comment from the public health nurse★
When people lack liveliness, he or she tend to be late for work, or might not be able to go to work, and the quality of his or her work is most likely to be unsatisfactory.
Also, the outward appearance such as clothing becomes lazy.
This may lead to a loss in your mental health, so before becoming so, you must be careful to have enough rest and sleep.
All sorts of physical symptoms.
★Comment from the public health nurse★
There are many stress reactions such as insomnia, loss of appetite, headache, backache, eyestrain and dizziness.
If you have these kinds of reactions in your body, recognize that those are signs coming from your mind.
At this kind of state, you need to rest.
Every working environment has the responsibility to keep their employees working safely and in good health.
Ask your boss for help and advice, and make sure to take enough rest and recovery before your situation gets worse.
To feel frustrated because things are not going the way you want it to be.
★Comment from the public health nurse★
This condition shows that you are feeling fretful and irritated.
You are irritated because things are not going as well as you expected, or you may be irritated towards yourself and start to act harsh towards other people.
Irritation is usually caused when there is a big gap between ideal and reality, so it is controllable if you accept the present situation and compromise between your expectations.
To be tired and worn out.
★Comment from the public health nurse★
There are two kinds of fatigue.
One is a good type, which anyone may feel after working for a certain period of time.
The other one is a bad type, which makes you feel stiff, as if the body is not yours, and you suddenly feel very heavy.
Start by fixing your biological rhythm by taking enough amount of sleep and exercise, and to eat well.
If you are still feeling tired, the fatigue might be caused by some kind of stress in your life.
In those cases, you must first find out what is causing the stress, and if needed, take several days off from work.
You are constantly nervous and feeling uneasy.
★Comment from the public health nurse★
Anxiety is a mental alarm which tells you danger beforehand, so it is an essential mental reaction.
However, to feel a strong anxiety mixed with irritation, or to feel unrelaxed all the time because of anxiety will lead to mental disorder.
If you are feeling uneasiness for no reason, or if the anxiety continues for a long while, you may be in need of help.
Lack of concentration, feeling distressed, not having the will to do anything.
★Comment from the public health nurse★
Depression shows when one is under great amount of stress and the stress situation is at its worst point.
At this state, one will lose the sense of joy and interest in anything he or she does and loses the will to do or start something.
In this kind of situation, people tend to carry the problem by themselves.
Talk about the problem you are carrying with people who you can trust such as your boss, colleagues, family and friends.
■ The type of your stress
In your test result, did you find that your mental reaction appears more in your body? Or more in your mind?
For those of you who have more mental reaction means that your mental reaction is stronger, and for those who have more physical reaction means the opposite.
Stress reaction appears differently among people.
See below for further advice.
It is said that stress reaction comes in a certain order.
First comes “frustration”, then “fatigue”, “anxiety”, and lastly “depression”.
Each reaction is necessary to avoid danger, but when feeling a strong sense of depression, you may need extra care.
When one is under terrible depression, he or she finds it hard to clear his or her mind, feels like there’s nothing interesting to do, and feel negative about themselves.
When you are feeling either of the below, you must ask for help.
① Even if you are doing something you usually love, you cannot enjoy it at all.
② The depression does not go away even after the problem which caused the depression is resolved.
For this type of people, the stress reaction comes out to their bodies more than the heart or mind.
Some example of physical reaction are losing appetite and unwilling to eat, or the opposite (overeating).
When you body is in a bad condition, it is difficult to find out whether it is caused by disease such as cold or if it is caused by mental disorders.
If those bad conditions do not recover for a long while, it may be because of the stress you are under.
Physical reactions caused by stress is a sign which your body is telling you that you need to rest.
Ask for help from people who you can trust before the situation becomes worse.
It is normal for both the body and mind to react when feeling stress.
When suffering from stress, people tend to first feel down, then some kind of reaction is shown on his or her body, then a strong depression takes over.
It is important to recognize the stress reaction before reaching the “strong depression phase”, reduce the stress in ways such as to take a rest.
When being under stress, the body tends to get stiff and heavy, as if you are in someone else’s body.。
The most important thing to do is to handle stress constantly, and to examine your stress reaction in order to deal with stress at an early stage.