Stress is a natural reaction of the organism to situations that require a response. Surge as a means of adapting to the situation that is presented and it is necessary for this process to occur.

The problem is when those responses to certain stimuli trigger protracted too, is worsening or occur as a result of a traumatic event. In these cases the stress cease to be natural and instead of adapting to contribute to the mismatch.

Phases of stress

The term was coined by stress Hans Selye to refer to the physical and mental responses produced in the organism to a stimulus he called stressor.

According to him, the body passes through three stages before the need to adapt to a new situation in what he called the generalized Adaptation Syndrome:

·  Alarm: activation to the physical and mental demands required by the event emerged.

·  In adapting the agency carries out the necessary behaviors leading to the adaptation.

·  The third phase is to depletion that occurs There is a burnout and a deterioration in the skills of the individual to deal with stressors stimuli.

In addition to the phases distinguished two types of stress the positive and negative or diestres. The latter not only occurs as a result of what the situation is challenging, or negative, but that is the result of the interpretation that makes each of the events.

Stress as a symptom

Currently in the DSM IV (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) popularly known stress disorder does not appear.

There is talk in this book of post traumatic stress disorder and acute stress disorder, but both have to be a traumatic experience specific trigger, not an accumulation of small facts.

In DSM IV stress appears as a symptom of many other disorders, but not the only one. Thought to be a risk factor for producing anxiety disorder or separation. The diestrés desadaptativo because it hurts the responses of men and capabilities to adapt and respond to changes in their environment.

Effects of stress

To live in a continuous state of alert, with expectations too high resolution can be a constant state of activation that exceeds the capabilities of the individual.

Reached limit may sucederse exhaustion, blunting and the slowness of the responses later. Repeat this process can cause diestrés, namely a negative perspective activation of failure or fear arises when the next stimulus.

If perceptions are accumulating in a negative way and the state requirements is increasing and increasing tension, might arise physical and mental disorders such as hypertension, tachycardia, depression or generalized anxiety disorder.

Stress not only leads to a serious disorder, but it may be the triggering factor for the emergence of anxiety and other problems.

Preventing stress

The best prevention against stress is to lead a healthy life, practice physical exercise and try to interpret the rushes every day and labor troubles with the best possible mood.

The challenges can not accumulate and become unreachable. Sleep, rest, relaxation is necessary things. The agency or from the physical point of view or from the psychological point of view is meant to live in a continuous state of tension.

Relaxation Techniques

There are many people who each day increases the list of followers of these techniques, many of oriental origin. In most tratade learn to relax, breathe and stop thinking and get it is ultimately a state of mental and physical calm.

In general, these activities are seeking two objectives: muscle relaxation and mental relaxation. There are various techniques that can range from trying to calm down, breathe deeply, close your eyes and imagine a place that we convey calm, and so on.

There are more specific technical carried out by specialists and psychologists in their consultations. They instruct patients on relaxation methods that can help them in their daily lives and remove them to other disorders such as anxiety.

Among the techniques practiced every day relaxing that more people are yoga. It is a discipline in which both exercise the mind as the body and which has its origin in the Hindu religion.

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder

According to the DSM-IV is believed that a person suffers from a post-traumatic stress disorder when he suffered a dramatic events such as death or danger to his life or that of others with whom he has experienced intense fear.

This disorder is characterized also because the individual returns to feel the same sensations that he caused the trauma over and over again. This happens through memories, nightmares or to be in situations with some resemblance to the original.

It was also detected in the patient an obsession for not having to make anything that reminds you of the traumatic experience. Individuals with this disorder often present sleep disturbances or humor.