Stress Reactions

General Information:

The term "Stress Reactions" covers a wide variety of conditions marked by general distress or a mixture of symptoms from mild emotional upset to high distress. A stress reaction to be concerned about is one that is in response to a fairly serious life event and where the reaction doesn't settle down, or show signs of settling down fairly soon after the stressful event is over.

Stress reactions are often referred to as normal reactions to abnormal events. When symptoms begin to develop, it should be taken as a strong signal from the body that you are reaching your limit and capacity and that a period of rest or change is necessary. As tough and resilient as people are, the lifestyles, fitness and demands on us in modern life have generally made daily living pressured, strained and fast paced. That is not to say that there are not many rewards from a daily life that requires you to be active, productive and perform at your peak level. In order to be flexible and adaptable to the stresses and strains, we need to have a reserve capacity in energy, emotional resilience and ability to act, thus protecting our mental and emotional well being.

As with other mental and emotional health conditions the following key questions are useful in judging whether your health has been compromised:

• Does the condition cause you problems with normal sleep?
• Does the condition cause you to have a loss of normal energy and ability to do things?
• Is there a significant change to your appetite and other body functions?
• How much has the condition reduced your ability to function in your normal daily roles?
• Have others close to you noticed and commented on changes in you?

Clinical Symptoms:

Stress reactions and the mental and emotional symptoms that go with them are most often of fairly brief duration and tend to clear by themselves if given the right conditions to heal. As with any other injury, people have the capacity for healing but must create the right conditions to allow the natural healing impulse to work well. This is as true for bodily injuries and well as for mental and emotional injuries.
The injury cannot continuously be aggravated or it is unlikely to have the opportunity to heal and recover. This, together with general good health practices will allow the best opportunity for healing to occur.

There are many forms of stress reactions with a variety of diagnosis. Most of them include symptoms of anxiety and depressive features from mild to severe degrees. As with all such conditions you should not try to diagnose yourself, but if you are not functioning well in your normal roles and environment you are encouraged to see a Physician or another mental and emotional health professional. Some common symptoms are shown below:

• Feeling a very depressed mood most of the day, nearly every day for the past two weeks and this being a significant change from normal functioning.
• Reduced interest or pleasure in all, or almost all activities of the day, nearly every day.
• Significant changes to body weight and appetite
• Insomnia or hypersomnia (sleeping too much) nearly every day.
• Agitation or very slowed down nearly every day
• Fatigue or loss of energy nearly every day.
• Feelings of worthlessness, or excessive or inappropriate guilt nearly every day.
• Reduced ability to think or concentrate, or make decisions.

• Exposure to a serious traumatic event.
• Sense of numbing, detachment or absence of normal emotional responses
• Reduced awareness of surroundings such as being in a daze
• Persistent re-experiencing of the event through images, flashbacks, dreams
• Avoidance of reminders of the event and related conditions
• Increased symptoms of anxiety and arousal

• Recurring intrusions of distressing recollections including images, thoughts & perceptions
• Recurring distressing dreams of the event
  
• Acting or feeling as if the traumatic event were happening again
• Intense psychological distress when exposed to internal or external cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the trauma
• Persistent avoidance of reminders of the trauma with efforts to avoid activities, thoughts & feelings
• Persistent symptoms of increased arousal with interference to sleep, irritability or outbursts of anger, reduced concentration, being hypervigilant, increased startle response

• These are very common occurrences in response to stressful life events, or a diminished coping capacity due to other factors.
• Emotional and behavioural symptoms occur within three months of the onset of the stressor.
• Adjustment problems can occur with anxiety, depressed mood, conduct problems or a combination of these symptoms.

Other Mood Disorders:

There are many other forms of mood disorder that include those that are caused by short or longer term drug and alcohol use - consistent use of marijuana is an example of one of these for some people. This is usually thought of as a Substance-Induced Depressive Disorder and it may not be enough just to quit using the alcohol or drugs. Seeking a professional mental health opinion and guidance can be important with this condition.

Other mood disorders may occur from hormonal changes through the menstrual cycle or after childbirth. The clinical symptoms of such mood disorders are the same as those described for Depression and Dysthymia and can be serious forms of the mood disorder. These conditions are known as Premenstrual Dysphoric Disorder and Post-partum Depression. Both conditions, especially depression following childbirth, require a consultation with a Physician, Mental Health Clinician or with the Public Health Nurse.

Another form of mood disorder is that which comes about because of the presence of one or more major stressful conditions in the person's life. This is generally known as an Adjustment Disorder and information about this condition is listed under the Stress Reactions heading.

What Helps:

• Stress Reactions can be serious conditions that require outside professional help and may be well treated with short- term use of medications. Left without the opportunity to heal properly, stressful states can grow to become more serious mental and emotional health problems for the individual.

• What a lot of people tend to forget about is that their stress reaction is felt not only by themselves but effects those closest to them as well. Spouses, children and co-workers are all touched to some degree by the effects of a stress reaction and the coping response the person shows to the stress or trauma. By forgetting that others are effected, or by refusing to seek help for poor coping with stress, there is often a substantial risk that secondary problem issues will develop in the relationships that the person has and this can create marital conflict, problems at work and difficulties with the behaviour of children. When these secondary problems emerge, they compound the stress and add significantly to the weight of the burden that the effected person has to carry. This then raises the risk of the development of more serious mental and emotional health problems developing.

• Coping with stressful conditions or the ability to manage traumatic events really should be a part of everyday healthy lifestyle. In the same way that we try to look after bodily health through exercise and nutrition, we should be attending to our mental and emotional health with strengthening, and developing those conditions that most protect us from the harmful effects of stressful events and trauma. These conditions include:
  • Mental, emotional and bodily rest
    
  • Moderate physical activity
    
  • Positive and rewarding activities
    
  • Good relationships with a few key friends to act as a safety net
    
  • Skills at relaxation or other meditation and stress reduction abilities
    
  • Balanced attitudes and thinking to create a fair appreciation of the good and the bad in your life.
    
  • Reliable and supportive spiritual beliefs and philosophy of life and living

• With a sound daily healthy lifestyle that provides for balance in these areas each day, coping with stressful events is likely to be much easier. A persons ability to manage stressful or traumatic events will be greater, managing demanding lifestyles will be better, personal resilience will be greater and a reserve capacity will be available when it is needed.

What Doesn't Help:

• Acting out behaviour with temper outbursts as a cry for help rarely leads to the satisfying help and feeling of relief that people are looking for. Instead, it often causes a greater concern by those close to you and they begin to lose trust in your ability to look after yourself. Or, it causes others to become angry with you for acting out badly and can cause the very opposite reaction to that which you want by others distancing from you or blaming you.

• Another important aspect of coping with stressful and traumatic events is that some people will expect others to come to the rescue without being asked. This is often a mistake. Those close to you often don't quite know what is the right thing to do and will wait for you to give cues that ask for help or give direction for what you want them to do. When this doesn't occur as you expect it to, people can become disappointed in others and angry. This often leads to acting out with behaviour that is designed to get their attention and cause them to act with sympathy, compassion and provide an interest in your difficulties but often has the opposite effect.

• It is worth mentioning that some people rely on alcohol, marijuana, other street drugs and over-the-counter drugs to help cope with stress and strain. These may provide for some short-term relief but when used consistently they tend to become less effective, can create addiction and can worsen coping abilities.

• The responsibility for asking for help lies with yourself. Good honest and clear communication is vital to getting the help that you want and the relief and support that you may need. Don't expect others to be able to read your thoughts and know exactly what you need form them. Don't expect others to make the first move. It is up to you to let others know that you are suffering and that you need their help and to let them know what kind of help would be best and what they can do, or not do, to best help you recover from your difficulties.

Additional Internet Resources:

• Canadian Mental Health Association (Search)
• Canadian Health Network (Mental Health)