In this article, we'll look at what resilience is, how it can be improved, and how companies can make sure employees don't feel stressed.
Most employers want to have not only qualified, but also stress-resistant employees. Not all candidates who find themselves in a particular position have sufficient stress resistance, as a result of which they cannot cope with the volume of work and quickly burn out.
Why do you need stress resistance?
The body's resistance to stress is a useful protective function that allows it to adapt to external stimuli or ignore them. In other words, it is what gives you the ability to remain calm in any situation.
The ability to always remain calm and balanced is the main sign of a well-developed defense against shocks. Thanks to it, the wear and tear of nerve nodes slows down significantly. As a result, you will achieve much more if you are not distracted by any minor trouble.
Listen to your body
The first thing you need to do if you want to learn how to increase your body's resistance to stress is to be more conscious. Listen to your body and try to understand what exactly it wants. In most cases, stress goes beyond all limits and leads to sad consequences when a person concentrates on his tasks, goals and aspirations, forgetting that he is not a robot. He doesn't take care of what his body needs, and the body inevitably fails eventually.
To prevent this, you need to take care of yourself, and to do this, you first need to listen to your body. What does he require from you? Don't get out of bed right away in the morning so you can get more done. Lie down and try to understand what exactly is wrong. Your body is not your enemy, and if it doesn’t like something, it will send you signals. You shouldn't ignore them - it's better to interpret them and give your body what it requires, such as more sleep or healthier food. However, this is only a basic way to increase stress resistance. There are other methods.
Signs of stress
Stress hits each of us sooner or later. You need to know what signs to use to determine that the level of bad influence is high enough.
- Increased irritability. You are angry and more nervous than usual.
- Confusion and inattention. Susceptibility results in the inability to collect thoughts and quickly react to changes in situation or circumstances.
- Fatigue. For no apparent reason, you want to close yourself off from the whole world and just go to bed.
- Aggression. You react sharply to every word said to you. Moreover, such a reaction occurs almost unnoticed by you, at the subconscious level.
- Impressionability. Yes, succumbing to the influence of stress, some people become too susceptible to everything that surrounds them.
Forgiveness
In the modern world it is very important to be able to forgive. It would seem that this is quite simple to do, but in reality everything turns out to be completely different. To increase your level of stress resistance, you need to train yourself to forgive. But what is the connection between forgiveness and stress? It’s all quite simple: when you are angry or offended by someone, your body is already in a state of stress, and if you also constantly think about it, scroll through the situation and its possible outcomes in your head, then your body gives up more and more resources to this essentially meaningless undertaking.
So the sooner you forgive someone for what they did, the less stress you will put on your body. And you won't need drugs that increase stress resistance. There is no point in stuffing yourself with chemistry when the answer lies on the surface. The only thing you can take is dietary supplements with vitamin D. Returning to the previous point, it is worth saying that they are necessary in the winter season, when it is not possible to get enough sunlight naturally, as well as for vegetarians, since vitamin D is in large quantities are found in fatty fish, which they do not eat.
Types of stress
In general, stress is divided into two types: positive and negative. Positive causes pleasant shocks. Positive emotions prevail here. Such a shock is sometimes beneficial for the body, as it activates the production of beneficial hormones.
Negative stress or distress
- This is an extremely unpleasant phenomenon that destroys the normal state of the psyche. It is divided into two subgroups, manifesting themselves differently:
- Spicy. When a sudden stimulus threatens our usual state. Reactions to any factor are different. Evasion, running away from the cause, or defense. In both cases, the body will need some time to restore its internal balance.
- Chronic. Constantly being in a stressful environment leads to the fact that the daily influence of negativity suppresses all attempts of the subconscious to protect itself from it.
Spelling
In order not to be mistaken in the spelling of the word, you need to know that it is formed from the addition of the English word stress, which means “overload, effort, pressure”, and the Russian word “stability”, and between them lies the letter “o”, which serves as a connection between definitions from different languages. Since the noun “stress resistance” is written one way and no other way, then so are all its derivatives. Our object of study also falls into this series. Yes, an important addition. We are dealing with tracing paper from English when forming a word, and if so, we just need to remember that in English stress is written with two “s”, which have happily migrated into our language.
Remember this, and the question: “How do you spell “stress-resistant?” will disappear by itself.
Stages of stress
The study of the nature of stress has shown that it goes through three phases in its development. Each of them poses a certain threat to the body. Therefore, you need to understand how each of the phases occurs in order to determine ways to combat them.
- Anxiety. At this stage, increased production of adrenaline and norepinephrine begins. A person understands that he must somehow react to the current circumstances.
- Resistance. In the second phase, the internal forces of the nervous system are mobilized. This practically does not affect physical health, but the person is constantly on edge, aggressive and excitable.
- Exhaustion. The most dangerous phase occurs after prolonged exposure to the irritant. The body spends all its resources fighting irritants. As a result of such actions, depression, nervous breakdowns and apathy develop.
Impact of stress on health
Frequent or constant exposure to an unpleasant and stressful environment leads to consequences at the physiological level. What will your body have to face due to constant stress?
- Increasing glucose production to increase energy output leads to the development of diabetes.
- Reduction of the thymus gland, which is responsible for the production of leukocytes, significantly weakens overall immunity.
- Constant tension and contraction of muscles gradually leads to their destruction. The same applies to the tissues of internal organs.
- Excessive expansion of capillaries often causes their ruptures. As a result, hematomas form and blood circulation is disrupted.
- Metabolic disorders cause poisoning by toxins that are normally simply eliminated from the body.
Psychosomatic health also suffers, receiving a dose of negative influence:
- Mood swings, outbursts of aggression,
- Loss of interest in the outside world, apathy,
- Sleep disturbance, anxiety,
- Development of neuroses, frequent headaches,
- Loss of energy, increased drowsiness,
- Formation of depression.
Type of stress resistance
The ability to withstand external factors is individual for everyone. Scientists studying the nature of overvoltage conditionally divide people into four main types:
- Stress-resistant.
Such people react sharply to any changes that do not correspond to the basic plan of action or the usual course of life. Critical situations cause them outbursts of emotions that are practically uncontrollable. - Stress trained.
Gradual changes are perceived by such people quite calmly. But sudden changes can cause depression and self-doubt. But over time, they develop a calmer reaction to negativity. - Stress-inhibitory.
Sudden and drastic changes in a negative direction cause increased activity in such people. They easily cope with unexpected problems. The gradual increase and course of stressful conditions can form chronic depression. - Stress-resistant.
This is the calmest and most stable person. Almost any life circumstances are perceived calmly. The ability to adequately think and assess a situation is very highly developed.
Michael Corleone - a man without nerves
In the first part of the legendary saga “The Godfather” (1972), there is an episode that is perfectly suited to illustrate our topic today. When Sollozzo cleared the hospital where Vito Corleone was lying, Michael came there and dragged his father to a safer place. Just at the same time, Enzo the pastry chef came to visit Don Vito. The youngest son of the mafia leader told Enzo that there was going to be big trouble here. The pastry chef volunteered to help. They stood on the porch of the hospital and pretended to be security guards. The killers quickly assessed the situation and did not attack. After the car with the mercenaries passed by, Enzo took out cigarettes from the pack and tried to light a cigarette, but nothing came of it: his hands were shaking violently. Michael grabbed the lighter from the Confectioner, and at that moment looked in surprise at his hands, which were not shaking at all, he was absolutely calm. Therefore, if you need an example of a stress-resistant person, then remember Michael Corleone. This ability is a key quality if a man or woman wants to achieve their goals. Emotions interfere with thinking. Moreover, judging by various philosophical and artistic books, the problem is quite old. In the Strugatsky brothers, for example, one of the characters in the story “Distant Rainbow” notes that a perfect person is not a person, but a combination of a machine and a living organism. The most important problem that such an organism solves is emotions.
Therefore, half the battle is to answer the question of how to spell the word “stress-resistant”; you also need to not be unnecessarily nervous.
How to test stress resistance
Testing a person's stress resistance is becoming increasingly fashionable in various interviews. To determine your level of preparation for changes, you should take a short test by answering questions. This will show your ability to cope with life's circumstances.
Another way to test your inner strength is to conduct a DNA test. Studying your genetic code will show how susceptible your body is to negative influences. Our center’s specialists will help you decipher the information received and give advice on how to increase your resistance to stress.
How to develop stress resistance
Comprehensive development of stress resistance skills helps not only protect your body, but also significantly increase your own efficiency. There are several effective methods that help to successfully strengthen protective functions.
- Correct assessment of the situation. It is based on three simple questions: “How important is this to me?”, “Does this change my life?” and “Can I change something?” It is important to understand that some circumstances do not depend on ourselves, so they should not be taken too seriously.
- Release of emotions. You can’t keep all the accumulated irritation inside yourself. Choose a method that will help you get rid of negativity and let off steam.
- Attention to health. Any disease undermines the protective functions of the nervous system. It is important to carry out treatment on time, eat right and walk in the fresh air every day.
Sound therapy
Another way to get rid of stress is to listen to various relaxing music compositions. Classical music works very well in the direction of relaxation and getting rid of stress, but it is worth noting that it does not necessarily have to be music as such. Nowadays you can find collections of various soothing sounds everywhere, such as birdsong, the rustle of the wind, the sound of the surf, the sound of rain and much more. Some services even offer you the ability to combine dozens of similar sounds to create your own sound background, meaning you can personalize the sound, adjusting it to your specific state.
Psychological exercises
Effective methods for developing protection from negativity help you stay collected and calm in any situation. To protect against excess voltage surges, use a few tricks:
- Leave the aggressor when you feel that his excitement has rubbed off on you.
- Alone with yourself, take a few deep breaths.
- Try to make yourself laugh.
- Meditation will help stabilize your inner balance
A psychologist is not scary!
Contrary to popular belief, psychologists are not trying to force you to reveal your most terrible and shameful secrets. They help you find ways to solve problems that are deeply ingrained in your subconscious and give you the right advice. Remember: no one can force you to tell what you yourself do not want to reveal. A psychologist will help you determine why your level of stress resistance does not meet the desired level. Then together you will find a solution to this problem without further traumatizing your psyche.
Physical activity
If you want to learn even more ways to increase your body's resistance to stress, then you should pay attention to physical activity. As in the case of sunlight, this seems easy to achieve, but in reality it turns out that after a whole day of work you no longer want to go to the gym or do anything at all. And this is an approach that leads to nowhere. First, physical activity tones your muscles, making you stronger and healthier. Secondly, during any physical activity, norepinephrine is produced in the brain, which increases resistance to stress.
Simple exercises
To strengthen the defense mechanisms of your subconscious, perform simple exercises daily:
- Standing in front of the mirror, smile at yourself. There is no need to study your own reflection. After smiling, say a few compliments for yourself.
- During the working day, give yourself 10 minutes several times to relax. Just sit and look out the window or wall. At the same time, try not to think about anything at all.
- Use proper breathing techniques that are practiced in yoga. Breathe every night before going to bed.
If you feel that a stressful situation is inevitable, imagine yourself in armor or a tank. You need to mentally see yourself in shining armor or hidden in a reliable, impenetrable machine.
