Methods for increasing stress resistance in an adult: advice from a psychologist

Difficult life situations often arise in our lives. Some of them can radically change our lives. The death of a loved one, job loss, serious illness, terrorist attacks and other traumatic events can occur unexpectedly and have a profound impact on us. You may react to such circumstances with an outpouring of strong emotions and feelings of uncertainty.

However, people adapt well to changing living conditions and stressful situations over time. What allows them to do this?

The quality that allows us to adapt to constant changes and resist stress is stress resistance .

This article is written to help you find your own way to develop stress resistance. More precisely, a whole range of methods, methods and techniques that will be effective for you. The information in the article describes stress tolerance and a number of factors that affect people's ability to cope with difficulties. Much of the article is devoted to developing and using a personal strategy to increase stress resistance.

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.

Ways to increase

Volitional personality traits - what is it in psychology, their formation

Many sources of literature write about stress resistance, how to develop it, how to increase the level of resistance to stress.

The most useful ways are:

Listening to the body. You should be more conscious, understand what the body wants. The body is not a robot; it needs the care and participation of its owner. If you want to get enough sleep, then you shouldn’t get out of bed abruptly in the morning; if you don’t want to do this or that work, you should refuse it.
Vitamin D and walks. The sun's rays have a positive effect on the body, helping to increase its resistance even to very serious diseases. It is advisable to allocate at least 30 minutes a day for relaxation and a walk in the fresh air.

Walking in sunny weather increases stress resistance

To increase stress resistance, it is incredibly important to be able to forgive. This skill needs to be trained. When you feel offended and angry at another person, cortisol is released, which contributes to the production of stress.
Sports and physical activity. This method will help tone your muscles and increase your resistance to stress.
Yoga and meditation. They will help you get rid of negative emotions in a very short time and relax.
Reducing sweets in the diet. With excessive consumption of fast carbohydrates, the hormone cortisol enters the bloodstream, which provokes stress.
Put away gadgets for a while. You can practice this method for one day once a week.
Sound therapy, for example, classical music, birdsong, the sound of the sea and surf, will help develop stress resistance.

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.

Functions and mechanisms of stress resistance

Stress tolerance makes it possible to avoid stress by reconsidering your attitude towards the situation.
Is it worth running and being nervous if you’re already late anyway? Any person, regardless of status and rank, experiences negative emotions. The only difference is in the size and reasons that cause them. Unfortunately, it is not within our power to get rid of anger, indignation, resentment, disappointment, or avoid stressful situations. But it is possible to change your attitude towards negative reactions that have arisen. This is called stress resistance.

The first positive function of stress resistance is to protect the body from negative effects on human health.

Many people are familiar with the condition when, after even slight overexcitation, headaches, malaise, lethargy, fatigue arise, blood pressure rises, heart rate increases and other unpleasant sensations associated with deteriorating health
From a medical point of view, cortisol levels increase dramatically during times of stress. It is due to the increase in this hormone that changes in a person’s condition occur, far from for the better. With profound consequences

A person with high stress resistance has good health and is least susceptible to viral diseases.

The second function can be called easy and independent existence in all spheres of life.

A stress-resistant person can complete the task under any conditions. He is not distracted by: noise, extraneous questions, eternal, unreasonable dissatisfaction with his superiors, envy of colleagues, family problems
Such an individual always stands out from the masses - calm, self-confident, self-sufficient. This man is a leader
In any even the most extreme situation (fire, flood, flood, etc.), he finds a way out
He lets rudeness, aggression, ridicule, gossip, intrigue pass him by, simply not noticing

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.

Methods for increasing stress resistance

One of the most interesting things about stress tolerance is that it can be trained and made better. And all that is required is to master several effective methods of increasing it. Next, we will talk about the most, in our opinion, simple, but at the same time very effective:

Relaxation. It is impossible to become a stress-resistant person without knowing how to relax. Various exercises to relieve emotional and muscle tension are great for mastering the skill of relaxation, getting rid of tension, unloading the nervous system, and developing positive thinking. Master these skills to better cope with the pressure of circumstances.
Breath. It is the basis of life, and this is connected not only with physiology, but also with the emotional sphere. Today you can find special exercises for proper breathing, with the help of which you can learn to change your emotional state, tune in to productive work, and even improve the skill of making the right decisions.
Physical exercise. Along with excess physical energy, excess mental energy is always released. That is why sports and active physical labor are great for relieving tension and preventing stress. However, moderation is extremely important here, because... otherwise, you can achieve even more stress, which has no benefit.
Physiotherapy. This option is suitable in special cases - when you cannot cope with stress on your own. It involves visiting a psychologist or psychotherapist. Professional specialists with experience are able to identify the causes of stress, select the best ways to get rid of it and set the client up for fruitful work.
Pharmacology. Today, many tools have been developed to help combat stress and strengthen mental health. Many of them are actually effective, but it is very important not to self-medicate. If there is a need for medications, you must contact a specialist and consult. It is also important to consider contraindications.

The listed methods of increasing stress resistance give powerful results, but their use is, albeit small, but still a way out of the comfort zone. They require some changes in life, which are often associated with certain difficulties, in particular psychological ones.

Based on this, it makes sense to master simpler ways to increase stress resistance. They are much easier and more natural to implement in everyday life, and you don’t need to spend a lot of effort, energy and time on it. Let's talk about them in general terms:

Try to get full sleep and get enough sleep. Remember that the average person’s body needs 7 to 8 hours to recuperate. Combating stress with chronic lack of sleep is almost pointless, because... it negatively affects both the psyche and physical condition.
Follow the rules of proper nutrition. Vitamins and microelements supply the body with energy, strengthen the immune system, ensure good health, and make the psyche stronger. Food is the fuel of the body, and it must be of high quality.
Remember to rest. By rest we do not mean a two-week vacation every six months (by the way, you shouldn’t forget about that either), but daily breaks from work, weekly days off. During rest, you need to completely disconnect from problems, affairs and worries.
Find a hobby. If you have an activity for the soul (football, knitting, poetry, painting, etc.), it will be much easier for you to distract yourself from worries, relax and put your thoughts in order. The main rule is that a hobby should correspond to interests and bring pleasure.
Stop accumulating negativity and worries inside yourself. Negative emotions are a worm that gnaws at a person from the inside. When negative potential accumulates, it must immediately be thrown out or extinguished using the methods described above. An excess of such potential can lead to serious consequences.
Don't focus on problems. Scrolling them endlessly in your head does not lead to any positive changes. If the problem can be solved now, do it; if not, set aside some time to think about its solution. Learn to plan and distribute the load.
Cry if necessary. There is nothing shameful or shameful in tears, and accumulated emotions come out with them. In addition, tears contain a hormone that helps fight stress (for more interesting information on this topic, read our article “15 Vital Facts About Stress”).
Refocus on the positive. There will always be dark sides in life, you can’t escape them, but you have the opportunity to choose what to focus on. Try to see more positive things in life, and let problems be an opportunity to grow and develop.
Keep a diary. Write down the most vivid events (both good and bad) and your experiences in a notebook. This way, you will be able to gain a deeper understanding of what exactly is driving you crazy, and this will give you the opportunity to eliminate sources of stress and work on your reactions to stress factors.
Don't judge others. When communicating with people, take their position, try to understand why they behave in one way or another; develop empathy. Having a positive or neutral attitude towards people will make you more tolerant and stronger psychologically.
Analyze yourself. Identify your strengths and weaknesses, try to understand which personal qualities help and which hinder you in life. Having found the disadvantages, look for ways to change them or turn them into your advantages, because even this is possible for a person who seriously works on himself.
Ask for help. It is not necessary to consult with specialists, go to psychologists and spend time and money on this (and not everyone wants to pour out their soul to a stranger). Family and friends can often be excellent support and advice. Share your thoughts, worries and experiences with them.
Get tested. There are many variations of stress resistance tests on the Internet. They help you evaluate your current performance, understand which direction you should move in, and track your progress as you develop stress resistance in the future.
Sign up for our online program “Mental Self-Regulation”. After completing it, you will learn to manage your emotional states, including reactions to stress factors and psycho-emotional stimuli. All this will greatly increase your stress resistance.

These recommendations in practice also turn out to be very effective, but we must not forget that to increase stress resistance it is not enough to master one method or start applying one recommendation. Moreover, you cannot count on quick results, thinking that in a couple of days stress will stop affecting you.

This requires an integrated and competent approach. This means that, firstly, you need to put into practice everything that we said, secondly, do it constantly, and thirdly, understand that tangible success will come only with time. However, all this is quite easy if you have a truly strong desire to develop stress resistance.

In addition, we strongly recommend that you get acquainted with other methods of developing and increasing stress resistance, which we wrote about in the articles “Stress resistance. How to stay calm and productive" and "Preventing stress and developing stress resistance."

In conclusion, we will only add that stress does not need to be resisted. It just doesn't make sense. The main task is to learn to adapt to it without spending extra energy on it. The nervous system can be successfully trained, but it should be trained carefully and consistently. And you already know how this is done.

It is hardly possible to achieve a completely stress-free life, so we wish you more bright streaks and the ability to persevere through the dark ones!

We also recommend reading:

Storytelling
Surprising facts about stress
Workplace stress and stress management
Ways to relieve stress
Four types of stress
Prevention of stress and development of stress resistance
Coping strategies as a way to deal with stress
Stress: is there any benefit from it and how to get it?
Impact of stress on quality of life
Stress and psychology: how they are connected
15 Vital Facts About Stress

Key words:1Psychoregulation

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.

The concept of stress resistance

Stress tolerance is a whole complex of personal qualities that allow you to calmly tolerate and control the impact of stressors without excessive emotionality. Prevents the development of mental disorders and other harmful consequences.

Often, success in life is achieved not by those who are gifted and have a certain set of talents, but by those who have a high level of stress resistance.

Considering that stress has a destructive effect on the nervous system, psyche and personality of a person, as well as physical health, it is necessary to learn how to resist it.

In 2020, the article “Interhemispheric asymmetry and the structure of stress resistance resources of the integral individuality” was published (authors: V. G. Gryazeva-Dobshinskaya, Yu. A. Dmitrieva and S. Yu. Korobova). It describes a study that examined the psychophysiology, psychodynamics, and personality factors in the development of stress tolerance. It was found that its level largely depends on the characteristics of interhemispheric asymmetry, which is individual for each person.

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.

The Benefits of Resilience

Stress tolerance, just like stress, is an indispensable companion of our lives. The only difference is how high it is. At the same time, a high ability to withstand stress and change gives a person many advantages. Let us highlight the most significant among them:

Good health. It has already been scientifically proven that people who worry and worry less live longer than those who constantly “twitch”. And the reason is simple: stress provokes disruptions in the functioning of all body systems (nervous, cardiovascular, excretory, digestive and others), which leads to the development of a variety of diseases, including deadly ones.
Harmonious life. A person’s internal state is reflected in what happens around him. Balance within makes a person more stable, prevents wasting energy on unnecessary worries and worries, increases productivity and efficiency, puts family and sexual life in order and contributes to success.
The ability to create. People who are not bothered by hysteria, malaise, insomnia, depression and other ailments can direct their energies not to combating the factors and consequences of stress, but to creation. They can develop, engage in self-education, create, make discoveries, raise children, build strong relationships and achieve other important goals.
Positive outlook. The inability to cope with problems, troubles and difficult events thickens the colors and contributes to seeing the world in gray tones. Stress resistance gives you a unique opportunity to see the good around you, notice the good, feel the positive vibrations of all living things and, of course, perceive yourself in a positive way.
Making the right decisions. People with high stress tolerance experience fewer doubts when faced with a choice, and having made a choice, they move forward boldly and confidently. In addition, they can more realistically predict the consequences of their decisions and actions, effectively analyze actions, draw correct conclusions, and learn from mistakes made.
Unlocking your potential. Confidence and faith in success that come with the development of stress resistance expand a person’s personal boundaries. He becomes capable of what he could not do before, more and more new things enter his comfort zone, and there is less of what causes fear and discomfort in life. As a result, nothing is impossible for him, and the unusual arouses interest and a desire to understand everything.

As you can see, we are talking about the benefits of stress resistance for a reason – there are very good reasons for this. We think you will agree that it is very necessary to develop it in yourself. And we decided to devote the next section of the article to this topic, because it should contain both theory and practical recommendations.

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.

Diagnostics of stress resistance

Name of the diagnostic technique: “Diagnostics of stress.”

Author: O. N. Istratova (candidate of psychological sciences).

The goal is to check:

individual characteristics of response to stressors;
degree of self-control;
level of emotional lability.

Age: over 18 years (the level of stress resistance is determined only for an adult).

Test:

Calculation of results to determine the level of stress resistance.

0-4 points

You have high stress tolerance. You know how to manage emotions, are restrained in a stressful situation, are not prone to hysteria and irritation, do not blame anyone for what happened, and try to quickly find a solution to the problem.

5-7 points

Average level. You maintain your composure with varying degrees of success, sometimes being restrained and focused in the most difficult situations, and sometimes losing your temper over the smallest things.

8-9 points

You have low stress tolerance. You are incapable of self-control and self-control, overtired and exhausted.

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.

Strategies for increasing stress resistance

It is important to understand that developing stress resistance is a process. It is not something that happens to you once or never happens. People react to traumatic and stressful life events in different ways. A way to build resilience that works for one person may not work for another. Different people use different strategies to develop resilience to stress.

Below are 10 ways that, according to the American Psychological Association, are the leading ways to overcome stress and develop stress resistance. You can use them to develop your personal strategy for increasing stress resistance.

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.

How to increase and develop stress resistance: the best 9 techniques and exercises

Anxiety is a part of life and cannot be avoided.

Resistance training should happen every day. The older a person is, the more effort it will take to change his usual reactions to external stimuli.

The development of stress resistance consists of the following skills:

Be positive. Developing an attitude is the key to resisting the onslaught of stressors. Much of innate optimism is in the genes and depends on the correct functioning of the brain centers. One way to change the brain's response to stress is to stop and rationalize pessimistic thoughts, including guilt.
To not give up. Try to overcome stressors. If the source of your anxiety is related to an event, try changing your perception of it. Rest assured that failure is a component of growth. Learn to accept it.
Find a role model. Idols can influence our values (psychological imprinting). Look for someone who impresses you. Keep track of your values and stick to them as soon as you feel your world starting to wobble under stress.
Don't be afraid to face your fears - fight. Fear and stress are normal. Don’t be afraid to be afraid, don’t deny the existence of fear. Instead, use it as a tool to help improve your self-esteem.
Practice actively coping with stress. Begin to actively combat the painful onset of stressful episodes. Instead of accepting the situation or retreating in the face of stress, try to look for solutions: minimize your risk assessment, encourage yourself and think positively, actively seeking help from others.
Admit your mistakes and difficult situations. People around you may not notice that you are struggling with stress unless you talk about it. Factors that are a source of fear can influence those who have dealt with it and will now be happy to support you in this fight.
Do brain exercises. Changing your mental tasks will be helpful. With a little self-discipline and through regular and systematic exercise, satisfactory results can be achieved.
Don't forget about rest. A picnic or walk will help you get rid of obsessions. When struggling with difficulties, this helps to concentrate emotions and thoughts on something distant from the problem, for example, in nature.
Build character strengths in yourself. Recognizing, using and developing your character strengths is an effective solution to dealing with stress. Use your talents and skills.

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

What is stress tolerance?

Stress resistance presupposes a person’s adaptation to a critical life situation. For example, this could be psychological trauma, threats, tragedies, health problems, problems in relationships with loved ones, problems at work, financial difficulties, and so on. Stress tolerance presupposes the ability to cope with such circumstances and quickly return to a normal state of mind.

In the course of research, it was discovered that every person can have this quality. After all, it is not something supernatural. If you observe, people often exhibit it. It is very important to understand that people who develop resistance to stress do not become indifferent to suffering and easily experience any difficulties. Pain on an emotional level and serious psychological trauma will not go away, a person will simply learn to cope with them, experience them less painfully and return to normal.

But such a quality as stress resistance is not an innate trait. You need to know that this is a skill acquired throughout a person’s life. This trait generally implies the beliefs, actions, and train of thought of a person that he acquires in the process of his development.

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.

Factors of stress resistance

A number of factors contribute to stress tolerance. Many studies show that the main factor influencing resilience is caring and supportive relationships within and outside the family. Relationships that build love and trust, provide role models, and offer encouragement and support help increase a person's resilience to stress.

Also, the following factors can contribute to high stress resistance:

Ability to make realistic plans and take steps to achieve them.
A positive view of yourself and confidence in your strengths and abilities.
Communication and problem solving skills.
The ability to manage strong feelings and impulses.

Each of us can develop all these factors individually or together. Both independently and using the services of specialists for their development.

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.

Stress resistance in professional activities

Stress resistance will not allow you to bring your emotions to an uncontrollable state.

Every competent manager is interested in having stress-resistant subordinates.
A boss who is not stress-resistant himself, with a team of the same subordinates who are always ready to silently listen to the barrage of his unfounded accusations, after another personal stress, is unlikely to achieve good results for his enterprise.
After all, listening and remaining silent does not mean being a stress-resistant individual.
As we discussed above, it is important how you approach this.
Will such a team be able to continue to work productively? Or after another scolding, plus family problems, and someone spilled a cup of coffee on the table, stepped on their foot on the bus. What will happen to this team? Nothing good.
The day will pass in worries, discussions - what a boor the boss is.
What would a strong man do? As if nothing had happened. He will immediately forget about everything. He will sit down and work.

Therefore it is important:

Not only when hiring, check the candidate for suitability. And not so that he would silently listen to the intensity of passions. And competently and purposefully establish the real stress resistance of the future specialist.
In addition, it is necessary to improve this quality among employees. To do this, first of all, you should conduct a comprehensive psychological analysis of the concept of “stress resistance,” involving competent specialists in this field.
This will relieve stress in the team, which will naturally increase the quality and productivity of labor and reduce staff turnover.

Signs of stress resistance

The concept under consideration cannot be classified as permanent. The formation of stress resistance is influenced by internal and external factors: genetic predisposition, family atmosphere, social circle, volitional qualities, life experience. The main sign of self-control is the ability to withstand psychological stress in peak and extreme situations.

Traits of a person who can control their emotions:

ability to predict life situations;
thoughtful decision making;
the ability to continue working for a long time;
developed volitional qualities.

Levels of stress tolerance

This criterion is used to judge the psychological endurance of each individual. This characteristic is individual for each person. In total, there are three levels of stress resistance, which determine the effectiveness and speed of problem solving:

High
. Distinctive features of this type of personality: efficiency, self-control, equanimity. Their behavior is not affected by external factors.
Average
. Individuals are characterized by fortitude and the ability to overcome difficulties. They are looking for a way out of the current situation with the best outcome for themselves.
Short
. Such individuals cannot demonstrate stress-resistant behavior even in a simple situation. They have to work hard on themselves to adapt to reality.

Stress Response – The Importance of the Adrenal Glands

The adrenal glands are 2 small endocrine glands that “sit” on top of our kidneys. They are the ones who give us the opportunity to adapt to stressful situations in order to survive them with minimal losses to the body.

Maintaining adrenal health has become especially important over the past few decades. This is due to the chronically high levels of stress that characterize the lives of most of us.

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The more stress we experience throughout our lives, the more active our adrenal glands have to work. It is not surprising that they wear out faster and cease to perform their functions.
Meanwhile, for women the adrenal glands are of particular strategic importance. After all, they are the ones who take over the production of female sex hormones - estrogen and progesterone upon the onset of menopause.

Loss of adrenal function due to high levels of stress is one of the leading causes of acute menopausal symptoms in women in Western countries. Indeed, in this case they are not able to take on the production of sex hormones.

How to assess a candidate's stress resistance

It is very important for many companies that the candidate is truly stress-resistant, not in words, but in practice. But how can an HR manager make sure a person can handle stress and pressure?

For this purpose there is a stress interview, also called a stress test. These interviews come in many forms and lengths, ranging from mildly embarrassing to downright aggressive conversations.

The logic is that how a candidate reacts to a stressful situation during an interview is an indication of how they will handle similar situations on the job. Creating an emotionally chaotic survey puts candidates under psychological stress to see if they will be nervous, remain calm, or even feel comfortable under pressure.

Stress tests are quite controversial because they create a sensitive and emotionally charged relationship between the candidate and the hiring manager, and thereby the company. Sometimes even the most successful candidates will decline an offer due to the nature of the interview, so this is something to consider if you decide to conduct such an interview.

Stress interviews are more often justified for certain industries. For example, people involved in sales or airline employees often have to deal with difficult situations. Recruiters can use stress interviewing tactics to find people who can handle potentially difficult situations.

How Companies Can Reduce Employee Stress

Employees who suffer from work-related stress can result in decreased productivity, lost work days, and increased turnover. However, as a manager, supervisor or employer, you can help reduce stress in the workplace. The first step is to be a role model. If you can remain calm in stressful situations, it's much easier for your employees to follow suit.

Benefits of stress-resistant employees for the company:

Quick adaptation to market changes
Friendly, attentive, loyal customer service
Ability to implement changes quickly and with minimal resistance
High employee productivity
Best Teamwork

What happens physiologically when we feel stressed?

Stress is a situation that, evolutionarily, tends to pose a serious threat to our survival, such as an encounter with a saber-toothed tiger.

It is to overcome such a situation that changes in the body are aimed, which are initiated by stress hormones - cortisol and adrenaline. In other words, they mobilize all the body’s resources in order, relatively speaking, to escape from the enemy or defeat him in battle.

The main changes:

Our blood vessels narrow and blood pressure increases to avoid blood loss in case of injury.
Increases blood sugar levels so you have access to a quick source of energy when needed
Inflammation is reduced and the immune system is suppressed to save valuable body resources
the activity of the amygdala, the part of the primitive brain responsible for feelings of fear, anxiety and worry, increases and at the same time the activity of the areas of the brain that are responsible for memory and logical thinking decreases