Distress is what? The concept of distress in psychology

Stress is an integral part of our life. Thanks to this condition, the resistance of the human body to negative factors can not only decrease, but also increase. Quite different is distress. This condition has an exclusively deleterious effect on the human body. It is this phenomenon that will be discussed in this article.

Stress, distress, eustress

Well-known physician and world-renown biologist, as well as director of the International Institute of Stress in Montreal Hans Selye proposed to distinguish such polar functions of stress. It was he who introduced additional concepts: eustress and distress. Actually, stress is an important mechanism for the body to resist unfavorable external influences. Also, under the influence of eustress, there is a maximum mobilization of the internal resources of the individual. But distress is, of course, a harmful state for a person. The word itself is translated as "misfortune", "exhaustion". Later Selye, after years of research, wrote a book called "Stress without distress." In it, he describes in detail the essence of the biological concept of stress and suggests the so-called moral code, or code of conduct, following which one can maintain a normal level of tension, realize his natural potential, express his "I".

Thus, a stressful condition that activates and mobilizes the forces of the body is called stress. With this, everything is clear. And what is distress? This condition is characterized by excessive stress, in which the body can not adequately respond to environmental demands.

Eustress condition

Being in this state, a person experiences a loss of balance. At the same time, he has certain resources (material, spiritual, ethical, moral, life experience, knowledge base, etc.) in order to solve the tasks assigned to him. As a rule, the state of eustress is short-lived, during it actively "shallow" adapting reserves of personality are actively lost. It is manifested by problems in communication (speech is lost, people can not clearly articulate and express their thoughts), temporary failures in memory, somatic reactions (short-term darkening in the eyes, flushing blood to the skin, palpitation, etc.). But at the same time, the mental functions of the individual (memory, thinking, imagination) and the physiological functions of the organism are much better. When eustressing, a person feels the rise of inner strength.

The concept of "distress"

In psychology, this term means a state that adversely affects the body, disorganizingly affects the behavior and activities of a person. This phenomenon can cause dysfunctional and pathological disorders. Distress is a destructive process that is characterized by a deterioration in the course of psychophysiological functions. As a rule, such overstrain is a long-term stress, in which all reserves of adaptation (both "surface" and "deep") are mobilized and spent. Often a similar reaction of the body passes into mental illness: psychosis, neurosis.

Causes

Distress is a condition that develops as a result of:

• Prolonged inability to meet their physiological needs (lack of air, food, water, heat);

• Unusual, unsuitable conditions of life (for example, forced living in the mountains, where the concentration of air differs from the usual);

• Damage to the body, diseases, injuries, prolonged pain;

• Prolonged negative emotions.

Effects

Naturally, this state of health does not bring health. Stress in distress becomes very strong, excessive fussiness and inhibition appear. Man is difficult to control attention, he is distracted by any little things that begin to irritate. Often it unnecessarily fixes attention on something. Solving the problem, a person can not find an outlet and permanently obsesses on it. Distress also worsens memory. Even after reading a simple text several times, a person can not remember it. Developed and deviations in speech: the patient "swallows" words, stammers, increases the number of interjections, words, parasites. The quality of thinking deteriorates, only simple mental operations are preserved in case of distress. There is a narrowing of consciousness: the patient stops responding to humor. It's not recommended to joke with a person in such a state - he just does not understand jokes.

Respiratory distress syndrome

This is a very severe manifestation of respiratory failure, in which hypoxia, noncardiogenic pulmonary edema, and external respiratory depression develop. As a result of a sharp decrease in ventilation and oxygenation of the body, oxygen deficiency of the brain and heart is observed, which can endanger human life. Such a reaction can develop due to:

• Viral, bacterial, fungal pneumonia;

• Sepsis;

• Long-lasting and pronounced anaphylactic or septic shock;

• Aspirations of water, vomit;

• Trauma of the chest;

• Inhalation of toxic and irritating substances (chlorine, ammonia, phosgene, pure oxygen);

• Pulmonary embolism;

• Venous fluid overload;

• Burns;

• Autoimmune processes;

• Overdose of narcotic drugs.

Symptoms

This condition is characterized by a succession of stages that reflect pathological changes in the lungs:

• Stage 1: in the first 6 hours after exposure to the stress factor, there are no complaints, clinical changes are not determined.

• 2 nd stage: after 6-12 hours there is a development of increasing shortness of breath, cyanosis, tachycardia, there is a cough with frothy sputum and blood veins, in the blood the oxygen content steadily decreases.

• 3rd stage: after 12-24 hours, breathing becomes bubbling, foamy pink sputum is released, hypercapnia and hypoxemia increase, central venous pressure rises, arterial pressure decreases.

• Stage 4: arterial hypotension, atrial fibrillation, severe tachycardia, ventricular tachycardia, thrombocytopenia, leukopenia, pulmonary and gastrointestinal hemorrhages, increase the level of creatinine and urea. As a result - oppression of consciousness and coma.

Treatment

Distress syndrome is treated only in the intensive care unit. First of all, it is necessary:

• To eliminate the stressful damaging factor;

• Correct hypoxemia and acute respiratory failure;

• Eliminate polyorganism.

Therapy is successful only in the early stages of the disease, until irreversible lesions of the lung tissue have occurred.