Stress is so part of our daily life that we think we can recognize it.
However, many people suffer intensely, without really realizing it. Indeed, behind the apparent fatigue or nervousness, sometimes hides a real alert cry of the body and the mind.
How to really learn to identify it? Here are the advice of psychologist Siyana Milnéva.
Acute stress, a spiral that exhausts body and mind
Acute stress, explains Siyana Milnéva, is defined by the fact that “body and mind are under permanent pressure “.
She finds an increase in cases among her patients, often linked to professional life. “”Today several people are in a situation of exhaustion and this is most often linked to work. This is called suffering at work, professional exhaustion or even burnout “.
For the psychologist, it is a vicious spiral where each symptom strengthens others, until it leads to a real collapse.
Burnout and acute stress, two intimately linked realities
According to the expert, professional exhaustion causes a “neuronal disconnection”: certain areas of the brain cease to activate, as put to forced rest. This invisible rupture explains why many patients can no longer work normally, despite their efforts.
But the problem is not limited to the world of work. Little by little, the acute stress crisis invades all the spheres of life. Its manifestations, sometimes harmless at the start, grow and end up feeding between them.
Five sets of signs that must alert
How to distinguish simple fatigue from acute stress? For Siyana Milnéva, five large sets of symptoms should push to react without delay:
- Sleep and energy. “”When sleep deteriorates, our cortisol level remains high in the evening. This delays falling asleep and fragments sleep “. Result: the body is exhausted, the energy falls and even the holidays are no longer enough to recover;
- Automatic pilot mode. “”The human being forgets, he neglects his basic needs (hydrating, sleeping enough, feeding properly). The person begins to lead a robot life without a specific objective, guided by fears and constant stress “;
- Anxiety and ruminations. “”Anxiety becomes a major and destructive feeling in daily life. The person is condition to work with “. Obsessive thoughts aggravate this vicious circle and can trigger palpitations, dizziness or tinnitus;
- Body and cognitive symptoms. “”Emotional, professional and personal overload generates unusual symptoms at the somatic level “. Loss of appetite, noise hypersensitivity, failing memory, inability to follow a conversation: each effort becomes a test;
- Self -removal and disconnection. “”Nothing motivates the person, she begins to isolate herself, to ignore relatives and friends. “ Isolation is often accompanied by a drop in self -esteem, a feeling of emptiness, sometimes even morbid thoughts. The person ends up feeling “extinguished”.
The entourage can help get out of this spiral
What makes the stress acute so formidable, underlines Siyana Milnéva is its insidious progression. Insomnia fuel fatigue, fatigue strengthens anxiety, anxiety accentuates ruminations, which themselves lead to isolation. The spiral closes, until the body says stop.
Relatives are often the first to see this tilting. “”It is loved ones who first notice the changes: unusual irritability, constant nervousness, disinterest in daily relationships or activities. These external signals, sometimes minimized by the person himself, must be taken seriously. “
This vigilance of the entourage is essential: it can trigger an awareness and make it possible to initiate specialized support, essential to stop this global exhaustion.