Breathing techniques as a stress management method. Stress neutralization management

03.12.2020 Doors, windows

Zhdanov Oleg Igorevich

Rapid stress management techniques are based on the distinction between facts and meanings (their interpretations). Facts are real events. The meanings are the result of their interpretation.

Stress, unless it is associated with a direct physical threat, is not a reaction to a fact, but to the meaning attributed to it. Change the meaning and you change how you react to what is happening. The following techniques are simple and effective in relieving the effects of the stress you are experiencing.

So, for example, in order not to get angry about your child's noisy behavior, take his agility as a sign of good health, and in order not to get annoyed while waiting for your wife's fees, take them as her efforts to look attractive.

Stress hurts, and the long train of associated experiences can overwhelm you. Therefore, it is important not only to protect yourself from stress itself, but also to free yourself from its possible consequences - to break the last link of the vicious circle of destruction.

The most dangerous consequence of stress is fixed tension.

No tension - no flight. If you want to be successful, you must mobilize. No tension - no action. But if there is no action, then why stress? The stress of a civilized person is dangerous not so much by the tension caused by it, but by the blocking of the action that realizes this tension.

Tension is a natural prelude to purposeful action ... But when this action is delayed or suppressed, excessive tension is created. Such accumulated tension blocks energy, depletes life potential. Containing this energy only increases its destructive powers.

Being unhappy is hard work. Think of the constant flow of energy that goes into keeping your body cocked for hours. Muscles are mobilized, but this mobilization does not translate into anything. It is like a car skidding in the mud - the wheels turn and the car does not move. This is both tedious and useless. Figuratively speaking, a person spends more effort to frown than to smile.

The stress experienced by stress often persists after the event that triggered it has passed. It is, as it were, “embedded” in the structure of your personality and keeps you in its grip as long as you are able to withstand it. This tension is then transformed into neurotic behavior and illness. Unrequited stress is at the root of most of our ailments.

Respiratory technique

The next breathing technique is effective way restoring the natural biorhythm of a healthy body.

It is based on the fact that tension and relaxation are integral parts of breathing. Inhalation is the contraction of the intercostal muscles and the unfolding of the chest, stretching of the lung tissue. Exhale is their relaxation. In this case, you "pick up" these natural processes and strengthen them physically and mentally.

So, sit up straight and exhale all the air from your lungs. Relax as you exhale. Grasp the edges of the seat firmly with both hands and pull it up as you inhale, as if trying to lift a chair.

Tighten your arms, abdomen, and other muscles in your body, continuing to lift the chair you're sitting on.

While maintaining tension throughout the body, hold your breath.

Exhale slowly through your nose, relaxing your body and letting go of the seat. Relax completely after exhaling. There should be no tension anywhere in the body.

Do three to five of these cycles. Determine the time of inhalation, exhalation and holding of breath in accordance with your state of health and your breathing rhythm.

As you do the exercise, imagine a personal counter to measure your tension-relaxation. This meter can be any measuring device that has a scale, like a thermometer, barometer, voltmeter, and so on. When you tighten on the inhale, "watch" how the indicator of your tension increases, when you relax on the exhale - "watch" how it decreases. The more you manage to "swing" the stress-relaxation indicator between its polar values, the more effective the exercise will be.

If you suffer from hypertension, then practice only a relaxing breathing method, without a phase of tension on the inhale. Then, with each exhalation, release from the tension that remains in you, as if "blowing" its reading from the scale of your personal counter-meter.

Rhythmic breathing and mental cleaning

Rhythmic breathing is an effective way to relieve the effects of stress experienced.

Continuous rhythmic breathing with natural alternating relaxation and tension is a kind of massage of the body from the inside. It speeds up blood circulation and ultimately ensures lasting health. The natural rhythm improves blood circulation in all parts of the body and gradually relieves fatigue.

This way you prevent depletion of the body. If you are not exhausted, you do not fall into a state of anxiety at the slightest provocation; if you are not worried, your consciousness is in a stable, calm state. With this attitude, you feel ready to cope with any external difficulty that arises.

To get rid of the mental toxins of stress, you need to perform some kind of "Mental cleaning".

To do this, "go back" to the moment of the past, where you were not completely satisfied with your behavior, and relive it again, but not the way you did it then. Renowned psychotherapist Virginia Satir calls this "come back and see with new eyes." From the standpoint of the present, understand what you lacked then for more successful behavior.

Having a new resource, “walk” through the occasion several times until you are satisfied with your reaction. Change your perception of what happened so that it no longer serves as a source of stress for you.

By giving the memory the characteristics of a strong positive experience, you not only protect yourself from the trace effects of stress, but also gain confidence that in the future this memory will positively influence all subsequent events. Although you realize that you yourself created it due to your properties, it nevertheless has the unconscious force of a real incident.

The outlined techniques are simple and effective for relieving the effects of the stress you are experiencing. It is important that you remember to use them from time to time, and you always feel good about yourself.

How to make it a habit, remember it all day long? Here are some tips to help you remember to relax amid the many concerns of everyday life. Most of them are triggered by sending a signal that grabs your attention.

For example, a note with the words "Relax" or "Remember!" Will help you. Attach it to your desk, mirror, refrigerator, or car dashboard. Put it in your wallet so that every time you take out money, you can see it.

If you are used to making entries in the calendar, then write this appeal to yourself on each page for two weeks in advance, preferably in bright ink.

Change your watch hand, put on or remove the ring from your finger, or move your comb to a different location. Tell yourself that whenever you notice a difference, you need to remember your “emotional barometer” and consciously relax.

Adapt the technology we offer to your lifestyle, so that it becomes natural and comfortable for you, and use it for your health.

Name	Method characteristic
1 . Planning	It is necessary to plan the solution of tasks (personal or business) for the next day or in the near future. The plans need to correlate personal goals with the goals of the organization.
2. Physical exercises	Exercise, exercise throughout the day can help avoid stress, as it is a good outlet for negative energy, has a beneficial effect on the physical state organism.
	Prolonged stress can lead to the formation of a lack of vitamins, weakening of the body and ultimately to illness. In addition, during times of stress, the normal diet is disrupted. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the right diet with your doctor.
4. Psychotherapy	It is necessary to contact a psychotherapist who will recommend special exercises taking into account the current stressful situation and identify a professional specialist based on psychoanalysis to carry out intensive one-on-one work.
5. Meditation and relaxation	Far Eastern methods of meditation (a state of inner concentration, concentration of attention on something). Yoga, Zen Buddhism, religion, prayer.

Lecture 8. NORMATIVE REGULATION

AND THE ROLE OF THE LEADER IN CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

A variety of norms and their role in conflict resolution.

The leader as a subject of the conflict.

The leader is a mediator in the conflict.

Personal example of a leader in overcoming conflicts and stresses.

8.1. Variety of norms and their role in conflict resolution

The norms, ensuring the predictability of the behavior of team members, allow everyone to react to situations in a standard way, without hesitation, without risking to get into an awkward situation himself or put others in it. From this point of view, norms turn out to be a factor in the stabilization of relations, relieve a person from anxiety and uncertainty.

When the system of norms has been formed, all aspects of the production life of the collective are under the control of the group.

Conflict, like any relationship between people, is regulatednorms of social behavior. At the same time, norms of various kinds operate: moral, religious, legal, political. The use of norms for resolving conflicts has its own characteristics, since they operate in a specific situation, in the process of confrontation between the parties.

Of greatest importance in conflict management are moral standards . In their light, the conflict and its participants receive moral assessments that can be ambiguous, and sometimes even opposite.

As a result, the ambiguity of the assessments of the conflict by its participants and those around it can expand the scale of the unfolding conflict and cause new clashes.

Moral norms are usually not written down anywhere and generally are not clearly formulated. The use of them in the practice of conflict resolution is still rare.

The conflict situation can be regulated and religious norms . This is especially true for those religions, for example Islam, in which religious rules extend, in addition to church relations, to a wide area of civil life - marriage, family, education, etc.

Important to conflict management are norms of law. Unlike moral and religious rules, legal norms are unambiguous, enshrined in laws and other acts, and are sanctioned by the state.

The legal norm has several forms of influence on the behavior of people:

informational;

value-based;

forced.

Political norms are not of a legal nature. One or another conflict, including an international one, can or should be settled by peaceful political means: through negotiations, mutual concessions and other actions, including those that are not legally formalized. There are norms of behavior for political parties, movements and other public organizations.

Various kinds of rules, developed to regulate all sorts of relations, are also normative in nature.

In a number of Western countries, in order to prevent conflicts, it is common to include in contracts concluded between firms and individuals, special clauses providing for the procedure for resolving disputes that arise.

It must be remembered that there is a legal way to resolve almost any conflict (for example, going to court). In this regard, it is important to rely on a documentary basis when preventing and resolving conflicts. For these purposes, documents are used in which the reasons causing the conflict situation are recorded; the positions of the parties to the conflict; the dynamics of the collision, the passage of conciliation procedures; appeals to arbitration and court.

Stress is a complex of physical, chemical and other reactions of a person to stressors in environment, the action of which unbalances its physiological and mental functions. Stress can be positive or negative.

Positive stress makes us perform better and more creatively. In this case, all of our senses become clear and ready to go. Such positive stress is not only not dangerous, no, but even beneficial. He is able to improve performance. Negative stress, on the other hand, deprives a person of energy and creates big problems for the individual and the organization.

The causes of stress are formed with the influence of two groups of factors:

a) organizational factors:

1) the overload of an employee during the working day leads to anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, etc.;

2) too little workload of the employee during the working day contributes to the emergence of anxiety about his value, his professionalism;

3) uninteresting work;

4) a role conflict arises when an employee is presented with conflicting demands;

5) the vagueness of the roles with the fuzzy formulation of tasks and powers for the use of resources;

6) poor working conditions;

7) poor awareness;

8) uncertainty of the employee's position, uncertainty pending a decision of the management.

b) personal factors accompanying any changes:

1) positive events (wedding, appointment to a new position, very large purchase, pregnancy, etc.);

2) negative events (divorce, illness, refusal of management from promotion, dismissal from work, financial losses, etc.).

Scientists have found that the attitude of each person determines how quickly and strongly he reacts to stress. An ambitious person is harmed by stress and stress much more than someone who is more detached about high demands and expectations. The decisive factor is whether a person feels himself in a tense situation under pressure or perceives it rather as a challenge, as an opportunity to prove what he really is worth. Each person has his own criteria for defining something as stress and pressure. Some are just starting to taste and bloom noticeably when others feel completely exhausted and destabilized. Someone is especially sensitive in certain areas and it is here that they react extremely quickly to stress with physical symptoms. A known measure of tension is necessary for us and even useful. For example, in situations of obvious danger, it is important that the body works quickly and reliably, emitting a large dose of adrenaline and thereby ensuring the ability to react at the moment. Stress helps you respond quickly in a critical situation. And in less dangerous moments, it is often useful to be in a special tone in order to quickly perceive and use important information... For example: in the situation of an exam or check, in the case of an important conversation with colleagues or bosses, on the road, during telephone conversations with clients, in the case of communication with various authorities and city services, when it comes to financial issues or relationships. Even in situations that we would not associate with the concept of stress, our body often reacts with the same stress as it does in the situations listed above.

It is situations that require all your energy that teach you flexibility and push you to develop other strategies. But if you strive to solve new problems, to cope with new loads using old strategies, you will very quickly hit your own limits. And you will feel exhausted and exhausted, i.e. find yourself in a state of stress.

The sooner you decide to respond to challenges and cope with the tasks that the world around you set for you, the more stable your health and performance will be. This self-reliance will support you the more the more consistently you try not to make demands on yourself. Here great importance have stress relieving techniques.

A huge number of organizations place great emphasis on stress management training. The fact is that their employees are simply required to be able to cope with such situations. After all, if they allow stress to overcome them, the effectiveness of their work will be much lower. And when employees have poor performance, then the organization loses all its advantages in the market. Effective stress management boils down to this: change the things you can change and embrace the things you can't.

Environmental stressors: 1. Work: quantitative, overload, qualitative, overload, unexplained, variable, poor equipment. 2. Structural climate: poor communication, lack of participation, incorrectly defined hierarchy. 3. Non-organizational factors: family, economy, society, life circumstances, crime, price increases 4. Role at work: role conflict, role ambiguity, responsibility for people, lack of support from the manager, inconsistency with status. 5. Career problems: slow progress, too fast progress, injustice, lack of preparation, inadequate qualifications 6. Relationship: with managers, subordinates, employees, clients 7. Personal stress: needs, hopes and achievements, emotional instability, overestimated (underestimated) self-esteem, ambiguity.

There are at least two classifications of stress neutralization methods. The first classification is based on the nature of the anti-stress effect:

Physical (bath, tempering, water procedures, light exposure),

Biochemical (pharmacotherapy, alcohol, herbal medicine, etc.),

Physiological (massage, acupuncture, exercise, etc.),

· Psychological (auto-training, meditation, rational therapy, etc.).

The simplest will be physical methods of stress reduction - exposure to high or low temperatures, light of different spectral composition and intensity. Numerous observations show that hardening, sauna and Russian steam bath are excellent anti-stress methods that have been used for centuries in folk medicine... Moderate doses of sunbathing also have beneficial effects on mental and physical health.

Biochemical stress relieving methods include various pharmacological drugs, medicinal plants, drugs, alcohol and aromatherapy.

The latter method consists in managing the mental state of a person using essential oils that have sedative and anti-stress properties. The most famous soothing properties are the scents of lavender, valerian, lemon balm, ylang-ylang and neroli. For aromatherapy, use an aromatic water lamp, smoking sticks, scented baths or massage with oils.

Physiological methods of stress regulation consist in direct impact on physiological processes in the body, in particular, on the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems. These include massage, acupuncture, exercise, muscle relaxation, and breathing techniques.

Psychological methods of stress reduction are autogenic training, meditation, biological feedback, breathing techniques, muscle relaxation, rational psychotherapy, stress dissociation, use of positive imagery (visualization), neurolinguistic programming.

Let's take a quick look at the main psychological methods... Autogenic training is one of the options for self-hypnosis, with its help a person can have a significant impact on mental and vegetative processes in the body. The system appeared in the 1930s, thanks to Johann Schultz, who created his own direction in the west and east (in particular, the yoga system).

Meditation has common roots with autogenic training, but still differs from the latter, which requires a lot of volitional effort and conscious control over the process of self-regulation. So during auto-training, a constant effort of will is needed to combat the unstable modulation of thoughts and sensations, then in meditation there is no volitional control.

Biofeedback (BFB) is understood as such methods of self-regulation of human vegetative functions, which allow you to directly monitor your own physiological parameters and influence them using technical devices.

Breathing techniques are also very effective in normalizing the psychological state of a person. Our psychological state is reflected in the nature of breathing, and, on the other hand, by changing the nature of breathing, we can change our mood in the right direction.

There are many ways to neutralize stress. Some methods involve awareness of a stressful situation, the development of stages to overcome stress. Others - relaxation - activities, methods to reduce stress (rest, sleep, special exercises, communication with loved ones), are especially effective in situations of fatigue, professional burnout. Ideally, use not one, but a combination of these methods.

1. So it is necessary start by analyzing your feelings, sensations("I feel tired, depressed, irritated, aggressive, indifferent, etc."). Finding the source of stress is essential. It is the knowledge of the source that determines whether to fight against it.

2. A common cause of occupational stress is time pressure. Meetings, negotiations, departures - all these events are regular. Effective time management is a great value in the modern world. In this case, you should plan activities for every day (everyone, not just managers!). To do this, it is necessary to answer the questions: what tasks need to be solved in the first place? What are the most important problems? But you should also leave time for unforeseen situations.

3. Rest, relaxation must be included in the to-do list. In this case, we are talking about both short-term rest (these are various relaxation exercises that can be used during work), and regular rest - sleep. And yet, which is also very significant, the need for a vacation to recuperate. Each of us has the same need for rest, as well as the need for activity, even if you are very efficient and emotionally stable, stress tends to gradually turn from a "ball" into a big "snowball".

4. Engaging in favorite activities gives a boost of energy, brings pleasure. Doing something to your liking, you feel a certain freedom: after all, this is completely your choice. Hobbies often give us new information, helps to learn something, to develop something in yourself, be it reading, collecting something, traveling, cooking, sports and much more.

5. Exercise- a long-known way to dump the negativity. Charging, swimming, sport games- an excellent means for the release of negative energy.

6. Be in the fresh air more often: the beneficial effect can be seen from a picnic with friends, and from a simple walk.

7. Listen to music, attend concerts. This atmosphere helps to immerse oneself in a special world - the world of fantasy. In addition, being in a circle of people opens up the possibility of new acquaintances, communication.

8. Assemble a small a collection of your favorite books, music, films, which help you relax and have a good time.

9. Occasionally make gifts to your loved ones and yourself in particular, when you are in a bad mood, you are oppressed by something. Making pleasant to the most dear people, you yourself will feel better, together you will rejoice. Taking care of loved ones, we cease to feel lonely, we feel our importance and the value of family and friendships.

10. Look at the problem situation from different angles: imagine how you usually act in such moments, and what else you can do. And the more options you can find, the better. Let the list include even those solutions that are completely alien to you, unusual and, perhaps, seem unacceptable. What if this is the best way out? It is often useful to deviate from the usual programs, patterns of behavior. This contributes to getting rid of obsession and stereotyped thinking, the manifestation of flexibility, and, consequently, creativity.

11. By the way, about creativity. Should more often refer to the verb "create". They can be ideas, objects, whatever. By creating something new, a person develops himself, increases his significance. Therefore, it is often worth using imagination, and there is always a field for creative activity at any job.

12. Try treat some situations with humor. Laughter gives relief, reduces the significance of a stressful situation, and helps to regulate the emotional state.

13. Is always try from emerging difficult situations gain experience. This, firstly, contributes to personal and professional growth. Secondly, it helps to adapt to possible stressful situations in the future.

Corrections

Learning objectives:

Questions covered in the topic

Self-test questions

Bibliography

Reviewers:

God grant me

Emotion-oriented and problem-oriented methods.

Stressors beyond your control

Many people experience significant physical and emotional stress when trying to change events or control those that are beyond their control. Some people, for example, feel that driving a car is very stressful, and get extremely annoyed when other drivers do not behave carefully or, in their opinion, do not behave as they should.

Examples of techniques that can be effective in focusing on emotions are:

deep breathing;

progressive muscle relaxation training;

visualization.

Psychological assistance for traumatic

Stress. Methods and techniques of psychological

Corrections

Learning objectives:

To give an idea of psychocorrectional approaches for stress. Together with the students, identify the main features of counseling families where children have experienced PTSD.

Questions covered in the topic

Methods for neutralizing stress.

Emotion-oriented and problem-oriented methods.

Features of help with stress, depending on the time of its onset.

Self-test questions

1. List the physiological methods for relieving stress.

2. Describe what is the essence of autogenic training.

3. List the cognitive postulates of rational therapy.

4. What is the connection between the method of neurolinguistic programming and the teachings of IP Pavlov?

5. List four main groups of stress reduction methods that differ in the nature of their anti-stress effects.

Bibliography

1.Bleikher V.M., Kruk I.V., Bokov S.N., Clinical pathopsychology / a guide for doctors and clinical psychologists /, Moscow - Voronezh, 2002, p. 512

2.Gremling S.E., Auerbach S.M. Workshop on stress management. SPb., 2002 .-- 235 p.

3. Greenber D. Stress Management. SPb., 2002 .-- 451 p.

4.Sobchik L.N., Methods of psychological diagnostics, M, 1990, issue 2, p. 88

5. Tarabrina N. V. Workshop on the psychology of post-traumatic stress. SPb., 2001.

6. Shcherbatykh Y. Psychology of stress. - M.: Eksmo, 2006.

Reviewers:

1. __________________________________________________

2. __________________________________________________

The lecture was discussed and approved at the meeting of the department. psychology.

Minutes No. dated "__" _______________ 200_.

God grant me

humility to accept what I cannot change,

the courage to change what I can,

and wisdom to distinguish one from the other.

Methods for neutralizing stress.

♦ autogenous training;

♦ different methods relaxation;

♦ biofeedback systems;

♦ breathing exercises;

♦ inclusion of positive emotions in a person's life;

♦ music;

♦ exercise;

♦ psychotherapy;

♦ physiotherapy activities (massage, sauna, electrosleep); acupuncture, etc.

The choice of some method of stress correction should be determined by the body system, the indicators of which deviate most from normal values.

American psychologist Joseph Wolpe, in turn, believes that there are only three activities that are incompatible with stress: sex, food and relaxation exercises.

♦ communication with nature;

♦ music;

♦ alcohol;

♦ pets;

♦ communication with friends;

♦ extreme physical activity; -f sex;

♦ steam bath;

♦ watching a good video;

♦ reading a book;

♦ playing sports, etc.

There are at least two classifications of stress neutralization methods. The first classification is based on the nature of the anti-stress effect: physical, chemical or psychological, the second classification is based on the method of introducing an anti-stress attitude into the mind - independently or with the help of another person. Let's consider them in more detail.

First classification. If we start from the lowest levels of organization of matter, then the simplest will be physical methods of stress reduction - exposure to high or low temperatures, light of different spectral composition and intensity, etc. Numerous observations prove that hardening, sauna and Russian steam bath are excellent anti-stress methods that have been used for centuries in folk medicine and have not lost their value and currently. Sunbathing (tanning) in moderate doses also has a beneficial effect on mental and physical health.

Research recent years it has been proven that not only the intensity of light, but also its spectral composition also affects the mental state of a person. Thus, when a group of subjects observed a red color obtained with the help of ordinary projection lamps with additional light filters, their perception was associated with negative emotions: limitation, feeling of tightness, headache.

Among the many essential oils, there is a set of substances that have good sedative and anti-stress properties. The most well-known and proven soothing properties are the scents of valerian, lavender, lemon balm, ylang-ylang and neroli, however, when using aromatherapy, individual odor tolerance and previously formed olfactory associations should be taken into account.

Physiological methods of stress regulation consist in a direct effect on the physiological processes in the body, in particular, on the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems. These include massage, acupuncture, exercise, muscle relaxation, and breathing techniques.

Psychological The methods for reducing stress will be discussed in more detail below, so for the moment we will not dwell on them in detail.

Second classification... You can regulate the level of stress yourself, with the help of another person, or with the help of technical means.

Practice shows that the most effective way to regulate stress levels is external - with the participation of a psychologist, psychiatrist or any other positive-minded person. This includes all types of psychotherapy, emotional involvement of a loved one, competent advice from a knowledgeable person, sex, sports games, massage, etc.

Regulation of stress levels can take place using technical means:

· A tape recorder, on which the formulas of autogenous training are recorded;

· A video tape recorder, with the help of which pictures of nature are reproduced;

· Educational computer programs for relaxation;

· A variety of biofeedback devices.

Appendix 4

Theoretical tests

Year of study (1 semester)

* correct answer +1 point; wrong answer - 1 point

TOPIC 1.1 PHYSICAL EDUCATION IN GENERAL CULTURAL AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF STUDENTS

Which of the following concepts is broader?

1. Physical education;

2. Physical culture;

4. Physical perfection.

2. Physical recreation is, first of all:

1. Motor active rest, tourism;

2. Means of treatment and restoration of functions after injuries or diseases;

3. Morning exercises;

4. Dosed running.

3. Students with disabilities in health are enrolled in the department:

4. The assessment for the final certification is determined by:

1. The level of performance tests for physical fitness;

2. The level of performance of tests for vocational training;

3. Oral questioning on the theoretical and methodological sections of the program;

4. Includes all of the above sections.

5. "Sport" is, first of all:

1. Improvement of physical qualities (strength, endurance, speed);

3. Overcoming maximum loads;

4. Participation in competitions, training focus on achieving high sports results.

6. What mass physical culture does not include:

3. Physical recreation;

4. Hygienic physical culture.

7. Optimal physical activity per day -

4. More than 3 hours.

What factor plays a decisive role in diseases of the heart and blood vessels

9. Sleep rate for students:

4. 9 hours or more.

What methods are used to reduce the impact of stress?

1. Autogenic training;

2. Respiratory gymnastics;

3. Regular moderate physical activity;

4. The combination of all the listed methods.

TOPIC 1.2 SOCIO-BIOLOGICAL BASES OF PHYSICAL CULTURE

1. One of the basic concepts of the biological foundations of physical culture is homeostasis. Homeostasis is:

1. The constancy of the internal environment of the body ;

2. Adaptation of the organism to the environment;

3. Functional unit of the body;

4. Metabolism in the body.

2. Joints, ligaments, tendons include:

3. Muscle consists of fibers:

3. Red and White;

4. The mass of skeletal muscles in humans is about the total body weight:

5. ATP resynthesis is carried out more economically and efficiently:

3. Without much difference;

4. Due to muscle synapse.

6. The blood cells that transport oxygen to the tissues are called:

7. Exercise generally affects mental performance:

4. Everyone is different.

8. Negative changes in the body due to lack of movement in the body are called:

General approaches to stress management

There are many methods for correcting psychoemotional stress, and the task is to choose those that would correspond, on the one hand, to the individual characteristics of a particular person, and on the other, to the real conditions that exist in a given place and at a given time. In the monograph "Individual resistance to emotional stress" K.V. Sudakov, listing the most important ways of anti-stress measures, indicates the following methods:

4- autogenous training;

Various relaxation techniques;

Biofeedback systems;

Inclusion of positive emotions in a person's life;

Physiotherapy activities (massage, sauna, electrosleep);

Acupuncture, etc.

At the same time, it is noted that the choice of some method of stress correction should be determined by the body system, the indicators of which deviate most strongly from normal values. It is especially emphasized that we should not talk about the "average statistical norm", but about normal specifically for this individual vital signs.

In addition, to correct stress, it is necessary, in addition to specific measures of psychological influence, to use general strengthening methods. For example, the prevention of cardiovascular disorders caused by examination stress should be comprehensive, including reducing hypodynamia, measures to optimize the daily regimen, alternating tension of the nervous system with rest, systematic stay in the fresh air and proper nutrition.

Among the various ways to relieve stress, one can distinguish both the latest scientific developments of psychologists and traditional folk remedies, time-tested. At one of the anti-stress seminars conducted by the author of this book, its participants, among the methods used to reduce stress, named:

Communication with nature;

4 communication with friends;

Extreme physical activity;

Watching a good video;

Sports activities, etc.

In addition to these "everyday" methods, methods were also named that can be called "psychological":

Load yourself with work so that there is not enough time and energy for experiences;

Change your attitude to the situation; + remember those people who are even worse; + pour out your soul to a friend or girlfriend; + treat the situation with humor; + listen to the advice of a competent person, etc.

This example shows that many people have knowledge of stress reduction techniques but still experience stress in their lives. This situation is due to the fact that in most cases anti-stress methods are applied spontaneously and not always justified, and as a result - with low efficiency.

If we turn to the scientific literature on stress, the situation will be similar - a wide range of methods for reducing mental stress and the problem of their choice. Some psychologists prefer autogenous training, others - muscle relaxation, others - breathing exercises, fourth - meditation, etc. American psychologist Joseph Wolpe, in turn, believes that there are only three, activities incompatible with stress: sex, food and relaxation exercises. Thus, practical psychologists are faced with the task of differentiating

156 Chapter 6. Methods for Optimizing Stress Levels

tion of anti-stress methods, as well as the optimal selection of those methods that best suit the nature of stress and individual characteristics of a person.

To understand the numerous techniques aimed at reducing psychological stress, it is necessary to systematize them in accordance with certain criteria, and depending on the selected coordinate system, the classifications will be different. There are at least two classifications of stress neutralization methods. The first classification is based on the nature of the antistress effect: physical, chemical or psychological (Fig. 37), the second classification is based on the method of introducing an anti-stress attitude into the mind - independently or with the help of another person (Fig. 38). Let's consider them in more detail.

Rice. 37. Classification of methods for neutralizing stress depending on the nature of the anti-stress effect

First classification. If we start from the lowest levels of organization of matter, then the most simple ones will be physical methods of stress reduction - exposure to high or low temperatures, light of different spectral composition and intensity, etc. Numerous observations prove that hardening, sauna and Russian steam bath are excellent anti-stress methods that have been used for centuries in folk medicine and have not lost their value and currently. Sunbathing (tanning) in moderate doses also has a beneficial effect on mental and physical health. Research in recent years has proven that not only the intensity of light, but also its spectral

ny composition also affect the mental state of a person. Thus, when a group of subjects observed a red color obtained with the help of ordinary projection lamps with additional light filters, their perception was associated with negative emotions: limitation, feeling of tightness, headache. When irradiated in a standing position - - a tendency to recede or expand the space. Irregular physiological reactions were also noted: a periodic increase in blood pressure and an increase in heart rate. At the same time, the blue-green color was assessed by the subjects as calm, pretty, pleasant, some of them associated with water and moonlight. It partially inhibited increased physiological functions and normalized decreased performance.

Next group biochemical Stress relief methods include various pharmaceuticals, medicinal plants, narcotic substances, alcohol and aromatherapy. The last method is to control the mental state of a person with the help of smells. For this, a special aromatic water lamp, smoking sticks, scented baths or massage with the addition of aromatic oils are used.

Psychological The methods for reducing stress will be discussed in more detail below, so for the moment we will not dwell on them in detail.

Second classification. You can regulate the level of stress yourself, with the help of another person, or with the help of technical means.

Practice shows that the most effective way to regulate stress levels is external - with the participation of a psychologist, psi

158 Chapter 6. Methods for Optimizing Stress Levels

6.1. General approaches to stress management

a chiatrist or any other positive-minded person. This includes all types of psychotherapy, emotional involvement of a loved one, competent advice from a knowledgeable person, sex, sports games, massage, etc.

Rice. 38. Classification of methods for neutralizing stress depending on the method of application of anti-stress action

In some situations, the aforementioned way to relieve stress is impossible - in the absence of a specialist or a person's unwillingness to share their problems with strangers. In this case, applicable various methods psychological self-help - autogenous training, meditation, breathing techniques, special physical exercises, etc. A classic example of this group's method is Indian yoga, which includes breathing exercises (pranayama), physical exercises (asanas) and meditation techniques (samadhi).

Regulation of stress levels can take place using technical means:

> a tape recorder, on which the formulas of autogenous training are recorded;

Videorecorder, with the help of which pictures of nature are reproduced;

Educational computer programs for relaxation;

A variety of biofeedback devices.

In overcoming industrial stresses, there is a classification of methods for optimizing functional states, which divides all methods of anti-stress protection into organizational and psychoprophylactic.

The first group of methods is aimed at reducing the degree of extremeness of the factors of the production environment and their greater compliance with the psychophysiological characteristics of the employee. This (organizational) approach is most common in labor psychology, engineering psychology, and ergonomics. Its main areas are:

1) rationalization of labor processes by drawing up the optimal
algorithms of work, providing convenient time limits
tov, etc .;

2) improvement of tools and means of labor in accordance with psi
hophysiological characteristics of a person;

3) development of optimal modes of work and rest, which would not
lead to premature depletion of the employee's resources;

4) rational organization of workplaces and the formation of opti
optimal working posture;

5) creating a favorable socio-psychological climate
in a collective;

6) increasing moral and material interest in re
the result of labor.

The second group of methods is aimed directly at the psyche of the employee and his functional state. It includes ways such as:

Impact with color and functional music; + impact on biologically active points; + health-improving physical exercises; + persuasion and suggestion; + self-hypnosis and auto-training; + breathing exercises; + meditation.

You can also distinguish two directions in overcoming psychological stress: preventive and therapeutic.

The first way is to strengthen the body's defenses, change the attitude towards traumatic situations, and develop positive thinking.

The second way is aimed at neutralizing the stress that has already arisen and consists in the targeted impact on its bodily and emotional manifestations. Of course, between these two sub-

160 Chapter 6. Methods for Optimizing Stress Levels

moves have no clear boundaries. The same auto-training can be used both as a prophylactic and as a therapeutic agent. On the other hand, with a sharp development of stress, it is necessary to influence not only the body (through muscle relaxation and breathing exercises), but also thoughts and feelings (using reframing and rational therapy).

In addition, it should be remembered that the cost of being successful is always quite high, and when choosing the optimal strategy for responding to stress, you have to prioritize. Complete removal of stressor activation significantly reduces a person's ability to realize himself to the maximum in life and professional activity, while excessive stress causes serious disturbances in the body. The optimal stress level is a balance between the two extremes. There is an assumption that for each individual person there is his own optimum of activation, at which his activity is quite effective and at the same time the level of stress does not reach distress.

In this regard, the results of a study are of interest, in which the functional state of operators was assessed in the process of 20 hours of activity on the means of communication. Two groups were identified: operators with high and low quality work. When comparing the psychophysiological indicators of these 2 groups, it was found that the operators who were more successful in coping with the assigned tasks had a higher hand tremor by 26%, and reactive anxiety by 34%, compared with operators who worked less successfully. The individuals of the first group also had a higher blood pressure, a pronounced galvanic skin reaction, and lower state of health, activity and mood. Thus, the success of the operators was closely related to the level of neuro-emotional stress, which leads to an increase in the cost of the activity.

The study of the performance of athletes showed that the best results and the greatest stability were achieved by athletes with an average level of anxiety and, accordingly, with an average indicator of stress. The second place was taken by athletes with a low level of anxiety, and the worst indicators (both in terms of efficiency and stability of performances) were taken by athletes with excessive levels of anxiety and stress.

Thus, we are talking about optimizing the stress level, although it should be noted that in most cases the task is precisely

6.2. Ways of self-regulation and psychological state during stress 161

in reducing the excess stress indicator, and further will list and analyze the main methods of stress correction used in practice.

Methods for reducing stress and lowering cortisol levels

In our modern age, we are constantly under stress. This comes not only from a career or short turnaround times, family troubles or financial obligations, but also from anything that disrupts the natural state of balance in our body. How you respond to stress depends not only on your composure, but, to a large extent, on how your body works.

Here are some techniques to help improve your response to the stressful situations we face.

Two major stress response systems

There are two main systems in our body that govern the response to stress. And both of these systems come from the hypothalamus (part of the brain).

One of these systems is called hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system... It includes the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands. These glands secrete the following hormones: corticotropin-releasing hormone CRH (hypothalamus) - adrenocorticotropic hormone ACTH (pituitary gland) - cortisol (adrenal glands).

SCHEME OF THE HYPOTHALAMO-HYPOPHYSICAL-ADRENAL SYSTEM IN RESPONSE TO STRESS

Another stress response system is called - sympathomedullary pathway, through which signals are transmitted to the adrenal glands for the production of adrenaline and norepinephrine.

It is believed that the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system reacts and works with longer-term (permanent) stresses, but the signaling pathway sympathomedullary pathway - works out the reaction to very short and strong stress.

But when any of these stress response systems work, a hormone is eventually produced. cortisol making it the best target for measuring your response to stressful situations.

DIAGRAM OF RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DEPRESSION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASES

Stress Reduction Techniques Like Changing Your Lifestyle

Vagus Nerve Stimulation (I) is the tenth pair of cranial nerves that travel from the brain to the abdomen.

Many positive social contacts (friends, relatives, colleagues) (R)

Laughter, good mood(AND)

Being in nature(walks, travels) (And)

Special diaphragmatic breath(AND)

Meditation, autogenous training (I)

Yoga, Tai Chi (Yi)

Physical activity(especially aerobic, which lowers cortisol levels long after exercise) (R)

Dancing to your favorite music (I)

Therapeutic massage (I)

Music therapy (I)

Psychological technique of emotional freedom (I)

Daytime naps (R)

Reducing sugar in your diet, starvation(be careful if you have diabetes!) (AND)

Chewing, such as chewing gum or propolis. Works to reduce the production of corticotropin-releasing hormone. (AND)

Foods to Reduce the Stress Response

Olive oil
Fatty fish high in Omega-3 acids (I)
Turmeric(AND)
Green tea (I)
Cocoa (powder, dark chocolate at least 85%) (I)

Various substances to reduce the stress response of the body

Please note that some of these substances have only been tested on animals.

Turmeric
Fish oil (I)
Radiola pink (I)
Magnesium(And, And)
Zinc (I)
Selenium (I)
Probiotics (And)
Black cumin oil (black cumin seed) (I)
Lysine (I)
Vitamin C(AND)
Oxytocin (I)
St. John's wort (I)
Phosphatidiscrin (I)
Aromatherapy (especially orange essential oil) (R)
Schisandra (lowers cortisol levels) (R)
Basil (Animal Study Only) (S)
Tribulus (reduces the production of corticotropin-releasing hormone and cortisol) (R)
Ginseng (blocks ACTH production, especially useful for long-term chronic stress) (R)
Cordyceps (Animal Study Only) (R)
Ginkgo Biloba (works well against short acute stress) (R)
Apigenin (I, I)

DIAGRAM OF INTERACTION AND WORK OF GABA (GABA)

Reducing stress by stimulating the production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA, GABA)

It is known that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA, GABA) inhibits the activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal system. GABA itself is the most important neurotransmitter in our body and is formed from glutamic acid using the enzyme glutamate decarboxylase.

The list of substances that stimulate the production of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA, GABA)

Butyrate (I)
Ketogenic Diet (I, I) During ketosis, more glutamate is metabolized and production of GABA is increased, but the evidence is conflicting.
Magnolia Henochiol (I)
Theanine (I)
Hops (I)
Chinese skullcap (I)
Kava (I)
Valerian(AND)
Taurine (but only works at high doses) (R)
Ashwagandha (weak action) (I)
Bacola (weak action) (I)
Sauerkraut
Beet kvass
Pickled ginger

Additional technical devices for lowering cortisol levels

Low-frequency magnetic field therapy (I)
Direct current stimulation (I)
Transcranial magnetic stimulation (I)
Electroacupuncture (I)

Music as medicine

We play and listen to music in the same way as our ancestors did back in the Paleolithic era 40,000 years ago. Since then, the influence of music as a healing method has been documented, at least from biblical times. And the first experiment on the influence of music was published in the journal of the American Medical Association in 1914. This study was titled: “ A gramophone in the office as a means of calming and distracting the patient from the horror of the situation before surgery».

We now have anesthesia and no music is applied before surgeries. Usually medicine uses drugs like Valium but they have a lot of side effects and sometimes make people even more anxious.

One study compared the effects of relaxing music on reducing severe anxiety compared to standard drugs. Scientists played light jazz and it turned out that the music worked much better than the drug in reducing the frequency of heart beats, lowering blood pressure. This is perhaps the first study to show that music works better than benzodiazeline drugs... And the difference is that there are no side effects. Soft jazz did not cause a postoperative hangover, so researchers suggest doctors should start using music instead of drug. midazolam.

Music can be effective in reducing anxiety and pain in children who are undergoing various minor medical and dental procedures, such as helping with a blood draw, or even relieving pain when pressing on the spine.

Other information is also interesting, for example about allergies and the action of the music. If you take someone with an allergy to, for example, latex, contact with the latex will result in a bright red allergic spot on that person's skin. But if you repeat this test after man listened to the music of Mozart within 30 minutes, you will notice a much less allergic reaction.

But, surprisingly, the music of other composers did not work. Didn't work (the allergies were the same after listening to music) Beethoven, Schubert, Haydn or Brahms. Thus, it can be argued that listening to Mozart's music reduces allergic reaction organism. Moreover, when scientists took blood from people who listened to Mozart and placed their white blood cells in a test tube, then these cells also showed less allergic reaction, even outside the human body... This is just amazing!

Music can even affect our metabolism. It all started with a study that found that resting energy expenditure (calories burned) was lower in premature babies than in normal babies. But as soon as premature babies listened to music by Mozart, then their weight began to increase faster in comparison with those who did not listen to music. And such "musical" babies left the hospital home earlier than their peers.

However, this kind of weight gain does not work in adults. Can listening to music slow down your metabolism and gain weight? No, scientists have not found such a relationship. Therefore, for adults, the best way to use music for health is to dance, work or exercise to the music.

But men may not be too happy with this effect. The thing is that listening to Mozart's music for 30 minutes led to a decrease in the level testosterone by 14% in young men and an increase in testosterone by 21% in young women.

Does all music lower testosterone in men? It turned out that an hour and a half of Mozart's music lowered testosterone in the same way as pop music. But church choral singing did not affect testosterone at all. And no matter what music men listened to, after an hour and a half, their testosterone decreased by about 50%. But in women, the opposite happened - testosterone grew with any kind of music.

Why it happens? The fact is that in men, testosterone production is tied to libido, dominance and aggressiveness, while women get a greater increase in testosterone from hugs than from sex. And it is quite possible that we came up with music as a way for people to get along with each other. Like a melodic cold shower to calm everyone down.

Methods to Reduce Exposure to Stress

General approaches to stress management.

Methods for self-regulation of the psychological state during stress. Autogenic training.

Biofeedback method.

Breathing techniques. Muscle relaxation.

Religion as a way to deal with stress.

Tactics of dealing with stress, depending on the time of its onset.

Eliminate the causes of stress by improving behavioral skills.

Today there is already a great variety of methods for correcting psychoemotional stress, getting rid of stress (including charlatan, anti-scientific), and the main task is to choose those that would correspond to the individual characteristics of a particular personality, and specific social, everyday and pr. conditions, realities in which this stress developed. Among the methods, techniques, methods are known (and we have already mentioned some of them):

The choice of method should also be determined by the physical data of a person. In addition, to correct stress, it is necessary to use general strengthening methods, for example, to reduce / get rid of hypodynamia, to

optimization of the daily routine, alternation of tension of the nervous system with rest, systematic stay in the fresh air and proper nutrition. There are and are used traditional folk remedies time-tested:

In addition to these, "everyday", there are those that can be conditionally attributed to psychological:

As a matter of fact, many people know how to get rid of stress, but, nevertheless, they constantly experience it ... Apparently, these methods are not always applied reasonably and systematically - as a result, with low efficiency. And, naturally, turning to a specialist, we must understand that any of them, the most authoritative or little-known, will give preference to some of their favorite method, method, technique: the above-mentioned American psychologist J. Volpe, for example, believes that there are only three, activities incompatible with stress: sex, food and relaxation exercises ... Not bad! But all of the above means only that practical street psychologists are faced with the task of differentiating anti-stress methods, and their optimal selection in accordance with the nature of stress and individual characteristics of a person. Attempts to somehow streamline, classify methods of relieving / neutralizing stress lead only to their division into psychological, physiological, biochemical, physical or methods of self-organization of help in stress, technical, instrumental methods and others, communicatively directed, personality-oriented, requiring a companion, ally , partner (sex, team games, companionship, etc.). You can consider some of them in a little more detail:

– physical methods of stress reduction - exposure to high or low temperatures, light of different spectral composition and intensity, etc. Tempering, sauna and Russian bath are excellent anti-stress methods (which have been used in folk medicine for centuries and have not lost their significance today). Sunbathing (tanning) in moderate doses has a beneficial effect on mental and physical health;

– biochemical methods of stress relief - various pharmacological preparations, medicinal plants, narcotic substances, alcohol and aromatherapy (managing the mental state of a person using smells - the most famous and proven soothing properties are the smells of valerian, lavender, lemon balm, ylang-ylang - but when using aromatherapy, individual tolerance should be taken into account odors and previously formed olfactory associations);

– physiological methods of stress regulation consist in a direct effect on physiological processes in the body: on the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems - massage, acupuncture, acupuncture, muscle relaxation, breathing techniques;

– psychological self-help methods - autogenous training, meditation, breathing techniques, special physical exercises, etc. A classic example of the method of this group is Indian yoga, which includes breathing exercises (paranayama), physical exercises (asanas) and meditation techniques (samadhi);

– methods of using technical means: a tape recorder, on which the formulas of autogenous training are recorded; videotape recorder / computer / tablet, with the help of which pictures of nature are reproduced; training computer programs for relaxation; a variety of biofeedback devices.

If we talk directly about production stresses, then there is a specificity here:

I Methods aimed at reducing the degree of extremeness of the factors of the production environment and their compliance with the psychophysiological characteristics of the employee.

Rationalization of labor processes by drawing up optimal work algorithms, ensuring convenient time limits, etc.;

Improvement of tools and means of labor in accordance with the psychophysiological characteristics of a person;

Development of optimal work and rest regimes that would not lead to premature depletion of the employee's resources;

Rational organization of workplaces and the formation of an optimal working posture;

Creation of a favorable social and psychological climate in the team;

Increasing moral and material interest as a result of labor.

II Methods aimed at the psyche of the employee and his functional state: exposure to color and functional music;

Impact on biologically active points;

Recreational exercise;

Persuasion and suggestion;

Self-hypnosis and auto-training;

Dealing with stress can also be viewed as preventive And How therapeutic:

- strengthening the body's defenses, changing attitudes towards traumatic situations, developing positive thinking;

- neutralization of already arisen stress - purposeful impact on all its manifestations.

There are practically no boundaries here - auto-training can be used both as a preventive and as a therapeutic tool. But with a bright, obvious development of stress, it is necessary to influence not only the body (with the help of muscle relaxation and breathing exercises), but also thoughts, feelings, emotions (by methods of reframing and rational therapy). When choosing the optimal strategy for responding to stress, priorities should be set: the complete removal of stress activation reduces a person's ability to realize himself to the maximum in life and professional activity, excessive stress causes serious disturbances in the body. The optimal stress level is a balance between the two extremes. Probably, each individual person has his own optimum of activation, at which his activity is quite effective and, at the same time, the level of stress does not reach distress.

And now specifically about the individual, already mentioned techniques and methods of resolving / relieving a stressful situation.

1. Autogenic training

Autogenic training is one of the options for self-hypnosis. With its help, a person can have a serious impact on mental and vegetative processes in the body, including those that do not lend themselves to voluntary conscious regulation. The mechanisms of the phenomena occurring in this case are not yet fully understood, and the "peripheral theory of emotions" by James-Lange, created at the beginning of the 20th century, still retains its significance for understanding the processes that connect our thoughts and our body.

According to this hypothesis, each physiological state of the organism more or less deterministically corresponds to a certain state of consciousness, and the influence of these states is mutually mirror-like. From the paradoxical W. James - we cry, not because we feel bad, but we feel bad, because we cry - the empirical conclusion confirmed by practice follows: if by an effort of will to change the pattern of excitation of skeletal muscles, making it corresponding to another emotion and thought, making the assumption that the desired emotion is already in the body, then the probability of the desired emotion will increase dramatically.

In the 1930s, Johann Schultz created a special direction in the technique of self-hypnosis, calling it autogenous training (AT).

Exercises AT, according to Schultz, are divided into two stages - initial and higher.

Into the initial stage includes 6 exercises, thanks to which you can learn to arbitrarily influence a number of body processes that normally do not obey conscious control. Six skills are the result of this AT stage:

This canonical sequence of exercises has been repeatedly modified by various authors. Some of them reduced this set of basic exercises to 4 elements. Others insisted on introducing a seventh exercise into this set, aimed at mobilizing the student. Some suggested excluding the exercise to form a feeling of heaviness, which is poorly tolerated by some people, etc. Nevertheless, Schulz's main idea of the conscious control of the tone of skeletal muscles and blood vessel walls using verbal formulas and visual images is present in all modifications AT.

The highest stage Schultz's auto-training was actually a modified version of Raja Yoga and was available only to certain patients. At this stage, people learned to induce "special mental states" in themselves (in contrast to the lower stage, at which, according to Schultz, "changes of the somatic character" are caused). At this stage, patients mastering the classical version of AT were consistently trained in the ability to vividly imagine before their inner gaze, first a color, then a given object, and, finally, to imagine images of abstract concepts ("beauty", "happiness", "justice", etc.) . NS.). In conclusion, AT practitioners, being in a state of deep immersion, ask themselves questions like "What is the point of work?", Getting the answer to them in the form of visual images.

Subsequently, the method of autogenous training was widely used by various psychotherapists and was significantly modified in accordance with applied tasks. By now, autogenous training has completely passed practical testing and is widely used in medicine / psychotherapy, sports, military affairs, pedagogy and other areas of human practice. As noted by many, the environment and the special psychological attitude inherent in autogenic training, the induced state of rest and muscle relaxation help to reduce the emotional stress inherent in people with increased anxiety and prone to experiencing stress. This important feature of self-hypnosis can be used to eliminate anxiety, anxiety, fear, excessive emotional tension. Probably, the AT variants can be conditionally divided as follows:

- self-hypnosis against the background of a hypnotic state with its subsequent implementation as a post-hypnotic task;

- self-hypnosis against the background of physical or breathing exercises;

- "pure" self-hypnosis, when in the process of self-hypnosis a person does not use any additional influence.

These options are best used by choosing them taking into account the accompanying conditions:

2. Biofeedback method

Biofeedback (biofeedback, biofeedback) understand such methods of self-regulation of human vegetative functions, which make it possible to directly observe their own physiological parameters and consciously influence them. Traditionally, it has always been believed that the possibilities of conscious regulation of the physiological systems of the body are limited. As a result of many years of practice, yogis managed to slow down the heart rate, control the tone of peripheral blood vessels or influence the biorhythms of the brain. Until recently, it was believed that a person can voluntarily control only skeletal muscles, and smooth muscles and glands are regulated by the autonomic nervous system, which does not obey the control of consciousness. The heart, blood vessels, stomach, kidneys - all these organs work according to certain programs, a conscious influence on which is almost impossible. True, with the help of self-hypnosis formulas used in the process of autogenic training, it is sometimes possible to influence some physiological processes, however, control is carried out at a subjective level and does not make it possible to really assess the nature and intensity of the changes occurring. To accelerate the learning of self-regulation skills, various technical devices began to be developed that would make it possible to directly observe their physiological processes. Back in the 80s of the XX century, various models of skin electrothermometers began to be introduced into the practice of auto-training, which significantly accelerated the process of mastering self-regulation skills. If without devices it took patients 2-3 weeks to master the ability to increase the temperature of the hands, then with an electrothermometer this happened already in the first or second lesson. In fact, these first, fairly simple devices were the prototypes of modern biofeedback devices that allow humans to monitor certain physiological parameters. After the creation of modern computer technologies that allow the patient to actually see what was previously impossible - the indicators of heart, rhythm, electrical activity, brain or galvanic skin response - it became obvious that some kind of breakthrough was taking place. We can assume that biocontrol is a complex of ideas, methods and technologies based on the principles of biological feedback, aimed at developing and improving the mechanisms of self-regulation of physiological functions in various pathological conditions and for personal growth. In order for a person to learn to influence some physiological or biochemical process, he must receive information about the results of his actions. For example, if, as a result of stress, a person develops persistent tachycardia, and a specialist asks him to slow down his pulse, he is unlikely to be able to do this, and even if he accidentally succeeds, it will be difficult for him to fix and repeat the result. It's another matter if a person is equipped with a biofeedback device. Then he will quickly learn to associate changes in his body with changes on the computer screen, and reducing his heart rate will become easier.

Recently, computer consoles for game biocontrol have become very popular, with the help of which the patient learns to control his physiological functions by influencing the characters of the game. A person can win only if he learns to control his physiological function in a situation of virtual competitive stress. A treatment session turns into an exciting activity, and working with such a simulator has a beneficial effect on the work of the cardiovascular system, normalizing the work of the heart and lowering blood pressure.

Breathing is a unique human function. Our psychological state is reflected in the nature of breathing, the nature of breathing affects our state and mood, mood. Note: in all eastern spiritual and bodily practices (from yoga to karate), breathing exercises are necessarily included in the basic skills. Currently, breathing exercises are widely used in various sets of exercises aimed at reducing the level of stress: one of the easiest ways to use the anti-stress potential of breathing is concentration of attention - you can concentrate on the movement of the chest, rhythmically rising and falling in time with breathing, on quiet the sound of air entering and leaving the lungs, on the air currents passing through the lungs.

There are two main ways of breathing: breast and abdominal. The first is due to the intercostal muscles, and the second is due to the contraction of the diaphragm.

Abdominal (belly) breathing is considered more physiological, although it may not look so aesthetically pleasing. Nevertheless, abdominal breathing has a pronounced healing effect on digestion (increased intestinal motility and activation of the pancreas and liver) and pulmonary ventilation (cleansing of microbes from the lower lobes of the lungs). In addition, it is more effective in neutralizing high intensity stresses. This effect is achieved both due to more pronounced muscular efforts, and due to holding the breath in the exhalation phase.

In 1929, Edmund Jacobson (Jacobson) published his work Progressive Relaxation, where he showed that our mental problems and the body are mutually related to each other, the body reacts to stress: anxiety and anxiety cause muscle tension, and muscle tension, in turn, enhances negative emotions. As a result, a person who often experiences stress forms a so-called "muscle corset", which he constantly wears "on himself" and which causes mental stress - the brain, receiving an additional portion of excitement from tense muscles, is even more excited and sends back to the muscles new orders. You can break this vicious circle by learning to relax your muscles, because, according to Jacobson, muscle relaxation is incompatible with anxiety. You can try first to "relieve stress" of the brain, but, as practice shows, this path is better suited for a person brought up in Eastern traditions - Indian yogis or Buddhist monks. For a Western person, it is more accustomed to deal with something essential and material (for example, our muscles), so Jacobson suggested that people learn muscle relaxation in order to relax their tense consciousness. He developed a technique of voluntary muscle relaxation in affective states, which helped to relieve emotional tension, and was also used to prevent the occurrence of these conditions.

Today, this method is recommended as a symptomatic remedy for anxiety, anxiety neurosis, anxiety neurosis and various phobias. It should be noted that the main difficulty that arises when mastering this method is voluntary relaxation of the skeletal muscles. Indeed, the neuromuscular relationship is organized in such a way that the muscles understand only one order well - shrink and the order to relax is actually not received. To relax a muscle, you need to stop straining it. Animals relax automatically, as soon as danger disappears or certain activities cease, for a civilized person everything is not so: he wears their problems, anxieties and dangers in the mind, which controls the muscles, so the latter are in a state of chronic tension almost all the time. There is a "positive feedback" effect - an excited and anxious brain makes the muscles unnecessarily tense, and tense muscles further excite the mind, sending nerve impulses into it. To stop this process, Jacobson suggested using a paradoxical way - first to strain the muscles as much as possible, and then try to relieve tension. It turned out that using this contrast principle, you can more clearly perceive the degree of muscle relaxation, and then learn to consciously manage this state.

The most important feature of these exercises is the alternation of strong tension and the relaxation of the corresponding muscle group quickly following it. At the same time, subjectively, the relaxation process is represented by sensations of softening, the spread of a heat wave and pleasant heaviness in the area of the body being worked out, a feeling of peace and relaxation. Our brain constantly receives information about the state of everyone internal organs and skeletal muscle. At the same time, there are certain relationships between the mind and the body, which will differ significantly in a person reading a book, sleeping or playing hockey. A well-defined state of blood vessels and skeletal muscles corresponds to negative emotions, and our brain remembers a fairly large set of such psychophysiological states. When a person is stressed, their muscles tense up and their heart beats harder, which only increases the overall tension of the body. If a person manages to relax his muscles and calm his breathing, then the brain calm down and then the emotions will subside.

5. Rational psychotherapy

Rational therapy is used to reduce emotional stress (in sports practice), but its effectiveness is not always high - this is often due to the inability [at a conscious level] to regulate the processes associated with the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and endocrine glands. Yes, and everyone knows that attempts to influence an agitated person with the help of only persuasion are unsuccessful. Emotionally relevant information for a person in a state of emotional excitement, there will be not so much - from the entire information flow, he selects, perceives, remembers and takes into account only that which corresponds to his [dominant] emotional heritage. Nevertheless, rational therapy can be used in combination with other methods at the final stage of emotional stress correction, when the general level of arousal has already been reduced to an acceptable level. For people with high anxiety, rational psychotherapy helps to reduce the subjective significance of the situation, shift the emphasis on understanding the activity and building confidence in success, and for people with low levels of anxiety, on the contrary, it helps to increase attention to the motives of the activity, increasing the sense of responsibility.

Today, it is also important that there are a number of methods and techniques for dissociation, removal from stress:

– change the scale of the event. You can find a bunch of examples of how to consider a specific disturbing, exciting, annoying event, phenomenon, for example, moving away from it, moving away in space. Everything will seem so small, insignificant, imperceptible ...;

– changing the time scale. It is worth thinking about how we will think about our emotional outburst in a month? In a year? Probably, everything will seem small, forgotten, insignificant ...;

– changing "submodalities" - characteristics our perception of the surrounding world. Change the proportions of the "picture", the features of people, participants in the event, give them something caricatured, grotesque, funny ...;

– simulation of stress in a playful way- why not try to portray everything that happened in the form of games using paper clips and buttons, buttons and matches? And look at it from the side, from above, as the creator of this action (remember Chapaev from an old film, who simulated a picture of a battle using an old iron pot, a smoking pipe and a few potatoes)?

7. Using positive images (visualization)

Maybe, nevertheless, in order to get rid of stress, it is worth learning to fix not on negative emotions, but on positive experiences and think not about problems, but about ways of getting them out? And the first step towards this is the creation of a certain "magic" verbal formula that would symbolize the future goal - it can be expressed in one word ("health", "courage"), or it can be formulated as a whole sentence ("I will pass the exam for Great"). However, using a similar method to reduce goals, one may encounter difficulties on the way of realization - the subconscious mind reacts weakly to verbal formulas and is much more susceptible to sensory images. Of course, visual images are better for some, auditory images for others, and bodily images for others, but combined images, in which all modalities are involved, are best stimulated and inspired. The positive effect of this method is based on the fact that each vivid image that is created inside strives for its own way out, realization, embodiment. The more complete the inner image of the desired final state is, the more often it appears before the inner gaze, the more likely it is to be realized in reality.

8. Neuro-linguistic programming

Neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) as a method of psychotherapy is based on trials and research on optimal ways to achieve success in various areas of life - interpersonal communication, education, business, personal growth - and is a synthesis of Perls' techniques (gestalt therapy), Satyr (family therapy) and Erickson (hypnotherapy), to which the founders of NLP J. Grinder and R. Bandler added their own idea of the structure of human language, noting the importance of it as the main means of communication and structuring individual life experience, and also suggested the possibility of "programming" the behavior of an individual by selecting optimal strategies for organizing internal experiences. True, we should note that our science does not approve of NLP, but in the environment practical psychologists this direction is very popular. His methods are successfully applied to relieve various fears, and, in particular, "school phobias", fear of exams, etc. In this case, one of the leading terms is "anchor", which is understood as a stimulus associated with a certain psychological state and which is its trigger. "Anchor" can be of different modality and be tactile, visual or auditory. In order for a person to subsequently gain access to positive resources (for example, courage, calmness, confidence), an NLP specialist must first activate the memory of his patient, induce the desired state, and then “link” it to a certain “anchor”. After such "binding", just presenting the appropriate "anchor" will cause the necessary positive emotions ("resources", according to NLP terminology), which will allow a person to further minimize fear, anxiety and other negative emotions and successfully overcome traumatic events. It is impossible not to notice, of course, that the part concerning the "anchors", in its essence, is simply a modified method of developing classical conditioned reflexes, although both the creators and NLP specialists do not take into account the works of the founder of conditioned reflex teachings I.P. Pavlov ( hence their methodological errors - for example, they recommend placing an "anchor" - applying a conditioned stimulus at the peak of emotional experiences, while specialists in higher nervous activity know well that a conditioned stimulus acts most effectively when exposed some time before unconditioned reinforcement). The experience of using NLP techniques to reduce [exam] stress shows its high efficiency both in terms of reducing psycho-emotional stress and in terms of optimizing the autonomic balance [of schoolchildren and students].

9. Exercise

Physical education and sports are an essential factor in the prevention and correction of psychological stress. First of all, this is due to the fact that physical activity is a completely natural, genetically determined response of the body to a stressor. In addition, physical education and sports simply distract a person's consciousness from a problem situation, switch attention to new stimuli, reducing the importance of an actual problem. Additionally, sport activates the work of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, burns excess adrenaline, increases the activity of the immune system.

The activity of the body, combined with positive emotions, leads to an increase in the activity of the psyche, a good mood.

Usage different types special motor and respiratory exercises - a long and well-known way to normalize the functional state. The fact of the influence of the level of general physical fitness on resistance to the occurrence of unfavorable conditions does not require special evidence - for this purpose sports, various hardening systems, morning exercises, etc. have been used for a long time.

10. Religion as a way to deal with stress

Affective reactions are often a consequence of mismatches between expectations and reality. At the same time, the magnitude of the emotion is proportional to the strength of the need that prevails at the moment - hence: the greater the mismatch between the expected and the received, the higher the intensity of feelings. Thus, the less a person expects from life and the lower his needs, the less sorrow, disappointment and stress he experiences ... Actually, this is one of the principles of Buddhism: the elimination of desires and expectations leads to the destruction of the cause for suffering [and stress].

Buddha argued that life in the world is full of suffering, this suffering has a reason that can be neutralized - for this there is a certain way - cultivating a mindset and appropriate behavior that are aimed at minimizing needs, renouncing attachment to the world , lead a virtuous life and focus on achieving nirvana - a state without any stress.

And Christianity? People seek and find in religion those principles and values that correspond to the characteristics of their personality and correspond to life attitudes, therefore, almost always for people with an external locus of control, religion seems to be one of the ways to shift responsibility from themselves to the higher forces that control their fate.

Having turned to God, many want to protect themselves before an important event in life (for example, students before an exam, soldiers before a battle ...). Conformal people tend to look for support and protection in religion; those who are organized and able to control their emotions emphasize the factor of God in religion as a force that regulates and controls the world. The calculating and discerning person often sees religion as a good way to regulate relationships between people; people prone to a heightened sense of guilt find in Christianity the perfect way to repent. People with a high degree of religiosity are characterized by a lower level of frustrations than for the rest, indicating the sedative nature of traditional Christian religion. Therefore, for individuals with a weak type of higher nervous activity and a high level of conformity, religious faith is one of the ways to relieve life's stress.

As a method of removing, correcting, reducing the influence of stress, meditation has entered the arsenal of psychotherapy not so long ago, although in the East it has been used as a means, a way, a way to restore mental balance for several millennia. Meditation is a classic way of developing calm concentration, which is a means of restoring and coordinating mental and physical functions, creating clarity of thinking, and relieving mental and emotional stress. Having, without a doubt, common roots with autogenous training, meditation differs from it, because AT requires greater volitional effort and conscious control over the process of self-regulation - during auto-training, a constant effort of will is needed to combat unstable modulation of thoughts and sensations, and in meditation, volitional there is practically no control.

Meditation has several varieties, and a person can meditate not only about his internal processes, but also about objects of the external world (some martial arts). Originally a method of self-regulation, meditation can, of course, be incorporated [as separate elements] into various forms of traditional psychotherapy.

The question of the fight is very serious with stress depending on the time of its occurrence. If a person expects the onset of an unpleasant event, and this very expectation already triggers the neuro-humoral reaction of the development of stress, then first it is necessary to reduce the level of anxiety with the help of auto-training or concentration on the breathing process. Then - building self-confidence with the help of rational psychotherapy techniques or

Rice. 3 Serial circuit work with stress depending on the time of its occurrence

However, the options for dealing with stress will change if a person is in the midst of an event that caused stress:

If the event that caused the stress has already happened and now it is in the past, but the person periodically returns to it mentally, while experiencing negative emotions, it is necessary to dislocate from the situation, then select the necessary subjective resources (indifference, calmness or wisdom) and actualize them:

A curious question about eliminating the causes of stress by improving behavioral skills.

Communication skills. Communication, oddly enough, is quite often the cause of psychological stress: high expectations, negative prejudices, lack of understanding of the interlocutor's motivation, etc., and a particularly strong emotional reaction, sometimes developing in prolonged stress, criticism.

Behavior. Often, the source of a person's stress is his own insecurity: small or too large growth, a noticeable accent, overweight, lack of financial resources, low social status - all these seem to be obvious, objective factors. However, the true and deepest source of uncertainty and the stress associated with it is, most likely, a subjective feeling of one's own inferiority and low self-esteem, which, by the way, can be corrected. In general, probably, a large number of people have formed an unimportant opinion of themselves. And the ability to love and respect yourself, to live in harmony with yourself and with your actions is the right, and often the only way to reduce the amount of stress. Internal self-confidence. A person is already the same as he is at this point in time. Learning to love and appreciate yourself is the most difficult, but also the most effective step in dealing with stress.

You can try to deliberately change your posture, gestures, breathing parameters and vocal characteristics - as a result of which you feel more confident.

You can also act more competently - changing behavioral manifestations in activities, which will affect both self-esteem and the assessment of others, which ultimately will allow you to act more confidently.

You can try using rational psychotherapy (discussed above).

The source of stress, as we said above, can be frustration associated with the failure to achieve the set goals (both in personal life and in the professional sphere). Quite often, the collapse of plans is associated not so much with insurmountable objective difficulties, as with incorrect goal setting or inability to find the necessary resources. In this case, the use of an effective goal-setting algorithm will allow in the future to avoid the "stress of dashed hopes", which causes serious psychological and somatic consequences. Here is an example algorithm for setting life goals:

Positive wording. This rule means that there should be no “not” particle in the goal formulation. According to this rule, the goals "I will not drink any more", "I will never smoke","I AM I will not be afraid anymore”And so on are difficult to achieve due to the peculiarities of our subconscious, which does not perceive well the operation of logical negation.

Fundamental achievability. The goals that are set must be achievable in principle, not contradict physical, biological and economic laws.

Maximum specificity. Statement that should clearly bear in mind the specific expected result. In this regard, the goals "Become bolder", "become happier" etc. are abstract, unattainable in principle. To get rid of stress, the goal must be specified: the goal must depend on us as much as possible; the goal should be acceptable, understandable, achievable; the goal should be provided the necessary resources.

If this algorithm is used when drawing up plans and setting goals, then the likelihood of stress, as experience shows, will sharply decrease. At the same time, the very movement towards the goal becomes more rational and conscious, and the intensity and frequency of occurrence of negative emotions decrease.

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