Stress and Exhaustion

Stress is the body’s natural response to overload or threat. But if the tension becomes constant or too intense, the mind and body stop having time to recover.

There may not be a ‘catastrophe’, but inside there is a feeling that everything is held together by a thin thread.

A person under stress continues to work, communicate, and make decisions — but does it through effort, losing more and more sense of control. Outwardly, this may look like ‘normal functioning’, but inside — constant tension, anxiety and the feeling that ‘just a little more – and everything will collapse’.

This may be related to:

• long-term overload
• high degree of responsibility
• lack of recovery and support
• an acute event or transition period (illness, relocation, breakup, job change)

Possible manifestations of stress:

Physical properties:

• difficulty sleeping (insomnia, frequent awakenings)
• feeling of ‘tension in the body’ — tightness, headaches, neck and back pain
• eating disorders (loss of appetite or overeating)
• blood pressure spikes, rapid heartbeat, fatigue

Emotional ones:

• increased irritability
• feeling of anxiety, inner turmoil
• tearfulness or numbness of the senses
• feeling ‘overwhelmed’, as if ‘too many things at once’

Behavioral issues:

• procrastination, loss of concentration
• reduced productivity
• need for isolation
• automatism: ‘I work on autopilot’
• avoiding responsibility or, on the contrary, excessive control over everything

How to work with it

Therapeutic work is aimed at:

• reducing the overall voltage level
• recognizing and modifying chronic stress factors
• restoring the ability to regulate
• developing sustainable recovery and self-support strategies
• building a system in which it is possible to be in the resource, and not just ‘hold on’