Stress is a common issue that plagues just about everyone in their life from time to time. Whether it is someone dealing with the regular stress that comes from work or the stress that might come from returning home from war, there are different stress levels. Many of these forms of stress ultimately lead to stress disorders. However, stress disorders do not come in one form but come in several different forms.
Due to this, if you believe you might suffer from a stress disorder, you are better off seeing your doctor seek out a proper diagnosis. Each kind of stress disorder comes with various symptoms, each of which can make it incredibly difficult for you to move past in your daily life.
Anxiety Disorder
Anxiety is closely related to stress. Anxiety can manifest from a growing level of stress in your life and occur in other areas of your life. This includes general panic attacks, where your body suddenly cannot deal with the world around you, social anxiety, phobias and generalized disorders. These subdivisions of anxiety disorder all can stem from stress, so getting your stress under control is very important.
A panic disorder will bring up feelings of terror that can hit you without warning. Even if you don’t suddenly start to fear your current location, you might experience extensive seating, an irregular heartbeat, chest pains and the feeling of choking. You might feel as if you are suddenly going crazy for no real reason.
This is a panic disorder and is related to stress. Essentially, this can happen when stress eventually pushes you over the top, and you break down and cannot deal with the world around you any longer.
A social anxiety disorder only comes out when you are in public, and you start to feel overwhelmed. Typically, you might feel alright with your current friends and family members, but in a large group and especially in a closed space, you can feel trapped or even judged by other people, regardless of what you do.
When this occurs, you become frightened of doing anything wrong, which can lead you to hyperventilate or even break down and cry in front of the group for no real reason.
A phobia can manifest from stress in the form of a fear of something specific. For example, this can come from a fear of spiders, snakes, flying, heights, or anything else. While this might have originated from your childhood, it can come about from general stress as well.
PTSD
Short for post-traumatic stress disorder, this is usually associated with combat veterans returning home from war. There are certain visual elements they cannot cope with when they return. Regardless of the reasoning, these visions can flood their mental state and cause severe stress disorders. Of course, this PTSD is not something that only happens to soldiers.
People involved in car accidents might have PTSD or other life-altering events, such as witnessing someone being shot or perhaps someone taking their own life in front of them. No matter what caused the sudden impact in their lives, it is often enough to cause serious stress-related disorders later on. PTSD is broken down into normal stress response, acute stress disorder, uncomplicated PTSD, comorbid PTSD and complex PTSD
The normal stress response is when a healthy individual is exposed to a traumatic event. It can sometimes take the person a few weeks to move past this situation, as the mind needs to process the event and work through it. Therapy can often help with this situation and help them move through with the event they experienced. Normal stress response typically does not last long, though and eventually goes away.
An acute stress disorder can come about with panic reactions, dissociation, insomnia, mental confusion, and the inability to care for yourself or perform a general task. Acute stress disorder does not always last throughout the day, but only for a short period after a dream or vision comes back to the individual.
The best treatment for this is immediate support and often medication to help relieve the grief and Anxiety of the situation. If you are suffering from this sort of stress disorder, you might also want medication for insomnia, as this is often where the most vivid images come about.
Uncomplicated PTSD is where you continually relive an event. However, it generally does not have the same night terrors, and problems come about as the acute stress disorder might have. The best way through this is through a combination of therapy approaches. This can help you talk your way through the situation.
Comorbid PTSD is one of the most common forms of PTSD. It often leads to depression, alcohol and drug abuse, panic attacks and other anxiety disorders. Typically, the best way to help someone who has comorbid PTSD is through a combination of rehab for the addiction problem and therapy sessions, similar to what is used if you suffer from uncomplicated PTSD
​Lastly, complex PTSD is usually experienced by individuals who have suffered through prolonged circumstances. This usually is associated with childhood sexual abuse. The prolonged issue can cause serious mental issues and dissociation with everything else around the person. They often display aggression, sexual acting out, alcohol and substance abuse and intense range or depression.
They also might suffer from mental fragmentation. This sort of treatment can take years to work through, and the person might never fully be treated for complex PTSD, although it is possible to make it better. Usually, progress is slow, and an individual therapist might never make a breakthrough with the person as their brain tries to suppress the emotional state they found themselves in.
Different Kinds of Stress
Stress disorders are often broken down into three different groups. Acute stress disorder is the most common form of stress and is usually caused by your daily work schedule and the other tasks you need to complete throughout the day. However, acute stress can bring about a good amount of excitement.
Scientists have found this is similar to riding a roller coaster. Riding a roller coaster brings about acute stress levels, yet extremely exciting, just on a shorter and more compact scale compared to everyday situations. Emotional distress and physical problems can come about from acute stress. These signs include anger, anxiety, irritability, short periods of depression, headaches, an upset stomach and dizziness.
Episodic stress is the second form of stress. This sort of stress usually comes about from people who set unobtainable goals for themselves and, as they always come up short, it causes occasional stress issues. Episodic stress can produce longer periods of intermitted depression than acute stress.
It can also develop extending worrying that never seems to stop, coronary heart disease and other heart problems, all because the person is constantly worrying about what they will do next. Money problems can cause episodic stress, as while a workweek comes and goes, someone suffering from financial troubles can continually worry for extended periods, which causes these levels of stress.
Chronic stress is considered the polar opposite of acute stress. There is no excitement or thrill; instead, it is unhealthy and potentially dangerous. This sort of stress manifests from long-term stress, including a traumatic experience, unhappy marriage, working a job they don’t want, being stuck in poverty and even relationship conflicts or dysfunctional families.
Serious illnesses can come from chronic stress, including a heart attack, cancer, psychological problems, depression and post-traumatic disorders. Some common symptoms are associated with chronic stress, including pounding heart, headaches, dry mouth, difficulty breathing, frequent urination, the tightening of muscles, tension, problems with concentration, difficulty sleeping, sudden irritability, and frequent feelings of fatigue.
When it comes to stress, this situation comes from just about everything in your life. You never know what might happen or where stress might come from, but when you start to feel your life become affected by stress, it is very important to seek professional help. This way, you do not have to worry about what might come of it and how it will affect you.
Whether the stress comes from your job, or finances, an unhappy marriage or a traumatic event you witnessed, it is important to seek out help quickly. Starting by seeing a therapist is an excellent way to take the first step. Simply working through the situation is one of the best ways to reduce the amount of stress you have in your life. They are also able to point you in the direction of additional assistance.
