How to relieve nervous tension and stress

Nervous mental tension, symptoms, stages and how to relieve nervous tension in its various stages, what you need to know, treatment.

Good time everyone! Let's talk about nervous tension. The tension that arises as a result of various psycho-emotional stresses, whether it is a solution to some problem or experience.

It is very important for anyone to learn to recognize this or that tension in time and throw it off in time. Know how and what to do in a situation of mild or strong tension, which can easily turn into neurosis. This is primarily our health, both mental and, of course, physical. Everything is nearby.

How to relieve stress, what methods and what stages of stress are in general. In order to control your emotions, manage them and catch yourself in time when tension arises, you need to know yourself well and your individual characteristics. Only this will allow you to respond positively and correctly and switch. And of course, this will require some strength and energy from you.

I will write in my own words, without any scientific expressions, it will be easier for me and I think more understandable to you.

1) Light tension which occurs quite frequently. We can experience such tension many times during the day. It arises as a result of various reasons, ranging from the usual disappointment in something; irritation; dissatisfaction with something not so significant; not a very disturbing, unpleasant memory something; excitement when meeting with some person who causes us not the best feelings.

And even when meeting someone we like, something can bother us. In this case, a slight tension can even flow into a stronger one.

But now oh light tension which occurs as a result of something unpleasant, but few significant for us. Have you noticed, felt this tension in your head (body), how can it be removed?

Such tension is removed quite easily, almost always we ourselves do it unconsciously - we were distracted by something that made us switch our attention and the tension and the very reason for its occurrence remain outside our head, without images and thought processes.

I don't think any more words are needed here. it was important switch your attention. And since the problem was insignificant, it was not difficult for us to do this.

But another scenario was also possible. You kept your attention on this unpleasant moment. They got hooked mentally and began to scroll through the negative in my head, perhaps looking for an answer, or simply analyzing. But after all, this situation is unpleasant for you, which means that by holding it, even if it is a minor nuisance, you mentally draw it in images and see some kind of internal dialogue with yourself, gradually raise the tension.

Often this can happen when a person, while doing some business, got distracted, deliberately forgot, but at the same time kept the negative inside himself, in the images and feelings that he experienced then and began to experience now. At that moment, it was best to stop and let go of all this unnecessary information in my head, but it didn’t work out. As a result, consciously or not, you went into a state of overvoltage.

2) Increased voltage. Tension, which noticeably takes away our strength. We will feel, after some time, a decline in energy, even weakness and, very possibly, unpleasant sensations in the head. Such tension arises during a significant emotional experience or if a person is in a state of thought process over the solution of some important problem for him, solves some tasks he needs, is in a mental search for something.

In principle, this is a normal state in which we all stay from time to time. Especially those people who are engaged in business, politics and many others who are in constant search, make some important decisions, etc. Yes, this is not the most beneficial tension in terms of health, but it does not become intrusive.

A person realizing that he is tired and he needs to rest, may well collect his thoughts, let go of the problem and relax. Or, if it was some kind of trouble, it’s enough to calmly push it out of your head by being busy and switching your attention to some pleasant or attention-demanding activity.

You may have to make some efforts on yourself, but it is important that this state is controlled and, with everything else, very well suited for working on yourself, searching and analyzing yourself.

Here the main thing you need to understand for yourself, to determine the point when you begin to feel significant fatigue and regardless of the positive or No solving some problem let go for a while and give it to your brain to rest. With a fresh head it is always easier to find a solution. Yes, and problems and troubles do not look so scary if you step back a little and let them go.

Many do not know how to stop in time and continue to search for a solution or scroll through the trouble, hoping to still solve the problem for themselves, to find the answer so that first of all calm yourself down but by doing so, they only bring themselves into a state of intense tension. And not only does a strong, exhausting tension arise, but also intrusive thoughts. The problem simply does not go out of my head, even if you try very hard to switch to something, occupy yourself and thereby be distracted.

3) Strong nervous tension and obsessive thoughts. This condition, not only has a strong negative impact on the human psyche, but also on the whole organism as a whole. The nervous system is literally exhausted. And the longer this state lasts, the more difficult it is to get out of it. The body weakens, there is a strong, both physical and mental fatigue, there is a possibility of a state.

Moreover, the more persistently and quickly you try to solve the problem, because you really want to calm down as soon as possible, the faster and more you exhaust yourself. In this state, it is difficult to concentrate on work, concentrate attention and remember something.

In this state, we are not able to solve and look at the problem in a constructively correct way. This is because no matter how smart you think you are, your intellectual abilities in this obsessive and nervous state are significantly lowered. By the way, a person may not perceive it consciously and think within himself that he acts and thinks correctly. Plus to all this - a huge psycho-emotional fatigue.

You, I think, have noticed for yourself that in different states, looking at the same problem, we relate to it differently. If something has bothered you, you are exhausted and instinctively let go of the problem, you were able to do it, then already returning to it, for example, the next day, it does not seem to be such a problem for you. And the decision, as a rule, is found quite quickly, and without much stress and deliberation.

If the obsessive state continues long enough, the person becomes very sensitive to any, even minor stresses and desperately, nervously reacts to the most trifling troubles and problems. Real .

How to relieve stress

And now about how to relieve nervous tension and get rid of obsessive thoughts before it comes to neurosis.

So, how can we get out of this very unpleasant and harmful state for us. To begin with, the most important thing is to understand for yourself that it is not possible to solve the problem because of which you have brought yourself to such a state.

Plus to this, even finding appropriate answer, thoughts about the problem itself won't let you calm down, but the solution itself will still be questionable. Therefore, first of all need to relieve stress. Already understanding this will make it easier for you to perceive the situation.

Now I need to focus on something else. The best thing in this case is doing what you love, exactly what causes you positive emotions. At the same time, negative and obsessive thoughts will continue to stick in your head.

And here is the most important point. - don't resist intrusive thoughts if they don't go away and let them be while not analyzing calmly ignore them.

Any disturbing, obsessive thoughts, if you try not to think about them, will overcome even more and more. Trying to argue or get rid of them, you provoke a fight and thereby only increase internal tension.

You can watch thoughts, but without trying to get rid of them without fail and as soon as possible, let everything go naturally. Without conflicting with them, these thoughts will gradually resolve themselves.

As a result, without thinking, without fighting with yourself and without looking for a solution to the problem, everything bad will slowly lose its strength, and the positive emotions that you will gradually begin to experience from doing what you like, gain strength. It will take time and, depending on the strength and duration of the obsession, less or more. But this is a great way to get out of this state.

If possible, you can take a contrast shower, good removes nervous tension and unpleasant symptoms of stress how and what read in the article "". Or go to the pool, physically active, swimming and the water itself is what you need.

Also very helpful such activities, even if they are not quite to your taste, like drawing, knitting, woodcarving, etc. It is important that this does not require a lot of mental process from you. If you draw, then you draw calmly, easily and not too zealously, so that everything will certainly turn out well. As it turns out, so be it.

As at school in the classroom, with diligence and passion, but without unnecessary temperamental emotions and without twisting, from diligence, tongue on its side. Although it is possible that at school some people tried very, very hard. Now this is not necessary, another time. Engaged in woodcarving or embroidery, the same thing.

These exercises are methodical, calm the brain well and do not require excessive mental activity. Unless you, like the great Surikov, paint a picture for the Tretyakov Gallery.

Another effective way to get out of nervous tension and obsessive state is similar to the previous one. Smoothly transfer attention to some another problem the solution of which is just as important for you, but less hectic and requires rather than emotional costs, but some kind of action.

You will need some will power and that negative energy accumulated in the process of finding a solution to the first problem. And even somewhere anger. It is important to try to solve this problem with enthusiasm, with the search and study of the best option for solving it.

Your thought process will again take your energy, but the most important thing here is that you remove the sharpness of that first negative situation that led you to an obsessive state and thereby not concentrating on it, gradually free your mind from obsessive thoughts.

That is, by using the energy of strong tension in solving another problem, you take yourself out of the obsessive state, and this in itself, although costly in terms of energy, will calm the inflamed brain. And the very solution of this second problem will give you already positive energy.

But again, always remember that whatever you do, if the intrusive thoughts don't go away, you don't fight them. Thus, you learn to live when there are some such thoughts and when they are not, you simply do not run away from them. Gradually, your perception of them will change from hostile to more calm and you will no longer be afraid of their appearance and these thoughts themselves, the anxiety will go away and they will stop putting pressure on you.

Friends, if you feel that you have fallen into such a state of mental stress and at the same time have not been able to solve some of your problems, find an answer, will be 100% correct refrain from making any further decisions.

Leave it for later, give your overheated thinking a chance to rest, cool down. And better sleep with her. Morning evening is wiser, this is a very clever and useful expression. You will be able to look at the problem that bothers you a little from the outside and with a rested, cold brain.

Sometimes you really need get away from the problem,afford leave it unresolved in order to later clearly see its real essence, whether it is really important to you. It often happens that the problem was not at all so important that it was so bothering and worrying about it. At the same time, this break and a fresh look will allow us to see new options and possibilities for solving it.

And in order to most effectively and easily cope with a nervous condition you can learn something interesting and useful for yourself, as well as learn how to change some old beliefs that interfere with you, learn about how to reassess values, find out how it happens and understand how and what it is.

For this, there are excellent trainings and books, effective techniques and relaxation methods, you can find some of them on my website. And in order not to miss updates on this topic, you can subscribe to the newsletter.

Nervous state and tension. Finally.

Listen less to different words. Some evil tongues can say something about you that can be very unpleasant for you, insults, or tell you all sorts of nasty things that are not necessarily true, for example, your husband or wife is cheating on you.

Without thinking, you rush headlong into your experiences without even really knowing whether this is true or not. Instead, first talk to her (him), and then draw conclusions!

There are enough envious people and dirty tricks in the world, so be independent of the words of insult by some and be more reasonable in the gossip of others. Think first of all about your health, because life will continue anyway and after the black stripe there will definitely be a bright, blue stripe.

A story about an ostrich. I’ll tell my friends right away, don’t associate this story about an ostrich with what I wrote above, it’s true, just for your mood. Though there are a few things to keep in mind..

The ostrich is not a stupid bird, when danger arises, it hides its head in the ground. What for? And why should he take all the problems into his head. He thinks that no matter what happens, it cannot be avoided, but I will not worry.

Just think, the ass will remain on the surface. Well, it’s better to take all the problems with your ass than with your head, the head is still more important. And the ass, ... well, what can happen to her? Yes, nothing terrible and can not.

Just a little, he hides his head in the ground and rests, does not see anything, does not see what is happening with his ass. And if there is no problem, then there is no problem.

Well, if, nevertheless, such a thing arises in the form of a masochistic elephant, what can you do, the main thing is the head in the sand - it relaxes, the ass has accepted the problem, it’s no stranger to it, then it’s an ass to seek adventures for itself, and peace in the head, no tension and everything is great.

The main thing is that the relatives do not see the problem that has arisen, otherwise explain later what's what - head, ass, elephant ....

Sincerely, Andrey Russkikh

P.S. Read more about obsessive-compulsive disorders and thoughts, their treatment, here ()

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Psychoneurologist of the highest category, Doctor of Psychology, Professor of the Russian Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Russian Federation, Colonel.Graduated from the Military Medical Academy in St. Petersburg. For more than 25 years, he headed the psychological service of the Cosmonaut Training Center. Yu.A. Gagarin.

About the program:

Stress is the reaction of the body in response to a variety of extreme effects.The key word in this definition is "reaction".

Four degrees of the state of neuropsychic tension

Neuropsychic stress is a special mental state that occurs in difficult, unusual conditions for the psyche, requiring a restructuring of the entire adaptive system of the body.

There are four levels of condition neuropsychic stress .

1. First degree characterized by improved attention, mobilization. Both the mental and physical capabilities of the body, working capacity increase. The body's resistance to the action of adverse factors increases.

At the initial stage of working on an important and interesting goal, your NPT will probably be in the first degree. The process of working on a task completely absorbs you. Working time flies quickly and imperceptibly. It is filled with many important things that give you pleasure. You rarely feel hungry and snack, usually on the go. You try to spend more time at work, do not rush home.

Use this boost period by trying to get more done. Also remember to rest, sleep well and eat well.

2. Second degree tension is typical for situations where the level of mobilization of reserves, typical for the first degree, is insufficient. Physiological shifts and changes in the psyche are already more pronounced here. Physiological processes are rearranged in such a way as to provide the body with the opportunity to solve a more complex problem. The energy resources of the body are mobilized almost completely.

Work still gives you pleasure, but you began to notice that at times your head hurts, periods of loss of appetite alternate with periods of acute hunger. Relatives note that you look somewhat tired, and you yourself understand that you need to rest and recover a bit.

Pay attention to your well-being. Try to take breaks more often. In an office environment, this is two hours of productive work, then a break of half an hour. It's great if you can spend these minutes in the fresh air.

Remember that the best rest is a change of activities. Do not abuse tea, coffee, cigarettes. Eat healthy, light meals. Take vitamins. Ventilate the room more often.

3. Third degree neuropsychic stress occurs when the situation is insurmountable. The intellectual and energy resources of the body are sharply reduced, immunity is falling.

The process of working on the project is being delayed. You notice that it is difficult for you to concentrate, concentrate, remember something. Personality traits appear that interfere with productive communication and that you previously successfully hid (shyness, indecision), chronic diseases are exacerbated.

It is necessary to give a break to the nervous system, to refuse to solve the problem for a while. If possible, take a day or two off and make the most of it. Turn off your mobile phone. Go fishing, hunting or to a country house, go to the park. If you don’t feel like doing anything, just sleep off and ventilate the room more often. Forget about work for a while, nothing so irreparable for your absence will not happen there.

If taking a day off is not possible, work these days with the least stress. Warn colleagues with whom you are doing a common thing about your condition so that they try to do without you for a while.

Remember that you will not be able to work productively in this state, and therefore do not direct your energies to important matters.

Do something that does not require strenuous effort (maybe it will be simple paperwork). Leave on time for lunch and finish your work day. Drink more fluids (juices, still mineral water).

4. Fourth degree mental stress occurs if the urgency of the task that needs to be solved does not decrease, and the possibilities for its solution do not arise. Its result is neurosis, which requires treatment in a specialized clinic.

The level and degree of neuropsychic stress varies depending on various conditions, in particular, on the resources that the body has. In physically and psychologically trained people, even in extreme situations, the highest degrees of mental stress rarely occur.

Describing the development of mental stress among workers involved in the preparation of any project, we note that mental stress occurs both at the initial stage of work and at the final stage (delivery of the project, its presentation). But they differ in direction and content.

The tension in preparation is connected mainly with the process of activity, with the need to withstand an ever-increasing mental load. In the extreme conditions of the presentation of the project, mental stress is added to it, determined by the desire to achieve a result.

The state of mental tension, if it is not represented by the third and fourth stages, is a positive factor, reflecting the activation of all functions and systems of the body, harmoniously included in the activity and ensuring its high productivity. However, high and prolonged stress can have a negative impact on both the body and the mental state.

Prolonged hard work leads to mental overstrain. In the conditions of modern enterprises, it is this mode that is used more and more often, since at the ultra-high level of production achievements it alone provides a significant increase in results.

Managers who orient employees to work in conditions that cause a state of mental overstrain should remember that such a regimen can only be effective for a short time.

Mental and physical exhaustion occurs extremely quickly, because the body is working for wear and tear.

In neurosis, this is a broader concept than internal conflict, since it arises from more numerous sources and is not always psychologically motivated. At the initial level, it can be represented by constitutionally and antenatal altered neuropsychic reactivity in neuropathy, perinatal and postnatal organic cerebral pathology, and a genetically difficult combination of contrasting temperament of parents.

The tension resulting from improper upbringing and conflicts, unlike previous sources, tends to increase with the age of children. First of all, blocking of activity, lack of emotional response, excessive stimulation of opportunities and education in general, which do not correspond to the characteristics of temperament, character and personality formation, are pathogenic. Pathogenic situations of upbringing and relationships in the family are not necessarily recognized as traumatic, but nevertheless contribute to the development of mental stress. In addition, it can also arise as a result of psychological infection or induction - involuntary assimilation of the nervous state of adults and peers with whom the child has been in direct and close communication for a long time - contact. This is typical for emotionally sensitive, spontaneous and impressionable children who, as it were, transfer onto themselves, absorb the emotional state of close and significant persons, empathizing, sympathizing or imitating, identifying with them. The psychological mechanisms of high emotional imprintability, selective suggestibility, affection and love also work here.

A chronic psycho-traumatic situation as a source of tension should be discussed in the presence of experiences that are insoluble for children, which make up the content of an internal conflict. Against this background, additionally acting mental traumas - emotional upheavals - increase the pathogenicity of the life situation, since the child cannot cope with them, survive them. Together with an internal conflict, communication problems and an unfavorable combination of life circumstances, this allows us to speak about the appearance of an unsuccessful, traumatic life experience or a state of chronic distress, as the main source of pathogenic tension in neuroses. The situation is complicated by the fact that, due to their limited and already psychogenically deformed life experience, the conditions of upbringing and family relationships, children with neuroses cannot emotionally respond to the accumulating neuropsychic stress. They are forced to suppress it, which exceeds the limit of adaptive capabilities and changes the neuropsychic reactivity of the body even more. In this case, an unproductive expenditure of psychophysiological resources and capabilities occurs, their further overstrain and painful weakening in general. The consequence of chronic mental stress will be an increase in cerebral asthenic disorders that fix experiences and make it difficult to further restore neuropsychic forces. At the same time, mental tolerance to the continued impact of stress factors decreases, anxiety and emotional instability increase, vegetovascular and somatic disorders appear or intensify, and overall endurance and body resistance decrease. Together, this allows us to speak about the appearance of a detailed clinical picture of neurosis.

The development of long-acting mental stress into neurotic, pathogenic-causal stress can be judged by the following psychogenic changes, taken in the dynamics of their development: 1) overstrain of the psychophysiological capabilities and systems of the body; 2) affective processing of life experience (in the form of fixation of experiences, emotional instability and anxiety); 3) increased sensitivity to the action of further threats to the "I" (the effect of emotional idiosyncrasy or sensitization); 4) reactive, psychogenically conditioned change in attitude towards oneself and others (formation of self-doubt, affective-anxious and egocentrically protective type of perception); 5) the emergence of defensive-avoidant motivation of behavior (when the child “does not hear”, does not respond to traumatic stimuli from the external environment - the phenomenon of “selective inattention”, when he avoids difficulties and dangers that can further lower the sense of “I”, when fears and feels insecure in new, unusual situations of communication); 6) a decrease in vital activity, energy, biotonus in general, a change in reactivity and the development of central pathophysiological changes in a functional nature; 7) a clinically delineated violation of the regulatory and adaptive (adaptive) neuropsychic mechanisms, including the vegetosomatic activity of the body in places of its least resistance.

We have already touched on the question of why mental stress in neurosis does not decrease, but increases, reaching a critical level.

This is partly due to the specifics of the manifestation of protective psychological mechanisms. In the traditional sense, S. Freud (1926) and A. Freud (1936) regard them as involuntary forms of mental response, having as their motive (goal) the elimination of anxiety as an awareness of a conflict, unpleasant situation for the individual. The starting points for the development of this view were the following: 1) the perception of the threat is accompanied by the mobilization of protection in order to support the "I"; 2) experiences that are incompatible with a person's self-image tend to be excluded from awareness; 3) unconscious transfer of one's own feelings, desires, inclinations to another person, if a person does not want to admit to them, realizing their social unacceptability; 4) rationalization of feelings and inclinations as a means of their social control.

In the present, the main defense mechanisms are: repression, projection, denial (refusal), rationalization, sublimation, isolation and regression. Subsequently, a number of researchers contributed to the development of the theory of defense mechanisms. In this regard, mention should be made of hypercompensatory psychological mechanisms (Adler A., 1928); defensive-passive and protective-aggressive behavior (Sukhareva G. E., 1959); three stages of development of the adaptation syndrome: anxiety, protection and exhaustion (Selye H., 1974); the protective significance of the neurotic symptoms themselves and reactive character shifts (Ivanov N.V., 1974); transformation of negative attitudes and their replacement in the system of motives in the form of substitutions (F. E. Bassin, V. E. Rozhnov, M. A. Rozhnova, 1974). In patients with neurasthenia, the leading types of psychological defense are denial and rationalization; with obsessive-compulsive disorder - isolation of affect; with hysteria - displacement (Tashlykov V.A., 1981).

For children with neuroses, such a type of protection as projection is not typical, but it is often found in psychopathic development. In children with neuroses, responsibility for the events that take place is attributed to oneself with the appearance of feelings of guilt and rudimentary ideas of self-abasement. Characterized by silence, confusion, frustration, when the child is lost and cannot say anything, giving the impression of "guilty without guilt." Normally, there is an average type of reaction, when children do not let themselves be offended, revealing a flexible, situational type of reaction. Sublimation occurs in adolescents with dysmorphophobia and psychogenic anorexia as part of obsessive neurosis, when the emerging sexual desire and secondary sexual characteristics are rejected as something dirty and shameful, as opposed to high academic achievements. Children with obsessive neurosis are also characterized by excessive rationalization of feelings and desires, hypertrophy of mental activity, moral prohibitions to the detriment of emotional perception and immediacy in expressing feelings. In hysterical neurosis, the leading types of psychological defense will be repression (often in the form of amnesia of unpleasant experiences) and regression - a psychogenic, reactively conditioned transformation of the “I” by the type of return to earlier, emotionally acceptable stages of mental development. Regression and rationalization are also observed in neurasthenia, while anxiety neurosis is more characterized by isolation and fixation of affect, its germination by anxiety and fear.

In the event of a neurosis, an increase in the activity of inhibitory processes has a certain protective value, creating pathophysiological zones of transcendental inhibition and protecting nerve cells from further overstrain and exhaustion. Such a child becomes more and more sluggish, “slow” in class, eating, dressing, preparing homework. This prevents further accumulation of neuropsychic tension, the child gets less tired, getting a temporary respite. Selective inattention also serves the same purpose, when children with neurosis stubbornly “do not hear” the demands of adults, endless prodding and coercion, are often distracted while preparing lessons, and begin to engage in other, more pleasant and emotionally rich activities. It is also difficult for children with neuroses to start any obligatory, responsible and strictly regulated activity, since it requires a high concentration of attention and working capacity, already weakened as a result of neurosis. At the same time, parents, not understanding and often ignoring the painful nature of the existing disorders, sharply increase the psychological pressure on children, overly control the lessons, force them to rewrite everything anew at the slightest mistake, and constantly read morality to children that they cannot assimilate. Typical in this case is the repression of experiences in dreams, their affective processing, which we have repeatedly spoken about. However, sleep itself loses many of its natural functions, becoming a source of danger rather than a source of security and recuperation due to night terrors.

The conditions of wrestling, especially in situational sports (sports games, martial arts), cause an increased neuropsychic stress in a person. A huge amount of information that an athlete must process in the shortest periods of time - often in tenths and hundredths of a second, the high motivation of his performances lead to the appearance of emotional stress, and in especially difficult conditions - to negative feelings-distress.

Stress is a general systemic reaction of the human body to extreme stimuli.

The Canadian scientist G. Selye considered the manifestations of stress as non-specific systemic reactions of the body or a general adaptation syndrome, which does not depend on the specifics of the stimulus and proceeds in the following stages:

Stage 1 - anxiety, which includes the phases of "shock" (sharp vegetative reactions) and "countercurrent" (mobilization of functional reserves).

2nd stage - resistance (stability and high performance).

3rd stage - exhaustion - a general decrease in the functional state, the development of pathological reactions and, ultimately, the death of the body.

These stages are in many ways similar to the stages of the adaptation process (physiological stress, adaptation and disadaptation), with the only difference being that the adaptation process includes not only non-specific, but also specific adaptive reactions (A. S. Solodkov, 1988).

In sports, various manifestations of stress are possible.

Physical stress - arising during the high-intensity motor activity of an athlete, but not associated with any emotional experiences (for example, training sessions, especially in standard sports).

Emotional stress - reflecting a high neuropsychic stress during competitive activity and causing the mobilization of the body's functional reserves and significant mental, vegetative and hormonal reactions.

With the development of emotional stress, extreme irritants (stressors) act on the higher parts of the central nervous system. These influences cause excitation of the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system and the release of hormones and mediators associated with it, and through the hypothalamus they affect the hormonal activity of the pituitary gland. The pituitary hormone - adrenocorticotropic hormone causes the release of adrenaline, noradrenaline, glucocorticoids and mineralocorticoids by the adrenal glands. As a result, a complex of adaptive reactions of the organism arises. The frequency and regularity of breathing increases, the phase of inhalation is shortened relative to exhalation; the heart rate increases and the arrhythmia almost disappears; blood pressure rises; increases metabolism and energy; the amplitude of EM G increases and the strength of contractions of skeletal muscles increases; in the EEG, the severity of the rhythm of rest (alpha rhythm) decreases and the manifestation of rhythms of tension (theta rhythm) and activation (beta rhythm) increases; attention is concentrated. All these reactions provide high performance.

However, as a result of excessive neuropsychic stress, a state of distress develops and various negative reactions may occur - the blood supply to some parts of the brain worsens, the heart rate slows down, blood pressure drops, the time of motor reactions increases and motor activity decreases. With repeated stress, athletes have a high frequency of sports injuries.

Psychological tension in different people can manifest itself in various stress reactions. Emotional stress is expressed in athletes the stronger, the more significant it is for them to achieve the goal of the action (their need) and the less they have available information, energy and available time. Elements of novelty and uncertainty of the situation increase tension in the body of athletes.

In athletes who are more experienced, confident in their abilities, with strong and balanced nervous processes, the state of neuropsychic stress is less pronounced. They have the 1st stage faster, the 2nd stage is long and stable, and the 3rd stage is very rarely manifested. In less trained athletes, with a weak or unbalanced nervous system, on the contrary, the 1st and 3rd stages are more pronounced and the 2nd stage of the general adaptation syndrome is less pronounced.

MONOTONY OF ACTIVITIES

The source of positive emotions for an athlete, like for any person, is the search for new information, new ways to solve motor and tactical problems. With long-term performance of monotonous motor acts (for example, in cyclic work of moderate power), the influx of information is significantly reduced, which causes boredom, a drop in interest in training, and a decrease in functionality.

Monotony is a condition caused by the monotony of work with a large number of simple stereotyped movements. Such work causes a person to have a state of reduced mental activity, a feeling of indifference, fatigue, drowsiness, a decrease in heart rate and respiration, a decrease in the amplitude of the EMG of working muscles, and a drop in working capacity.

One of the mechanisms for the emergence of the state of monotopy is addiction. If the same stimulus is repeated many times, then attention to it is weakened, reactions decrease, i.e., its novelty is lost. In the process of automating simple motor skills, emotional stress progressively decreases. At the same time, nonspecific inhibitory sections of the brain stem are activated, which, in the absence of a tonic sensory influx into the brain from the environment, cause a decrease in the activity of higher sections of the brain. In conditions of monotonous activity, the role of the left and right hemispheres changes in the control of movements. Right-handed athletes showed a decrease in the activity of the left dominant hemisphere of the brain and an increase in the role of the right non-dominant hemisphere. This allows you to continue working, but makes it less efficient. Different people react differently to monotonous work.

The main factor in the resistance to monotony is the innate properties of the nervous system. Athletes with strong balanced nervous processes and their low mobility - phlegmatic - work more successfully in these conditions. Surveys of highly qualified cross-country skiers, runners-stayers, led osipedists-road riders showed that phlegmatic people make up the bulk of athletes in these sports.

The personal characteristics of athletes matter. Introverts can handle monotonous work more easily than extroverts.

To combat monotony, they use varying the speed of movement of athletes, different segments of distances, create competitive situations, etc.

Nervous-Psychic Tension » Degrees of Tension.

Topic - Nervous-Psychic Tension » Degrees of Tension.

Neuropsychic stress (NPT) is a special mental state that occurs in difficult, unusual conditions for the psyche, requiring a restructuring of the entire adaptive system of the body. There are four degrees of the state of NPN.

1) The first degree is characterized by improved attention, mobilization. Both the mental and physical capabilities of the body, working capacity increase. The body's resistance to the action of adverse factors increases. At the initial stage of working on an important and interesting goal, your NPT will probably be in the first degree. The process of working on a task completely absorbs you.

Working time flies quickly and imperceptibly. It is filled with many important things that give you pleasure. You rarely feel hungry and snack, usually on the go. You try to spend more time at work, do not rush home. Use this boost period by trying to get more done. Also remember to rest, sleep well and eat well.

2) The second degree of tension is typical for situations where the level of mobilization of reserves, typical for the first degree, is insufficient. Physiological shifts and changes in the psyche are already more pronounced here. Physiological processes are rearranged in such a way as to provide the body with the opportunity to solve a more complex problem. The energy resources of the body are mobilized almost completely. Work still gives you pleasure, but you began to notice that at times your head hurts, periods of loss of appetite alternate with periods of acute hunger.

Relatives note that you look somewhat tired, and you yourself understand that you need to rest and recover a bit. Pay attention to your well-being. Try to take breaks more often. In an office environment, this is two hours of productive work, then a break of half an hour. It's great if you can spend these minutes in the fresh air. Remember that the best rest is a change of activities. Do not abuse tea, coffee, cigarettes. Eat healthy, light meals. Take vitamins. Ventilate the room more often.

3) The third degree of NNP occurs when the situation is insurmountable. The intellectual and energy resources of the body are sharply reduced, immunity is falling. The process of working on the project is being delayed. You notice that it is difficult for you to concentrate, concentrate, remember something. Personality traits appear that interfere with productive communication and that you previously successfully hid (shyness, indecision), chronic diseases are exacerbated.

If taking a day off is not possible, work these days with the least stress. Warn colleagues with whom you are doing a common thing about your condition so that they try to do without you for a while. Remember that you will not be able to work productively in this state, and therefore do not direct your energies to important matters. Do something that does not require strenuous effort (maybe it will be simple paperwork). Leave on time for lunch and finish your work day. Drink more fluids (juices, still mineral water).

4) Finally, if the urgency of the task that needs to be solved does not decrease, and the possibilities for its solution do not arise, the fourth degree of mental stress sets in. Its result is neurosis, which requires treatment in a specialized clinic.