Understanding Stress, Its Effects, and PTSD Symptoms

Defining Stress: A Complex Reaction

Stress is a complex series of reactions, both psychological and physical, in response to demanding or threatening situations.

What Are Stressors? Events Causing Demands

Stressors are events that produce physical and psychological demands on a person.

Common Types of Stressors Categorized

Types of stressors include:

• Environmental: Such as heat, noise.
• Physiological: Such as drugs, tobacco.
• Emotional: Such as pressures, life events.

Signs of Being Stressed: Typical Manifestations

Typically, people who are stressed out may show signs such as:

• Eating too much food.
• Abusing substances.
• Having difficulty focusing attention, making decisions, or sleeping.

Key Human Responses to Stress

Responses to stress can be:

• Psychological
• Cognitive
• Emotional
• Behavioral

Selye's Definition: Stress as Bodily Wear and Tear

Selye defines stress as: "Wear and tear on the body" (desgaste del cuerpo).

Four Main Types of Stress Identified

Four types of stress are:

• General stress
• Cumulative stress
• Acute traumatic stress
• Post-traumatic stress

General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS): The Three Stages

The General Adaptation Syndrome involves three stages:

Stage I: Alarm Reaction Phase

The alarm reaction is the "fight or flight" response, which causes you to be ready for physical activity.

Stage II: Adaptation or Resistance Phase

During the stage of adaptation, if stress continues, the body adapts to the stressors it is being exposed to.

Stage III: Exhaustion Phase

In the state of exhaustion, if stress persists for a long time, the body’s resistance may be reduced or collapse quickly. People who experience long-term stress may have heart attacks, severe infections, or chronic panic.

Understanding Coping Strategies for Stress

Coping strategies are behavioral responses and thought processes that people use to deal actively with sources of stress.

PTSD Explained: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder resulting from exposure to an experience involving direct or indirect threat of serious harm or death.

Key Stressors That Can Lead to PTSD

PTSD stressors include:

• Violent human assault
• Natural catastrophes
• Accidents
• Deliberate man-made disasters

Defining "Exposure to a Traumatic Event" for PTSD

Regarding exposure to a traumatic event:

The person experienced, witnessed, or was confronted with an event involving actual or threatened death, serious injury, or a threat to the physical integrity of self or others.

The person’s response involved intense fear, helplessness, or horror.

PTSD: Re-experiencing the Traumatic Event

The traumatic event is re-experienced in PTSD in one or more of the following ways:

• Recurrent images, thoughts, or perceptions.
• Recurrent distressing dreams of the event.
• Acting or feeling as if the event were recurring.
• Intense psychological distress or physiological reactivity at exposure to cues that symbolize or resemble an aspect of the event.

Increased Arousal Symptoms in PTSD

Persistent symptoms of increased arousal in PTSD (indicated by two or more of the following) include:

• Difficulty falling or staying asleep.
• Irritability or outbursts of anger.
• Difficulty concentrating.
• Hypervigilance.
• Exaggerated startle response.