STRESS AND ITS STAGES

BY: Mohammad AzharMBA-RM

“Stress is nothing more than a socially acceptable form of mental illness”.

• Stress simply means getting upset about something; peace and tranquility of mind are gone.

• Stress symptoms are of four kinds: Physical, emotional, mental and behavioral.

• The Conscious Mind is like a balloon; when it “inflates” with painful emotions, we experience stress symptoms.

• The Hidden Mind is like a gaseous soda bottle; when it is “shaken” by a current event, the fizz (bad memories and emotions from our past) spews into the balloon resulting is serious stress symptoms.

CAUSES OF STRESS

Many different things can cause stress –• From physical (such as fear of something

dangerous)

• Emotional (such as worry over your family or job.)

STAGES OF STRESS

Stress Stage One: At this stage, one’s balloon is shrunk (the conscious mind

does not have a painful emotion) and his soda bottle (hidden mind) does not have serious old traumatic emotions. He has usual life stresses, but he is coping well.

• He has a high level of self-awareness. • He is very good at expressing his emotions. • He is good at solving various problems of life as they appear.• He is assertive. • He is not passive and fearful.• He believes in preventive servicing of all his essential

objects such as house, cars, etc.• He is not loaded with human weaknesses such as greed,

jealousy, vengefulness, hubris, possessiveness, fear and hatred.

Stress Stage Two: • At this stage, one’s balloon is getting filled up

with painful emotions.• If the stressor is a bad event, such as death of a

dear one or breakup of a close relationship, the balloon expands very rapidly and one experiences severe emotional pain and consequent stress symptoms.

• These people have severe feelings of anger, hurt, sadness, disappointment, helplessness, hopelessness, vengefulness, and the like.

• Such a person’s mind feels, “I just can’t take this pain anymore.”

Stress Stage Three: • At this stage, one has habitually buried his hidden mind

painful emotions related to numerous past bad events and problems.

• Now his soda bottle is saturated to the point that he can no longer bury (repress) his painful emotions.

• As time passes, his balloon keeps inflating and his stress symptoms become persistent.

• Since the only way he knows how to shrink his balloon is to bury emotions and deny them, he suffers ever-worsening stress symptoms.

• He now has many on-going stress symptoms such as sleeplessness, tiredness, loss of appetite, headaches, etc.

Stress Stage Four: • At this critical stage, as a result of relentless build-up of

painful emotions in the conscious mind, or due to sudden surge of buried painful emotions from the hidden mind, the person’s balloon has popped.

• Chemical changes in the brain have led to chemical imbalance.

• Physical, emotional, mental and behavioural symptoms have finally crystallized into a well-defined stress disorders, such as major depression, panic disorders and bipolar disorders.

• Many people in this predicament are so sick that they end up in psychiatric hospital. Some people attempt suicide. Some of these people succeed in their attempt.

Stress Stage Five: • This is the terminal stage of stress. • These people’s balloon has popped many times and they suffer

from multiple stress disorders such as depression, panic disorder, high blood pressure, and whatnot.

• They have been hurt so badly by the treatment process that they now suffer from medication phobia.

• Some of them suffer from medical trauma. • They have become recluses. • They do not socialize much.• They like to be left alone.• They avoid any sensory stimulation. • They have become completely disabled. • They are unable to work, participate in family affairs or social

gatherings.• They feel sick all the time. • They feel helpless and hopeless.

CONCLUSION

• Stress may prove to be very dangerous. It may take the life of a person. Appropriate stress management should be done to relieve stress and remain physically and mentally sound.

Any questions?