Stress describes our reaction to the demands of our environment as well as the burdens that we experience inside – both on a psychological and physical level.
Stress can also motivate us, spur us on and at times help us to achieve top performance. However, we often perceive stress as negative, a burden that robs us of joy and lightness.
From a biological point of view, stress has an important function – it helps us to react confidently in extremely stressful situations. We all know the “flight or fight” moments when we breathe short and fast, our pulse is racing, adrenaline is shooting through our body and we are extremely tense and concentrated – our body is preparing to make the right decision and to make the right decision as quickly as possible act. And as soon as we have survived this situation unscathed, our body automatically relaxes.
Our body is perfectly geared towards short, extreme stress situations that require our full concentration, courage and ability to act quickly.
But these moments are rare – modern stress is permanent stress – it is characterized by long-lasting phases with a high workload, often characterized by subtle challenges and latent excessive demands. And that’s exactly where the problem lies – our body’s stress response no longer fits in with today’s world.
Biologically, our body reacts in a very similar way to these modern demands – we have shallow breathing, are tense, get a racing heart, a tepid feeling in our stomach or a feeling of heat – but we don’t relax. And this creates a feeling of physical strain and emotional strain and chronic stress – and if this is long-lasting, health problems can develop – up to and including panic attacks or burn-out.
It is important to understand that burnout is a consequence of our body’s stress response and therefore a physical reaction – this also explains why nobody is immune to burnout and even a positive attitude, motivation or the feeling of being able to cope cannot arm ourselves.
There are stress triggers in all phases of life and we experience them very differently:
- Pressure to perform, professional requirements, training and further education as well as conflicts at work.
- Responsibility for family members, such as children and dependent parents, difficulties in our relationships or private commitments.
- Life crises, such as illness or disability, loss or separation, and identity issues or conflicts.
And more and more often we are stressed because we have the feeling that we have to do our best and function in all areas of life – and therefore a certain pressure or stress can also arise from leisure activities, fitness, personal interests or private contacts – especially if we work every day being reminded by social media of how ingeniously everyone else is doing it.
