What is rental stress and how to deal with it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Everyone, of course, knows this ridiculous law: if you see that someone is yawning nearby, then you will certainly yawn once yourself. And we are also seized by the general euphoria of the stadium during a football match. Or the feeling of togetherness and freedom at a rock concert. Or a feeling of sadness … Why we can experience emotions similar to those around us and whether it is good, you will learn from the next publication.

How we adopt other people's emotions

Over the past decade, science has become aware of a lot of facts confirming the existence of a close connection between the brain and emotional disorders. Emotions are transmitted through a network of mirror neurons that is part of the brain. It is due to its functions that we are able to empathize with other people and understand their feelings. For the same reason, when someone yawns nearby, an irresistible urge to yawn can arise in you - mirror neurons come into play.

Mirror neurons (Italian neuroni specchio) are neurons in the brain that are excited both when performing a certain action, and when observing the performance of this action by another creature.

Your brain picks up signals sent by the body of another person from the opposite end of the room: "I'm tired." However, the brain is not only susceptible to indicators of condition such as smiling or yawning. In addition to them, like passive smokers, we are able to receive third-party negativity and stress in our address.

Howard Friedman and Ronal Riggio, researchers at the University of California, Riverside, found that if a person near you is worried or agitated (this can also be non-verbal), the likelihood that you will experience the same feelings will be extremely high. And this can negatively affect the activity of your brain.

Observing someone who is under stress, especially a colleague or family member, also unwittingly affects your nervous system. A group of independent researchers have shown that in 26% of people, the level of cortisol (also called the death hormone) in the blood can rise, even if they just look at those who are worried.

Alien, imposed on us from the outside, it is much easier to pick up stress from your romantic partner (the probability is about 40%) than from a casual passer-by. Nevertheless, when watching videos with the participation of strangers experiencing negative emotions, 24% of viewers still showed signs of stress reactions (which, of course, makes us think about the question of whether it is worth taking up watching the series "Breaking Bad" at night looking).

Stress can await us everywhere: in a taxi, where no, no, yes, and there are harmful drivers, in the office, where your colleagues or boss come not necessarily with a smile on their face, but in any public place - agree, someone's mood is good or not very much, it always feels almost physically.

Heidi Hanna, a researcher at the American Stress Institute and author of The Stressaholic: Five Ways to Manage Stress, believes that secondary stress can occur as a result of a person's unconscious ability to identify potential threats in their environment.

Many people have met people at least once in their lives, at the sight of whom they feel an incomprehensible anxiety, as soon as they appear on the doorstep. On the one hand, this can happen due to the fact that a conditioned reflex, which has arisen on the basis of past experience of interaction with a particular person, is triggered. On the other hand, the reason for such reactions can be energy-informational exchange, which occurs at the level of the slightest changes in the biorhythms habitual to the body.

Heidi Hannah

In fact, you don’t even need to see or hear the person in order to catch the stress: all you have to do is “smell” it. Recent studies in the field of "stressology" have established that at the moment of stress, special sweat glands are activated and this can be captured by the olfactory organs of others. The brain is even able to recognize, as evidenced by the "alarming pheromones" floating in the air: a person is exposed to weak or, on the contrary, strong stress at a certain moment.

As scientific minds advanced deeper and deeper in the study of the issue, more and more confirmation was in favor of the conclusion: all the negative we receive from others is capable of influencing everything at the cellular level, no matter what we are doing, thereby shortening the life of our life.

Shawn Achor, a former professor of psychology at Harvard University, reports that the Ritz-Carlton and Ochsner Health System, realizing how severe stress can affect the quality of care, have introduced a new corporate rule: “Forget about personal problems as soon as he was in the patient's line of sight”. If he sees a doctor coming to him, worried about his feelings or at least a little agitated, then the tension will literally hang in the air, and the patient will certainly take all the supposedly bad signs (they can be invented out of nothing) at his own expense. In contrast, staff who exude positive are immediately associated with the confidence of a professional or the hope of a speedy recovery.

How to protect yourself from stress

Alas, the modern world is arranged in such a way that during the working time we are forced to be practically put on public display in front of all honest people. Here you will find huge anthills of office centers made of glass and concrete, and the subway, and your favorite social networks - whether we like it or not, but everywhere we are waiting for potential sources of stress. And this is ourselves: me, you, we, you - all as one.

It seems that you should still start to think a little about how to strengthen your emotional immunity. Otherwise, we run the risk of catching someone else's spleen every time.

And here are some recommendations for self-leveling.

Change the way you look at things

Dr. Alia Crum and Peter Salovey found that if you treat stress with a positive and stop fighting it, then its negative impact can decrease to 23%.

By viewing stress as a threat, we deprive our body and mind of the ability to derive any benefit from the stressful situation. Yes, that's right: with a high level of stress, the flexibility of thinking, the depth of sensations, perception increases, and there comes an awareness of the value of life and the importance of priorities in it.

Create positive antibodies

Certain behaviors can help counteract the negative effects of stress. For example, instead of snapping at an irritated comment from a coworker who is not doing well, try smiling back or just nodding in understanding. Now you are a little stronger.

Michelle Gielan's book "" has some interesting advice. Its essence is as follows: find your "lever" by clicking on which you will block the path of the flow of negative. Usually the first phrase in a conversation determines the outcome. You will be surprised what effect friendly words, spoken in a calm voice, can have in an ordinary telephone conversation: "I will listen to you with pleasure."

Strengthen your innate stress tolerance

One of the most effective defenses against imposed stress is self-esteem. The stronger it is, the better: you will feel enough strength in yourself to withstand almost any adversity. If you suddenly feel that you have caught a wave of someone’s mood that you don’t need at all, stop the flow of thoughts and remember: I’m all right, things are under control.

Physical education is a great help in training self-respect. Whenever you achieve even the slightest success in sports, the brain captures this moment and rewards you with a free portion of endorphins. Cool, you know.

Temper

Not just a contrast shower. There are some other things you can try in the morning:

1. Start your day with the mail. But not with a working one, as many probably do. Write a letter of gratitude to someone you know. Just. For being a loyal friend or beloved colleague. Write to mom, after all.
2. Make a list of three things you can be grateful for in life.
3. Write about a good experience or event from the past.
4. Do a half hour charge.
5. Meditate for two to three minutes.

Nowadays, it is generally accepted that if you run in the morning, go to the supermarket exclusively for spinach, and not draft lager, you can climb at least to the fifth floor without shortness of breath - you are healthy. But the times are not far off when health care will include the protection of subtle matters - feelings, emotions, soul. By the way, many around me, as I see it, have long been concerned about this.

And yes, of course, the whole point is not only about the mood of the relatives and colleagues around you. Positive change always starts with yourself first. Believe in your strength, strengthen your body and spirit, and then everything will definitely work out.