Stress, as you know, is a complex of physical, chemical and other human reactions to stressors (or stimuli) in environment, the action of which unbalances his physiological and mental functions. Stress can be both negative and positive for a person. Under certain conditions, it helps to mobilize the efforts of the employee to solve production problems or achieve personal goals. Changes at work and in the family, especially unforeseen ones, can unbalance a person, lead to a discrepancy between his condition and the environment. Such a discrepancy, in turn, gives rise to fatigue, a sense of danger, a weakening of mental abilities, an increase in blood pressure, a passive attitude to work, a decrease in the level of organization, violations of labor discipline, etc. This leads to losses in the organization due to an increase in the number of accidents, a decrease in the quality of work, an increase in staff turnover, and premature death of employees.

To avoid harmful effects Stress must be learned to deal with it. There are methods for neutralizing stress (Table 3). Taking into account them, individual programs for neutralizing stress are compiled. At the organization level, seminars are held, employees are trained in relaxation techniques, ways to change behavior, and identify individual stresses.

Table 3 Methods for neutralizing stress

Method name	Method characteristic
1. Planning	It is necessary to plan the solution of tasks (personal or business) for the next day or the near future. Plans need to align personal goals with those of the organization
2. Exercise	Physical exercise, exercise during the day can help to avoid stress, as they are good way out for negative energy, have a beneficial effect on the physical condition of the body
3. Power mode	Prolonged stress can lead to vitamin deficiencies, weakening of the body and ultimately disease. In addition, during stress, the normal diet is disrupted. Therefore, it is necessary to choose the right diet together with the doctor.
4. Psychotherapy	It is necessary to contact a psychotherapist who will recommend special exercises, taking into account the prevailing stressful situation and a professional specialist (psychologist) for intensive individual work
5. Meditation and relaxation	Far Eastern methods of mediation (a state of inner concentration, concentration of attention on something). yoga, zen buddhism, religion, prayer

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General Approaches to Stress Management

Yu.V. Shcherbatykh "Psychology of stress and methods of correction" - tutorial/ St. Petersburg - 2008. year

There are many methods for correcting psycho-emotional stress, and the task is to choose those that would answer, on the one hand, individual characteristics specific person, on the other - the real conditions that exist in a given place and time. In the monograph "Individual resistance to emotional stress" K.V. Sudakov, listing the most important ways of anti-stress activities, points to the following ways:

• autogenic training;
• various relaxation methods;
• biological feedback;
• breathing exercises;
• inclusion in human life positive emotions;
• music;
• physical exercise;
• psychotherapy;
• physiotherapeutic measures (massage, sauna, electrosleep);
• acupuncture, etc.

At the same time, it is noted that the choice of some method of stress correction should be determined by that system of the body, the indicators of which deviate most strongly from normal values. It is especially emphasized that we should not talk about the “average statistical norm”, but about vital indicators that are normal for this particular individual.

In addition, in order to correct stress, in addition to specific measures of psychological influence, it is necessary to use restorative methods. For example, the prevention of disorders of the cardiovascular system caused by exam stress should be comprehensive, including a decrease in physical inactivity, measures to optimize the daily routine, alternating stress nervous system with rest, systematic stay on fresh air and proper nutrition.

Among various ways stress relief can be distinguished as the latest scientific developments of psychologists, as well as traditional folk remedies time-tested. At one of the anti-stress seminars conducted by the author of this book, its participants, among the methods used to reduce stress, named:

• communication with nature;
• music;
• alcohol;
• pets;
• socializing with friends;
• extreme physical exercise;
• sex;
• hobby;
• steam bath;
• watching a good video
• book reading;
• doing sports, etc.

In addition to these "everyday" methods, methods were also named that can be called "psychological":

• load yourself with work so that there is not enough time and energy for experiences;
• change, attitude to the situation;
• remember those people who are even worse;
• pour out your soul to a friend or girlfriend;
• treat the situation with humor;
• listen to the advice of a competent person, etc.

This example shows that many people are knowledgeable about stress reduction techniques but still experience stress in their lives. This situation is due to the fact that in most cases anti-stress methods are applied spontaneously and not always justified, and as a result - with low efficiency.

If we turn to scientific literature on stress, the situations will be similar - a wide range of methods for reducing mental stress and the problem of their choice. Some psychologists prefer autogenic training, others prefer muscle relaxation, others prefer breathing exercises, others prefer meditation, etc. The American psychologist Joseph Wolpe, in turn, believes that there are only three activities that are incompatible with stress: this is sex , food and relaxation exercises. Thus, practical street psychologists face the task of differentiating anti-stress methods, as well as optimal selection those methods that correspond to the maximum extent to the nature of stress and the individual characteristics of a person.

To understand the numerous techniques aimed at reducing psychological stress, it is necessary to systematize them in accordance with certain characteristics, and, depending on the chosen coordinate system, the classifications will be different. There are at least two classifications of methods for neutralizing stress. The first classification is based on the nature of the anti-stress effect: physical, chemical or psychological, the second classification is based on the method of introduction, into the consciousness of the anti-stress setting - independently or with the help of another person.

Let's consider them in more detail.

Rice. 37. Classification of methods for neutralizing stress

depending on the nature of the anti-stress effect

First classification.

If we start from the lowest levels of the organization of matter, then the simplest will be physical methods stress reduction - exposure to high or low temperatures, light of different spectral composition and intensity, etc. Numerous observations prove that hardening, sauna and Russian steam bath are excellent anti-stress methods that have been used for centuries in traditional medicine and have not lost their significance even today. Sunbathing (tanning) in moderate doses also has a beneficial effect on mental and physical health. Research recent years It has been proven that not only the intensity of light, but also its spectral composition also affect the mental state of a person. So, when a group of subjects observed the red color obtained using conventional projection lamps with additional light filters, their perception was associated with negative emotions: limitation, feeling of tightness, headache. When irradiated in a standing position - a tendency to retreat or expand the space. Irregular physiological reactions were also noted: periodic increase in blood pressure and increased heart rate. At the same time, the blue-green color was rated by the subjects as calm, pretty, pleasant, some of them associated with water and moonlight. It partially inhibited the increased physiological functions and normalized the reduced performance.

The next group of biochemical methods of stress relief includes various pharmacological preparations, medicinal plants, narcotic substances, alcohol and aromatherapy. The last method is to control the mental state of a person with the help of smells. For this, a special aromatic water lamp, smoking sticks, fragrant baths or massage with the addition of aromatic oils are used.

Among the many essential oils there is a set of substances that have good sedative and anti-stress properties. Valerian, lavender, lemon balm, ylang-ylang and neroli have the most well-known and proven soothing properties, however, when using aromatherapy, one should take into account the individual tolerance of odors and previously formed olfactory associations.
Physiological methods of stress regulation consist in a direct impact on the physiological processes in the body, in particular, on the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems. These include massage, acupuncture, exercise, muscle relaxation and breathing techniques.

Psychological methods stress reductions will be discussed in more detail below, so we won't go into them for the moment.

Second classification.

You can manage your stress levels on your own, with the help of another person, or with the help of technical means.

Practice shows that the most effective way regulation of stress levels is external - with the participation of a psychologist, psychiatrist or any other positively minded person. This includes all types of psychotherapy, emotional involvement loved one, competent advice knowing person, sex, sports games, massage, etc.

Rice. 38. Classification of methods for neutralizing stress, depending on the method of applying the anti-stress effect.

In some situations, the above method of stress relief is impossible - in the absence of a specialist or a person's unwillingness to share their problems with outsiders. In this case, various methods of psychological self-help are applicable - autogenic training, meditation, breathing techniques, special physical exercises, etc. A classic example of the method of this group is Indian yoga, which includes breathing exercises (paranayama), physical exercises (asanas) and techniques meditation (samadhi).

The regulation of the stress level can take place using technical means:

• tape recorder on which formulas are recorded

autogenic training;

• VCR that plays back

pictures of nature;

• teaching computer programs for relaxation;
• variety of biofeedback devices.

In the matter of overcoming industrial stresses, there is a classification of methods for optimizing functional states, which divides all methods of anti-stress protection into organizational and psychoprophylactic ones.

The first group of methods is aimed at reducing the degree of extremeness of factors production environment and their greater compliance with the psychophysiological characteristics of the worker. This (organizational) approach is most common in labor psychology, engineering psychology, and ergonomics. Its main areas are:

1) rationalization of labor processes by compiling optimal work algorithms, providing convenient time limits, etc.; _

2) improvement of tools and means of labor in accordance with

psychophysiological characteristics of a person;

3) development of optimal modes of work and rest, which

would not lead to premature depletion of resources

employee;

1. rational organization of workplaces and the formation of an optimal working posture;
2. creation of a favorable socio-psychological climate in the team;

6) increase in moral and material interest as a result of labor.

The second group of methods is aimed directly at the psyche of the worker and his functional state. It includes methods such as:

• exposure to color and functional music;
• impact on biologically active points;
• health-improving physical exercises;
• persuasion and suggestion;
• self-hypnosis and auto-training;
• breathing exercises;
• meditation..

We can also distinguish two directions in overcoming psychological stress: preventive and therapeutic.

The first way is to strengthen the body's defenses, change attitudes towards traumatic situations, and develop positive thinking.

The second way is aimed at neutralizing the already existing
stress and consists in a targeted impact on its bodily and emotional manifestations. Certainly; there are no clear boundaries between these two approaches. The same auto-training can be used both as a prophylactic and as a therapeutic agent. With another; On the other hand, with a sharp development of stress, it is necessary to influence not only the body (with the help of muscle relaxation and breathing exercises), but also on thoughts and feelings (methods of reframing and rational therapy).

In addition, it should be remembered that the price of successful activity is always quite high, and when choosing the optimal strategy for responding to stress, you have to prioritize. The complete removal of stress activation significantly reduces a person's ability to maximize himself in life and professional activity, while excessive stress causes serious disturbances in the body. The optimal stress level is a balance between the two extremes. There is an assumption that for each individual person there is an optimal activation at which his activity is quite effective and at the same time the level of stress does not reach distress.

In this regard, the results of a study that assessed the functional state of operators during a 20-hour activity on communication facilities are of interest. Two groups were distinguished: operators with high and low quality of work. When comparing the psychophysiological parameters of these 2 groups, it turned out that the operators who coped with the tasks more successfully had a 26% higher hand tremor, and reactive anxiety by 34%, compared with operators who worked less successfully. The persons of the first group also had a higher arterial pressure, a pronounced galvanic skin reaction, the state of health, activity and mood were lower. Thus, the success of operators' activities was closely related to the level of neuro-emotional stress, which leads to an increase in the cost of activities.

A study of the performance of athletes showed that the best results and the greatest stability were achieved by athletes with an average level of anxiety and, accordingly, with an average abs. Athletes from low level anxiety, and the worst indicators (both in terms of performance and performance stability) were occupied by athletes with excessive levels of anxiety and stress.

Thus, we are talking about optimizing the level of stress, although it should be noted that in most cases the task is precisely to reduce the excess stress indicator, and then the main methods of stress correction used in practice will be listed and analyzed.

Ways of self-regulation of the psychological state during stress

1. Autogenic training

Autogenic training is one of the options for self-hypnosis.
With its help, a person can have a significant impact on the mental and vegetative processes in the body, including those that are not amenable to arbitrary conscious regulation. The mechanisms of the phenomena occurring in this case remain unclear, and the “peripheral theory of emotions” created by James-Lange at the beginning of the century still retains its significance for understanding the processes that connect our thoughts and our body. According to this hypothesis, each physiological state of the organism more or less deterministically corresponds to a certain state of consciousness, and the influence of these states is mirror-like. From the seemingly paradoxical statement of W. James “we cry, not because we feel bad, but we feel bad because we cry”, an empirical conclusion that is quite confirmed in practice follows. If, by an effort of will, we change, firstly, the pattern of excitation of the skeletal muscles, making it correspond to another emotion, and, secondly, our thoughts, making the assumption that the desired emotion is already in the body, then the probability of the desired emotion will increase dramatically.

In the 1930s, Johann Schultz, ignoring experience as a Western
Noah, and Eastern psychotherapy (in particular, the system of yogis), created his own direction of self-hypnosis, calling it autogenic training (AT). AT exercises, according to Schultz, are divided into two stages - initial and higher.

The initial stage includes 6 exercises, thanks to which you can learn to voluntarily influence a number of body processes that are not normally subject to conscious control. The outcome of this AT stage are six skills:

• cause a feeling of heaviness in the limbs;
• cause a feeling of warmth in the limbs;
• normalize the rhythm of cardiac activity;
• normalize the rhythm of breathing;
• cause a feeling of warmth in the epigastric region;
• cause a feeling of coolness in the forehead.

This canonical sequence of exercises has been repeatedly modified by various authors. Some of them reduced this set of basic exercises to 4 elements. Others insisted on the introduction of the seventh exercise into this complex, aimed at mobilizing the practitioner. Some suggested excluding the exercise for the formation of a feeling of heaviness, which is poorly tolerated by some people, etc. However, the main idea of ​​I. Schulz about the conscious control of the tone of the skeletal muscles and the walls of blood vessels using verbal formulas and visual images is present in all modifications of AT.

The highest level of Schulz's auto-training was actually a modified version of raja yoga and was available only to individual patients. At this stage, people learned to induce "special mental states" in themselves (in contrast to the lower stage, at which, according to Schultz, "changes of a somatic character" are caused). Patients mastering the classical version of AT, at this stage, were consistently trained in the ability to vividly imagine some color in front of their inner gaze, then a given object, and, finally, imagine images of abstract concepts (“beauty”, “happiness”, “justice”, etc.). . P.). In conclusion, AT practitioners, while in a state of deep immersion, ask themselves questions like “What is the meaning of work?”, Getting the answer to them in the form of visual images.

In the future, the method of autogenic training was widely used by various psychotherapists and was significantly modified in accordance with applied tasks. To date, autogenic training has completely passed practical testing and is widely used in medicine, psychotherapy, sports, military affairs, pedagogy and other areas of human practice. As many experts note, the environment and the special psychological mood inherent in autogenic training, the suggested state of rest and muscle relaxation help to reduce the emotional stress inherent in people with increased anxiety and prone to experiencing stress. This important feature of self-hypnosis can be used to eliminate anxiety, anxiety, fear, and excessive emotional tension. A standard AT session consists of three parts:

1. basic self-hypnosis of rest and relaxation;
2. targeted self-hypnosis;
3. out of a state of relaxation.

At the first stage, it is best to practice in a quiet, calm room with soft, dim light, with comfortable temperature, in loose clothing. As you master the AT methodology, training can be applied in any environment: at work, at home, even in transport. The eyes are usually closed. You can do AT 1-3 times a day for 10-20 minutes (the time is selected individually). It is better to carry out autogenic training before getting up - in the morning, in the afternoon - at lunchtime and in the evening - before going to bed. If it is difficult for someone to remember the self-hypnosis formulas, at first you can use a tape recorder, on which these formulas are read in a calm, unhurried voice. For training, you can use the bottom of the following positions:

1. lying on your back: head on a low pillow, arms along the body, legs extended and slightly apart with toes outward;
2. in the chair: the back of the head and back, comfortably and softly lean on the back of the chair. Hands are relaxed, lie on the armrests or on the hips;
3. sitting on a chair: the spine is slightly bent so that the shoulders hang forward, the head is lowered, the arms are relaxed on the hips, the hands are hanging inward, the legs are comfortably apart - this is the so-called coachman's position, in which you can sit, long time without straining.

At the beginning of classes, self-hypnosis formulas are used (words pronounced in separate respiratory cycles are separated from each other by two slashes), given below.

"I (on inspiration) - rest (on exhalation)."

"I (on inspiration) - calm (on exhalation)."

"I (inhale) relax (exhale) // and (inhale) - calm down (exhale)".

After achieving the primary relaxation of the whole body, they begin to relax its individual parts: arms, legs, face, etc. In the classic version of AT, it was first necessary to instill a feeling of heaviness in the hand, and only after that - a feeling of warmth. The experience of many psychotherapists shows that most practitioners can immediately learn to inspire themselves with a feeling of warmth, especially since for some people the feeling of heaviness can cause some discomfort.

In the latter case, the following suggestion formulas are used:

"My hand is getting warm."

"The hand is heavy and warm."

"Both hands are heavy and warm."

“Warmth fills the hands. // Then - legs";

“The whole body warms up. // Muscles are relaxed.

"Pleasant warmth - washes away all troubles."

"I'm calm. // I am completely calm.”

When a person relaxes enough and plunges into a drowsy state (it is also called Autogenic), then you can move on to the active phase of auto-training - self-hypnosis formulas. The fact is that in the usual waking state, the suggestibility of a person is low, and in the autogenic state it is high. Therefore, after achieving relaxation, you can easily introduce into your subconscious the necessary programs that were poorly absorbed in the normal state.

1. Self-hypnosis against the background of a hypnotic state with its subsequent implementation as a post-hypnotic task.
2. Self-hypnosis against the background of physical or breathing exercises.
3. The so-called "pure" self-hypnosis, when in the process of self-hypnosis a person does not use any additional influence.

Our research on how to use AT to correct exam stress has shown that each of the above self-regulation methods can be used to optimize stress levels, choosing them taking into account the accompanying conditions:

• personal characteristics of a person;
• the presence or absence of a preliminary psychological

chess training;

• group or individual forms of classes;
• the amount of time available to the psychologist

For persons who have not completed a preliminary course of auto-training, we offered a combined technique that combines the 1st and 2nd variants of AT according to Romen; auto-training against the background of hetero-training with the addition of breathing exercises that accelerate the transition to relaxation. This group methodology for preparing for exams was conventionally designated by us as "AT-1".

Psychological preparation to the exam according to the AT-1 method, as a rule, was of a group nature and consisted of 4 parts: breathing meditation, relaxation, mobilization and creating a program of successful activity. Initially, students were asked to sit comfortably, concentrate on their breathing, and do the breath meditation exercise. The experience of both our own research and other authors who worked with the pre-start states of athletes shows that such a concentration on the breathing process is, firstly, of a pronounced sedative nature, and secondly, it distracts anxious students from negative thoughts about the results of upcoming exams, switches the orientation of attention from external to internal direction. Similar relaxation methods with elements of the yoga or meditation system have shown their effectiveness in relieving students of excessive situational anxiety before exams.

After 3-5 minutes, when the dominant associated with the exams faded somewhat, the students were asked to follow the psychologist mentally, to themselves, to pronounce self-hypnosis formulas: "I - relax - and calm down", synchronizing them with the rhythm of their breathing, as indicated above.

After reaching the required degree of relaxation, the students were offered to mentally pronounce the formula: "I am calm - // and sure - in her!", also synchronized with breathing, but with opposite proportions of the elements of the respiratory cycle. The first part of the formula, pronounced on inhalation, was quite long, and the second (on exhalation) was short. The last part of the formula - "in itself! |" it was recommended to pronounce it on a forced exhalation with emotional pressure.

After that, students were asked to create a mental model of their success in the exam and "lose" this situation in their mind several times. Thus, a kind of program of successful activity was created, which students had to follow in the exam. It included the image of a calm, self-confident person with free access to his available memory resources. After that, the students were assessed the state of vegetative homeostasis according to the Kerdo index. If this indicator was more than twice the individual indicator measured in the norm, then the final session of auto-training aimed at muscle relaxation was performed with the student. After subjectively determining the most tense part of the body, the subject concentrated attention on it and silently repeated self-hypnosis formulas such as: “My face relaxes and calms down” or “My hands are soft and warm”; accompanying these formulas with the corresponding representations. The whole lesson, including the preliminary and final measurement of blood pressure and pulse rate, took 20-25 minutes (without measuring the indicators of the cardiovascular system - 15-20 minutes). At the same time, the average heart rate in the group at the end of the session decreased from 102.1 to 93.4 beats/min (p<0,01), также достоверно снизилось артериальное давление. Особо выражено было изменение психологического состояния студентов после сеанса коррекции экзаменационного стресса. Средний уровень тревожности в этой группе студентов, измеренный по методике Свилбергера, уменьшился с 55,4 ± 2,1 до 43,1 ± 2,0 баллов (р < 0,001). Общая картина итогового изменения вегетативных и психологических показателей студентов после сеанса комплексной саморегуляции показана на рис. 39.

1st column: heart rate, bpm

2nd column: ADS, mm Hg. Art.

3rd column: BDD, mm Hg. Art.

4th column: Anxiety, conditional scores

Rice. 39 Changes in the psychophysiological indicators of students after a session of psychological preparation "AT-1"

Thus, we can conclude that the use of the psychological preparation program for the AT-1 exams made it possible to significantly reduce the level of emotional tension, which was noted at the physiological, psychological and behavioral levels. The positive dynamics of the psychological well-being of students after such a training is confirmed by their self-reports, which they filled out after passing the exam.

Student R., 2nd year: “Before the English exam, I felt fear, insecurity in my knowledge, fatigue. After the autogenic training, I became completely calm, the excitement and fear were gone, I gained confidence in my abilities. This allowed me to pass the exam well.”

Student D., 1st year: “Auto-training classes helped me in passing current tests, and pre-examination (exercises) - in the exam. There was self-confidence, in the knowledge, calmness and optimism. Classes were given in three directions: relaxation, to achieve self-confidence and confidence in the successful completion of the session. Most of all, of these stages, relaxation helped me, because at the same time you "fence off" from the outside world, you forget about current difficulties, and this makes it easier to pass exams.

2. Biofeedback method

Biofeedback (BFB, biofeedback) is understood as such methods of self-regulation of human vegetative functions that allow you to directly observe your own physiological parameters and consciously influence them (7,12,18,19,24). It was traditionally believed that the possibilities of the conscious of many physiological systems of the body are very limited. Only as a result of many years of practice, some Indian yogis managed to slow down the heart rate, control the tone of peripheral blood vessels, or influence the biorhythms of the brain. Until recently, it was believed that a person can voluntarily control only skeletal muscles, and smooth muscles and glands are regulated by the autonomic nervous system, which is not subject to the control of consciousness. The heart, blood vessels, stomach, kidneys - all these organs work according to certain programs, conscious influence on which is almost impossible. True, with the help of self-hypnosis formulas used in the process of autogenic training, some of the trainees learned to influence some physiological processes, however, control over these procedures was carried out at the subjective level and did not make it possible to realistically assess the nature and intensity of the changes taking place. Many trainees complained that it is difficult for them to understand in which direction they should move, since in classical auto-training there is no visual feedback between the result of the exercises and the indicators of the sense organs. When a person says “My hands are getting warmer and warmer”, he is not completely sure that the feeling of warmth in his hands is not a figment of his imagination, but an accomplished reality. To accelerate the learning of self-regulation skills, some researchers began to develop various technical devices that would allow patients to directly observe their physiological processes. Therefore, back in the 80s of the twentieth century, various models of skin electrothermometers began to be introduced into the practice of auto-training, which significantly accelerated the process of mastering the skills of self-regulation. If without devices it took 2-3 weeks for patients to master the ability to raise the temperature of their hands, then with an electrothermometer this happened already in the first or second lesson. In fact, these first fairly simple devices were the prototypes of modern biofeedback devices that allow people to actually control certain physiological parameters.

A serious breakthrough in the development of this method began after the creation of modern computer technologies that allow the patient to really see what was previously impossible to see, indicators of heart rate, rhythm, electrical activity, brain or galvanic skin response. It turned out that if a person is presented with these parameters on a computer screen and taught some methods of self-regulation, then he will be able to consciously influence the previously involuntary processes of his body, relieving stress, improving the state of the cardiovascular system, restoring damaged muscles or overcoming alcohol addiction. According to one of the definitions; "Biofeedback is a set of ideas, methods and technologies based on the principles of biofeedback (BFB) aimed at developing and improving the mechanisms of self-regulation of physiological functions in various pathological conditions and for the purpose of personal growth." It is indicated here that the biofeedback method can be successfully used to normalize high blood pressure, which is provoked by chronic psycho-emotional stress, i.e., stress. The principle of biofeedback is shown in Figure 40.

In accordance with the main position of biofeedback in order for a person to learn how to influence some physiological or biochemical process, he must receive information about the results of his actions. For example, if, as a result of stress, a person develops a sustained tachycardia and the doctor asks him to slow down his pulse, he is unlikely to be able to do this, and even if he accidentally succeeds, it will be difficult for him to fix and repeat the result. Another thing is if the patient is provided with a biofeedback device. Then he will quickly learn to associate changes in his body with changes on the computer screen, and reducing the heart rate will become a fairly simple matter. It should be noted that in recent years, computer consoles for game biofeedback have become increasingly popular in the world, with the help of which the patient learns to control his physiological functions by influencing the characters of the game. A person can win a competition only if he learns to manage his physiological function in a situation of virtual competitive stress. For example, the more he relaxes his muscles, the faster the car rushes on the monitor screen, the calmer and less frequent the heart beats, the more successful the diver finds hidden treasures, etc. As a result, the treatment session turns into an exciting activity that both adults and children like. . Working with such a simulator has a beneficial effect on the functioning of the cardiovascular system, normalizing the work of the heart and lowering blood pressure.

In the process of game training, a person acquires the ability
to resist stress, learns to respond to conflict situations in a new way, to reduce excessive internal stress when increased efficiency is required. Recently, it has been proven that with the help of the biofeedback method, people can consciously reduce
heart rate either by activating the parasympathetic system or by inhibiting the sympathetic nervous system. The developers of the method describe the features of game biofeedback as follows:

“A person can win a game or achieve a positive development of the plot only by learning to control their own mechanisms of self-regulation, using muscle relaxation techniques combined with a high degree of consciousness control, constant scanning of internal sensations and monitoring the dynamics of indicators on the monitor screen. Overcoming the seeming contradiction between psycho-emotional stress and the need to maintain a state of calm, the player learns to maintain resistance in a stressful situation of the game, without falling into a panic, into a state of passion. Thus, he creates a model of effective behavior - a system of skills for constructively resolving such situations that prevent the development of stress-induced states and their consequences.

To date, there is convincing evidence of the high efficiency of the BFB method in reducing stress levels and treating diseases such as hypertension, Raynaud's syndrome, migraine, alcoholism and drug addiction. In addition, the biofeedback method has shown high efficiency in the treatment of phobias, anxiety, insomnia and depression. At the same time, the most important advantage of the method of biological self-government is that in it the patient turns from a passive object of medical intervention into an active subject, who himself determines the level of his physiological state and his recovery.

3. Breathing techniques

Breathing is a unique human function with a number of important features.

First - this is the second life-long importance of the process of our body (after the work of the heart). A person can live without food for a month, without water - a week, without breathing - two or three minutes.

Secondly, breathing is, perhaps, the only vegetative function that is subject to the control of consciousness. In contrast to the work of the stomach, liver or kidneys, we can control our breathing within certain limits and through it influence the activity of other internal organs.

Thirdly, the rhythm of breathing is closely related to the state of the skeletal muscles, and its correct use allows you to quickly and fully master the skills of muscle relaxation.

Fourth, the ratio of inhalation to exhalation affects a person's mood. Remember how a sad person breathes? He takes a deep breath and a long exhalation (the so-called "sigh"). How does an athlete breathe before a fight? He takes a short, vigorous breath.

Thus, our psychological state is reflected in the nature of breathing, and, on the other hand, by changing the nature of breathing, we can change our mood in the right direction. These facts explain why in all Eastern spiritual and bodily practices (from yoga to karate) breathing exercises are necessarily included in the basic skills of both beginners and experienced masters.

Currently, breathing exercises are widely used in. various sets of exercises aimed at reducing stress levels. One of the easiest ways to use the anti-stress potential of the breath is to focus on it. You can concentrate on the movement of the chest, rhythmically rising and falling in time with the breath, on the quiet rustle of the air entering and leaving the lungs, but it is easiest to concentrate on the flow of air passing through the lungs. Therefore, to reduce stress, the Breathing Meditation exercise is often used, which allows you to distract thoughts from the source of stress and switch a person’s attention from a traumatic situation to the breathing process.

There are two main ways of breathing: thoracic and abdominal. The first is due to the intercostal muscles, and the second is due to the contraction of the diaphragm.

Abdominal breathing (belly) is considered more physiological, although it may not look so aesthetically pleasing. Nevertheless, abdominal breathing has a pronounced healing effect on the processes of digestion (increased intestinal peristalsis and activation of the pancreas and liver) and pulmonary ventilation (cleansing the lower lobes of the lungs from microbes). In addition, it is more effective in neutralizing high-intensity stress. This effect is achieved both due to more pronounced muscle efforts, and due to holding the breath in the exhalation phase. Comparison of two sources of potential danger: psychological and biological (associated with lack of oxygen) largely devalues ​​the first of them.

S. Gremling and S. Auerbach write: “Exercises focused on deep breathing are an important component of all types of relaxation procedures. They are one of the simplest and most effective methods of promoting relaxation. They especially make life easier for people who are prone to panic in stressful situations.

4. Muscle relaxation

In the 30s of the last century, Edmund Jacobson (in another transcription - Jacobson) published his work "Progressive Relaxation", where he showed that our mental problems and our body are interconnected with each other: anxiety and anxiety cause muscle tension, and muscle tension , in turn, reinforces negative emotions. As a result, a person who often experiences stress develops a so-called “muscle corset”, which he constantly wears and which causes mental stress. The fact is that the brain; receiving an additional portion of excitation from tense muscles, it becomes even more excited and sends new orders back to the muscles.

To break this vicious circle, you can learn to relax your muscles, since, according to Jacobson, muscle relaxation is incompatible with anxiety. You can, of course, first try to "relieve the tension" of the brain, but, as practice has shown, this path is better suited for a person brought up in Eastern traditions - Indian yogis or Buddhist monks. Westerners are more accustomed to dealing with something substantial and material (like our muscles) than with ideal and poorly controlled processes (thoughts and emotions). Therefore, Jacobson suggested that people learn muscle relaxation in order to relax their tense mind. He developed a technique of voluntary muscle relaxation in affective states, which contributed to the removal of emotional tension, and was also used to prevent the occurrence of these states.

A. M. Svyadoshch recommends using this method as a symptomatic remedy for anxiety states, anxious expectation neurosis, fear neurosis and various phobias. It should be noted that the main difficulty that arises when mastering this method is the problem of voluntary relaxation of the skeletal muscles. Indeed, the neuromuscular relationships are organized in such a way that the muscles understand well only one order: “Contract!”, And the instruction “Relax!” they don't actually get it. To relax a muscle, you need "only" to stop tensing it, but in this case, the refusal of activity is much more difficult than its beginning. In the wild, animals or people from primitive tribes relax automatically as soon as the danger disappears or other activities stop, but not so with a civilized person. He carries his problems, anxieties and dangers in his mind, which controls the muscles, so that the latter are almost always in a state of chronic tension. There is an effect of "positive feedback" - an excited and preoccupied brain makes the muscles tense unnecessarily, and tense muscles excite the consciousness even more, sending nerve impulses to it. To stop this process, Jacobson suggested using a seemingly paradoxical way - First, strain the muscles as much as possible and only then try to relieve tension. It turned out that, using the principle of contrast, one can more clearly perceive the degree of muscle relaxation, and then consciously control this state (Fig. 41).

As experts in the field of functional state management note, a characteristic feature of these exercises is the alternation of strong tension and the relaxation of the corresponding muscle group that quickly follows it. At the same time, subjectively, the process of relaxation is represented by sensations of softening, the spread of a wave of heat and pleasant heaviness in the area of ​​the body being worked out, a feeling of peace and relaxation.

Just as a computer scans its state from time to time using a special program, so our brain constantly receives information about the state of all internal organs and skeletal muscles. At the same time, there are certain relationships between consciousness and body, which will differ significantly in a person reading a book, sleeping or performing at a sports competition. Negative emotions correspond to a well-defined state of blood vessels and skeletal muscles, and our brain remembers a fairly large set of such psychophysiological states. When a person experiences stress, his muscles tense up, and his heart beats faster, which only increases the overall stress of the body. If a person manages to relax his muscles and calm his breathing, then his brain will calm down, and then emotions will subside.

5. Rational psychotherapy

Rational therapy has long been used to reduce emotional stress (in particular, in sports practice), but its effectiveness is not always high. This is due, in particular, to the impossibility on a conscious level to regulate the processes associated with the activation of the sympathetic nervous system and endocrine glands. In addition, as some authors point out, attempts to influence an agitated person with the help of persuasion are unsuccessful due to the selectivity of perception of emotionally significant information, because a person in a state of emotional arousal selects, perceives, remembers and takes into account only what corresponds to his dominant emotional property. However, rational therapy can be used in combination with other methods at the final stage of emotional stress correction, when the overall level of arousal has already been reduced to an acceptable level. For highly anxious people, rational psychotherapy helps to reduce the subjective significance of the situation, shift the focus to understanding the activity and building confidence in success, and for people with a low level of anxiety, on the contrary, it helps to increase attention to the motives of the activity, increasing the sense of responsibility. As an example of the use of rational therapy in reducing stress levels, there are several cognitive postulates that help to take a fresh look at a traumatic situation and reduce emotional stress.

Determining your area of ​​expertise

Mentally outline an area around you that includes what belongs to you, what you love, what you can influence - “the circle of your competence”. Your home, your loved ones and friends, your favorite activities, your plans, etc. will enter there. A lot of things will inevitably fall outside this circle from distant galaxies to the value of value added tax. Think about it and realize that we cannot and should not strive to control everything in this world, and also to respond to everything that happens in it.

Live "Here and Now"

We are between two Eternities: the one that has already passed, and the one that has not yet come. And as long as we linger for a moment between the Past, in which nothing can be changed, and the Future, which cannot yet be changed, we, because of the brevity of this position, are safe. In this infinitely small and at the same time infinitely large moment of the Transition, we have, firstly, the opportunity to relax and take a breath, and secondly, the chance to change our lives for the better. Therefore, let's learn to appreciate the precious moment of the present, because this is the only reality of our life in which we exist.

The best- enemy of good

You can improve indefinitely! If you strive for perfection all the time, then you can spend too much effort on the process - and lose sight of the ultimate goal. Many people bring themselves to a state of chronic stress by trying to achieve perfection where it is not necessary at all. We are talking about quite reasonable, organized and purposeful managers or officials who spend a lot of effort to ensure that perfect order always reigns on their desktop or polish their quarterly report for hours. There are women who are simply killed by a crease in the curtains or a speck of dust on the polished surface of the sideboard. Such people can be reminded of the words of Hans Selye, who warned: “Confess that perfection is impossible. Set yourself a real peak, strive for it and be content with it. Give yourself time to enjoy and relax."

Separate role functions and personal reactions

The problem of mixing personal and role reactions is often faced by representatives of many professions who, on duty, are forced to make or carry out unpopular decisions: police officers, judges, traffic controllers, teachers, tax inspectors, etc. In order to maintain peace of mind in such conditions, 0 does not become victim of stress, you need to be able to separate your social role from your own personality. To do this, you need to realize which of your actions are role-playing (actually independent of you), and which ones you accept based on your personal preferences and attitudes. Mentally compare your professional role with professional clothing (uniform, overalls), and when you are forced to perform actions that are unpleasant for others, imagine that these actions do not come from you, but from your overalls. When people direct a stream of negative energy at you, let it also go into your uniform. Once a week, shake out your work clothes or clean them, imagining how all negative feelings and wishes fly off with the dust.

"Zebra Principle"

Happiness and unhappiness are mixed not only in space, but also in time. Following a series of problems and troubles, a period of bright days and good mood inevitably follows. If fate “presses” you too energetically, without giving a break, freeze for a while, step back from the struggle and take a breath. Maybe your time has simply not yet come and you should not fight to the death with impregnable fortune, but gain strength and think carefully about which road you are going.

Keep in mind: very often, such black stripes are sent to us not by rock alien to us, but by our own subconscious, which in this way simply wants to show that we have chosen the wrong goal. In this case, we should not resist with all our might, resisting our essence, but there is a sense adjust your intentions.

Pragmatization of stress

If someone criticizes you or says unpleasant things to you, then before releasing a burst of destructive adrenaline from the adrenal glands, take an emotional pause (for this you can exhale and hold your breath for a while), then ask yourself: “What use can I get from the data words? Believe me, if you wish, you can benefit from anything: manure makes excellent fertilizer, toothache serves as a source of income for a dentist, and electricity is obtained from household waste in Japan. In the same way, if you try, you can extract some new information about yourself or about the interlocutor from passionate criticism. And then you need to do the most difficult, but fascinating act; praise your opponent! For what? You can come up with this yourself, for example:

• for helping you train endurance and patience;
• for helping you look at yourself from the outside;
• for the joy of victory over yourself and over the situation (if you still did not succumb to provocation and did not give vent to anger and irritation).

6. Dissociation from stress

There are several methods of detached (dissociated) perception of events (Fig. 42).

The first method of dissociation is associated with a change in the scale of the event.

For example, if a person has a pimple on his forehead, it may seem rather unpleasant, especially if he examines it point-blank, in a mirror, and even through a magnifying glass. His emotional stress; decrease if he imagines what this pimple would look like from across the street or from a distance of a kilometer? You were touched by a fellow student who copied your test answers and got an A, while your teacher gave you only a “four”. Are you beside yourself with rage and righteous anger? Wonderful. Now imagine how this situation looks from the International Space Station? And from the surface of Mars? Some small worms boil for no reason.

The second method of dissociation is associated with a change not in the spatial, but in the temporal scale. Think about how you will think about your emotional outburst in a month? Probably, it will seem like a petty skirmish over a forgotten reason. And in a year, will you remember why your blood pressure jumped today? Unlikely. What about fifty years later?

The third technique is associated with a change in the so-called "submodalities", i.e., the characteristics of our perception of the world around us.

For example, a person may imagine a stressful situation as a black and white still picture. He can also change the proportions of the picture, make some characters larger and others smaller than they really were. At the same time, images of people or objects that were a source of stress usually reduce or make the image fuzzy and faded.

The fourth dissociation technique may be suitable for people who have difficulty creating visual images.

In this case, you can take a few small items (paper clips, buttons, chess pieces, etc.) and simulate stress by depicting yourself and other participants in a stressful situation in a playful way. A look from the outside and your transformation into a small chip will play a positive role, and you will be able to look much more calmly at everything that happens.

7. Use of positive images (visualization)

In order to get rid of stress, you need to focus not on your negative emotions, but on positive experiences, and you should not think about problems, but ways to get out of them. The first step towards this is the creation of an appropriate verbal formula that would symbolize the future goal. It can be expressed in one word (“health”, “courage”), or it can be formulated as a whole sentence (“I really want to pass the exam with excellent marks”). However, using such a verbalized method of lowering the goal, we may encounter difficulties along the way of its implementation. This is due to the fact that the human subconscious reacts poorly to verbal formulas and is much more receptive to sensory images created in the mind. “An image will say more than a thousand words,” says folk wisdom, so to reduce stress, you need to learn how to create convincing, bright, powerful, sounding images. For some people, visual images are better suited, for others - auditory, for others - bodily, but combined images that involve all modalities are best stimulated and inspired.

For example, if the source of stress is indecision, which does not allow a person to take a worthy place in his organization, then he should cultivate in his mind the image of a self-confident, competent employee. The visual range of images will include a confident person with a straight posture, proudly raised head up, elegantly dressed, with a good haircut. The sound range of images may consist in a quiet, low, confident voice. The kinesthetic series will be represented by a firm handshake, a sense of calm throughout the body, even breathing and the ability to relax in any environment. The positive effect of this method is based on the fact that every bright image that a person creates inside himself tends to be realized. The more complete the internal image of the desired final state is, the more it is charged with energy and the more often it appears before the inner eye, the more likely it is to be realized in reality.

8. Neuro Linguistic Programming

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) as a method of psychotherapy is based on the study of optimal ways to achieve success in various areas of life - interpersonal communication, therapy, education, business, personal growth - and is a synthesis of the methods of F. Perlzaich (Gestalt therapy), B, Satir (family therapy) and M. Erickson (hypnotherapy), to which the founders of NLP J. Grinder and R. Bandler added their understanding of the structure of human language: The founders of NLP emphasized the importance of language as the main means of communication and structuring of individual life experience, as well as the possibility of "programming" the behavior of the individual by selecting the optimal strategies for organizing internal experience. Unfortunately, in the domestic scientific literature, references to GRP are so far isolated, although this area is very popular among practical psychologists. His methods are successfully used to relieve various fears, and, in particular, those associated with learning problems - “school phobias”, fear of exams, etc. . At the same time, one of the leading terms here is the concept of "anchor", which is understood as a stimulus associated with a certain psychological state and being its trigger. "Anchor" can have a different modality and be tactile, visual or auditory. In order for a person to subsequently access positive resources (for example, courage, calmness, confidence), the NLP specialist must first activate the memory of his patient, evoke the desired state, and then “link” him to a certain “anchor”. After such a “binding”, only the presentation of the corresponding “anchor” will cause the necessary positive emotions (“resources” - in NLP terminology), which will allow a person to further minimize fear, anxiety and other negative emotions and successfully overcome psycho-traumatic events.

The anchor integration technique has been shown to be effective in reducing exam stress in students.

Among the unpleasant experiences associated with exams, such states as excitement were more common; fear; shame; uncertainty; unexpected "forgetting" the learned material; stiffness, etc.

The resource conditions necessary for passing exams (“positive anchors”) included: a sense of self-confidence, calmness, attentiveness, the ability to insist on one’s point of view, a sense of self-worth, determination, “orderliness of thoughts”, “freedom of speech”, etc. .

Without belittling the undoubted merits of this approach as a very promising direction in practical psychology, it should be noted that its part concerning “anchors” is, in essence, nothing more than a slightly modified technique for developing classical conditioned reflexes. Foreign specialists in NLP in their work do not take into account the works of the founder of the conditioned reflex doctrine, I. P. Pavlov, and therefore allow methodological errors. For example, they recommend “anchoring” (applying a conditioned stimulus) at the peak of emotional experience, while specialists in higher nervous activity are well aware that the conditioned stimulus is most effective when exposed some time before the unconditioned reinforcement.

At present, the concept of a conditioned reflex is interpreted quite widely. According to modern concepts, the developed conditioned reflex is a complex physiological and psychological phenomenon that includes the mechanisms of sensory analysis, activation of past experience, motivation, prediction of future action, assessment of the state of the external and internal environment, as well as regular shifts in the field of autonomic and endocrine reactions. . At the same time, it is noted that only in the presence of reinforcement leading to the satisfaction of some actual need, the development of a conditioned reflex can occur. This implies that for the formation of a new (“positive”) conditioned reflex, an integrated approach is required, including the activation of memory traces of successful behavior, the normalization of the autonomic balance, and the stimulation of the subject’s motivation to acquire new behavioral skills.

The experience of using NLP techniques to reduce exam stress has shown to be highly effective both in terms of reducing psycho-emotional stress and in terms of optimizing the autonomic balance of students. Exam anxiety was handled using two NLP methods: the Personal History Change technique and the Anchor Integration technique. These methods are described in numerous manuals, so we will not dwell on them in detail.

Briefly, the algorithm of the “anchor integration” technique is shown in Fig. 43.

The last stage of the technique was repeatedly repeated until the final consolidation of the new temporary connection. The purpose of developing such a conditioned reflex was to ensure that the exam situation did not cause the student to feel fear and self-doubt, as it was before, but, on the contrary, to generate Calmness and a sense of confidence in himself and his knowledge. In fact, this technique replaces one program of behavior with another.

Prior to the "reconfiguration" of behavior, the expectation of an exam, the type of examination papers, contact with the examiner automatically evoked negative affective experiences in students - fear and anxiety. After applying the NLP techniques, the same conditioned stimuli - the form of tickets and contact with the examiner - as a kind of triggers "launched" the deployment of positive emotions (self-confidence, courage, a sense of calmness, etc.). Therefore, after repeated combination of mental reproduction of the examination situation with the experience of resource states, the previously ineffective program of behavior on the exam changes to a new one that helps to better implement the existing knowledge.

If a person's stress is caused by an internal conflict, then to resolve it, it is advisable to use the "Integration of conflict parts" technique, which helps to find harmony between two conflicting "subpersonalities" of a person. In this case, an a priori assumption is made that the presence of two opposing needs is a consequence of the existence of at least two "parts" of the personality that have different intentions and the conflict between which causes you stress.

For example, a person likes to eat a big meal before going to bed and at the same time worries about being overweight. A teenager may be drawn to new people and new adventures, but at the same time feel shy or afraid of strangers. A pregnant woman wants to bear a child, but at the same time she worries about her appearance and wants to quickly return to her former attractiveness. There are many such situations and often they are a source of psychological stress, which people often cannot get rid of, since the cause of the conflict lies within the person himself.

The technique "Integration of conflict parts" consists of the main stages, clearly presented in Fig. 44.

9. Exercise

Physical education and sports are an essential factor in the prevention and correction of psychological stress. First of all, this is due to the fact that physical activity is a natural, genetically determined response of the body to a stressor (fight or flight strategies). In addition, physical education and sports distract a person’s consciousness from a problem situation, switch his attention to new stimuli, thereby reducing the significance of the current problem. In addition, sport activates the work of the cardiovascular and nervous systems, burns excess adrenaline, and increases the activity of the immune system.

The activity of the body, combined with positive emotions, automatically leads to an increase in the activity of the psyche, a good mood. As the English writer William Godwin wrote, “The most important property for physical health is good spirits. Depression is akin to death. But cheerfulness of spirit gives new life to our physical organism and accelerates the circulation of juices.

Specialists in the field of prevention of industrial stress note:

“The use of various types of special motor and breathing exercises has long been a well-known way to normalize the functional state. The fact of the influence of the level of general physical fitness on resistance to the occurrence of adverse conditions does not require special evidence. Sports activities, various hardening systems, normalization of the mode of physical activity are widely used for these purposes.

Other studies have shown that individuals with high physical performance also had higher mental performance.

10 Religion as a way to deal with stress

In accordance with the informational hypothesis of the emergence of emotions by P. V. Simonov, affective reactions are the result of a mismatch between expectations and reality. At the same time, the magnitude of emotion is proportional to the strength of the need that prevails at the moment. The greater the discrepancy between the expected and received, the higher the intensity of feelings. Thus, the less a person expects from life and the lower his needs, the less sorrows, disappointments and stresses he experiences.

This position corresponds to the concept of Buddhism, according to which the elimination of desires and expectations leads to the destruction of the cause for suffering and stress. Classical Buddhism is based on the four noble truths about suffering and the doctrine of the eightfold noble path, necessary for liberation from suffering. The Buddha argued that life in the world is full of suffering (stress, as we would now put it), this suffering has a cause that can be neutralized, and there is a certain way for this. It consists in cultivating a certain mentality and appropriate behavior in oneself, which are aimed at minimizing human needs, renouncing attachment to the world, leading a virtuous lifestyle and focusing on achieving nirvana - a state devoid of any stress.

The Christian religion can also help to reduce the intensity of stress for some people, because different individuals seek and find in religion those principles and values ​​that correspond to their personality and life attitudes. Therefore, for individuals with an external locus of control, religion seems to be one of the ways to transfer responsibility from themselves to higher powers that control their destiny.

Our testing showed that the desire to protect oneself before a responsible event in life by turning to God is quite common among people to speak of it as a mass phenomenon. So, according to the survey data, 54% of students of the medical academy believed that faith reduces pre-exam anxiety, and 44% of students believe that faith in God and turning to him before the exam can really help get a better grade. There was a significant correlation between students' religiosity and their opinion about the sedative property of faith in God (r = 0.41; p< 0,01); между религиозностью и уверенностью в том, что Бог может реально посодействовать получению лучшей оценки на экзамене, корреляция была более тесной и достоверной (г = 0,52;р<0,б01).

In our previous studies, we found that people with different personal characteristics rely on religion on its various sides. Thus, conforming subjects tend to seek support and protection in religion; people who were organized and able to control their emotions emphasized the “Creator” factor in religion more as a force that regulates and controls the world. Calculating and insightful individuals who score high on the I scale of the Cattell questionnaire, first of all see religion as a good way to regulate relationships between people; people prone to a heightened sense of guilt (Kettel's "O" factor) find in Christianity an ideal way to repent of their sins, etc. As our studies have shown, people with a high degree of religiosity are characterized by a lower level of frustration than the rest of the population , which highlights the sedative nature of the traditional Christian religion. Therefore, for individuals with a weak type of higher nervous activity and a high level of conformity, religious faith is one of the ways to relieve life's stresses. At the same time, for people with a strong type of GNI and an internal locus of control, religion does not significantly affect the indicators of the functional state during stress.

11. Meditation

Meditation as a method of reducing stress has recently entered the arsenal of Western psychotherapy, although in the East this way of restoring peace of mind has been used for thousands of years. A. L. Groisman writes about this:

“Historically, in contrast to the active attitude to the outside world for centuries, there is another trend cultivated in the East (yoga, Hinduism, Taoism, Zen Buddhism), which requires turning more to the “inner” world, preaching a passive-observant attitude towards reality . Meditation is the classic way to develop calm concentration, which is ultimately a means of restoring and coordinating mental and physical functions, creating clarity of thought, relieving mental and emotional stress, etc.

This author notes that meditation, having common roots with autogenic training, is still different from the latter, which requires more volitional effort and conscious control over the process of self-regulation. He draws attention to the fact that if during auto-training sessions a constant effort of will is needed to combat the unstable modulation of thoughts and sensations, then there is no volitional control in meditation.

In support of this point of view, the statement of the Indian scientist Chowdhury is cited, who wrote that “the radical approach begins with the decision not to think about anything, not to make any effort. One must completely relax and allow the mind and body to come out of the ever-changing stream of thoughts and sensations. Metaphorically, you can say: watch your thoughts, feelings and desires fly across the mental firmament, like a flock of birds. Let them fly freely, just watch.”

From our point of view, the opposition of autogenic training and meditation is not very correct.

Firstly, meditation has many varieties, and the above description of this process is more suitable for the meditation practiced in Zen Buddhism, and less consistent with its other forms (for example, transcendental meditation), where, especially in the initial stages, a certain volitional control is required.

Secondly, the highest level of autogenic training, according to I. Schultz, is a classical meditation borrowed from Raja Yoga.

Thirdly, a person can meditate not only on his internal processes, but also on the objects of the external world (which is practiced in some martial arts). Thus, we can conclude that meditation, being originally an Eastern method of self-regulation, can be included as separate elements in various forms of traditional Western psychotherapy.

Tactics for dealing with stress depending on the time of its onset

Depending on the temporal localization of the source of stress (past, present, future), the tactics of overcoming the emerging stress will vary significantly.

If a person expects the onset of an unpleasant event and this expectation itself is already starting to trigger a neuro-humoral reaction to the development of stress, then at the first stage it is necessary to reduce the level of excitement with the help of auto-training or concentration on the breathing process.

The next step will be the formation of self-confidence using the techniques of rational psychotherapy or neurolinguistic programming.

Next - the search for resources necessary to overcome a future potentially stressful situation (both objective - money, material resources, time, etc., and subjective - a sense of calm, determination or confidence). Then one should start modeling the desired result in the mind and repeatedly working out the “ideal” scenario in the mind (Fig. 45).

If a person is at the epicenter of an event that caused stress, then the algorithm of actions will be different:

It is necessary to reduce the level of negative emotions with the help of full breathing;

With the help of auto-training or NLP techniques, you need to increase your sense of self-confidence;

Causal analysis of stress, which will help to find adequate means to overcome it;

Search for resources to overcome stress and draw up an operational plan of action;

The beginning of practical actions to get out of a stressful situation (Fig. 46).

The third algorithm of actions is necessary if the event that caused stress has already happened and is in the past, but the person periodically returns to it in his thoughts, while experiencing negative emotions (Fig. 47). In this case, it is necessary to dissociate from the situation, then select the necessary subjective resources (indifference, calmness or wisdom) and actualize them using NLP methods. At the third stage, you can use rational psychotherapy and complete the work with modeling the desired future.

Eliminate the causes of stress through improvement

behavioral skills

1. Communication skills

Communication - both business and with close people (outside of work or in the family circle) - is often the cause of psychological stress. Among the specific causes of communicative stress, in Section 4.1.6 we identified high expectations, negative prejudices, misunderstanding of the motivation of the interlocutor, etc., however, criticism causes the strongest emotional reaction that can develop into prolonged stress. This fact was first noticed in the 17th century by the Spanish Jesuit Baltasar Gracian, who can be considered one of the founders of practical psychology.

In his "Pocket Oracle", published in 1647, Gracien, for example, wrote:

“Don't be a detractor. There are people of a ferocious disposition: they see crimes everywhere, and not in the heat of passion, but out of natural inclination. Everyone is condemned - one for what he did, the other for what he will do. Judging, they will exaggerate so much that they will create a log from an atom, and they will gouge out their eyes, And if passion is added, I will not hold them back.

“Do not indulge in slander. Moreover, be afraid of the glory of the hunter to dishonor. It is not difficult to shine with wit at someone else's expense, but it is dangerous. They will take revenge on you, they will say bad things about you; you are alone, there are many enemies - it is easier for them than you. win than you convince them. Seeing evil in people, do not rejoice, especially do not discuss. The gossip is hated forever... you say bad things, you hear the worst.”

“Silk words, velvet disposition. Arrows strike the body, bitter words the soul. One fragrant lozenge - and the mouth is fragrant. The great art in the worldly market is to sell air. Most often they pay with words, they do the impossible. May your lips be full of sugar - to sweeten speech, even to the taste of enemies. And the surest way to be kind is to always be unflappable.”

2. Confident behavior

Often the source of a person's stress is his own insecurity. Anything can be the source of it: small or too large growth, a noticeable accent, overweight, lack of financial resources, low social status - seemingly objective factors.

Nevertheless, the true and deepest source of insecurity and the stresses associated with it is a subjective feeling of inferiority and low self-esteem, which are quite amenable to correction;

K. Williams notes that most of the stress is generated by a feeling of inferiority. She writes:

“You grew up in a world where you were taught - in the name of modesty - to belittle your dignity. While preaching nobility and concern for your neighbor, you were taught to let other people go ahead, give them a larger piece of the pie, yield to them and value them more than yourself. All this is great, but, unfortunately, too often leads to negative consequences. For most people, the habit of giving in to others, which they acquired in childhood, causes a lack of respect for themselves and for their achievements.

Clinical practice and life itself show that most people have an unimportant opinion about themselves. Even braggarts and proud people hide a deep-seated fear under their outer shell that they are not beautiful enough, smart enough, loyal enough, generous enough, successful enough, or rich enough. The ability to love and respect yourself, to live in harmony with yourself and with your actions - this is the main way to reduce the amount of stress in your life.

This means inner self-confidence. You are good the way you are at the moment. Learning to love and appreciate yourself is probably the most difficult, but at the same time the most effective step in the fight against stress.

There is a close relationship between the psychological state of insecurity, its bodily signs and behavioral reactions, so the stress of insecurity can be dealt with in different ways: with the help of rational self-persuasion, changes in behavioral patterns or bodily signs (Fig. 48).

Thus, if a person is stressed about their insecurities, they can consciously change their bodily state (posture, gestures, breathing patterns, and vocal characteristics), resulting in feeling more confident.

Another way is to act more competently (changing the behavioral manifestations of activity), which will affect both the self-esteem of the individual and his assessment by others, which in the end will also allow him to act more confidently.

Another way is the use of rational psychotherapy (already discussed by us in section 6.2.5).

Below is a table, using which you can learn to consciously induce feelings of self-confidence by changing bodily parameters (Table 8).

Changing behavioral signs (in addition to improving professional skills) consists in mastering a number of techniques to counteract psychological pressure during communication. They are described in the relevant books on psychology, so in this tutorial we will list only the most famous of them.

Endless counter questions

The essence of the technique: remove the emotional part of the accusations and move on to considering the essence of the claims.

The effect; clarification for both parties to the conflict of the reasons for their differences.

Wife. You promised a long time ago to fix the shelf in the pantry and, as I see it, you are not going to keep your promises.

Husband. How can I fix the shelf?

Wife. Just nail her back.

Husband. Maybe it makes sense to make it thicker and wider so that it is more spacious?

Wife. Just kill her and be done with it.

Husband. I would like you to like this work of mine. Please specify again, what kind of shelf would you like to see in the pantry?

"Played Record"

The essence of the technique: calmly repeating what you want (or what you do not want), over and over again, until the opponent backs down. When performing this technique, the one with the most patience wins. The one who uses it has an advantage, since, unlike the interlocutor, he is pre-configured for repeated repetition of the same type of words and phrases. This technique teaches perseverance and also that you don't have to explain the reasons for your desires. In the classical interpretation, it is only required to endlessly repeat the same phrase, and without any expression, like a “robot”, however, sometimes this technique infuriates the interlocutor too much, which is fraught with additional conflicts. Therefore, it makes sense to diversify the answers a little, introducing elements of strengthening one's correctness into them.

Effect: ignoring attempts to manipulate you by withdrawing from the situation and calmly repeating formulas of the same type.

Husband. You didn't wash the dishes again this morning. I came home from work and the sink is full of dirty dishes.

Wife. When you're late for work, you don't have time for dishes.

Husband. So, am I supposed to wash the damn dishes?

Wife. I don't know, but I was so late this morning that I barely made it on time.

Anti-stress "alteration" of the day . First of all, you need to establish a good tradition: after returning home from work or school, immediately relax.

1. Sit in a chair, relax and rest calmly. Or, sit comfortably in a chair and take a relaxing "coachman's pose".

2. Brew yourself strong tea or coffee. Stretch them for 10 minutes, try not to think about anything serious during this period of time.

3. Turn on the tape recorder and listen to your favorite music. Enjoy these wonderful moments. Try to completely immerse yourself in the music, disconnecting from your thoughts.

4. If your loved ones are at home, pour tea or coffee with them and have a calm conversation about something.

5. Fill the bath with not very hot water and lie down in it.

6. Take a walk in the fresh air.

7. Put on a tracksuit, running shoes and run these 10 minutes.

First aid for acute stress.

1. Anti-stress breathing. Slowly take a deep breath through your nose; at the peak of inhalation, hold your breath for a moment, then exhale as slowly as possible.

2. Minute relaxation. Relax the corners of your mouth, moisturize your lips. Relax your shoulders. Focus on your facial expression and body position: remember that they reflect your emotions, thoughts and inner state.

3. Look around and carefully inspect the room in which you are. Pay attention to the smallest details, even if you know them well. Slowly, without haste, mentally “sort through” all the objects one by one in a certain sequence. Try to fully focus on this "inventory".

4. If circumstances allow, leave the room in which you have experienced acute stress. Move to another room where no one is around, or go outside where you can be alone with your thoughts.

5. Stand up, put your feet shoulder-width apart, lean forward and relax. Head, shoulders and arms hang freely down. Breathing calmly. Fix this position for 1-2 minutes, then very slowly raise your head (so that it does not spin).

6. Get involved in some activity. Any activity, especially physical labor, in a stressful situation acts as a lightning rod - it helps to distract from internal tension.

7. Turn on some soothing music that you love.

8. Take a calculator or paper and pencil and try to calculate how many days you are alive in the world. Such rational activity will allow you to switch your attention.

9. Talk on some abstract topic with any person who is nearby (neighbor, workmate).

10. Do some anti-stress breathing exercises.

Auto-analysis of personal stress: keep a stress diary. Within a few weeks (if possible daily), it is necessary to make simple notes in the diary when and under what circumstances signs of stress were found.

Analyzing diary entries helps you determine which events or life situations are contributing to stress.

Stress is a complex of physical, chemical and other reactions of a person to stressors in the environment, the action of which unbalances his physiological and mental functions. Stress can be positive and negative.

Positive stress causes us to perform better and more creatively. In this case, all our organs of perception are clear and ready for work. Such positive stress is not only not dangerous, no, but even useful. It can improve performance. Negative stress, on the contrary, deprives a person of strength and creates great problems for the individual and the organization.

The causes of stress are formed with the influence of two groups of factors:

a) organizational factors:

1) overloading the employee during the working day leads to anxiety, feelings of hopelessness, etc.;

2) too little load of the employee during the working day contributes to the emergence of anxiety about their value, their professionalism;

3) uninteresting work;

4) role conflict occurs when conflicting requirements are presented to an employee;

5) ambiguity of roles in case of unclear formulation of tasks and powers for the use of resources;

6) poor working conditions;

7) poor awareness;

8) the uncertainty of the position of the employee, the uncertainty in anticipation of the decision of the management.

b) personal factors accompanying any change:

1) positive events (wedding, appointment to a new position, very large purchase, pregnancy, etc.);

2) negative events (divorce, illness, refusal of management to be promoted, dismissal from work, financial losses, etc.).

Scientists have found that the attitude of each person depends on how quickly and strongly he reacts to stress. For an ambitious person, stress and workload harm much more than for someone who perceives excessive demands and expectations more detachedly. It is decisive whether a person feels under pressure in a tense situation or perceives it more as a challenge, as an opportunity to prove what he really is worth. Each person has their own criteria for defining something as tension and pressure. Some are just getting a taste of it and blossoming noticeably when others feel utterly exhausted and destabilized. Some people are especially sensitive in certain areas and it is here that they react extremely quickly to stress with physical symptoms. A certain measure of tension is necessary and even useful for us. For example, in situations of apparent danger, it is important that the body works quickly and reliably, throwing out a large dose of adrenaline and thereby providing the ability to respond that is needed at the moment. Stress helps to react quickly in a critical situation. And in less dangerous moments, it is often useful to be in a special tone in order to quickly perceive and use important information. For example: in an exam or test situation, in the event of an important conversation with colleagues or superiors, on the road, during telephone conversations with clients, in the case of communication with various authorities and city services, when it comes to financial issues or relationships. Even in situations that we would not associate with the concept of stress, our body often reacts with the same tension that it reacts in the situations listed above.

It is situations that require the application of all your energy that teach you flexibility and push you to develop other strategies. But if you try to solve new problems, handle new workloads with old strategies, you will very quickly hit your limits. And you will feel exhausted and exhausted, i.e. you will be under stress.

The sooner you decide to meet the challenges and cope with the tasks that the world around you sets before you, the more stable your health and performance will be. This confidence in your abilities will support you the more, the more consistently you try not to make demands on yourself. This is where stress relief techniques come into play.

A huge number of organizations pay great attention to stress management training. The fact is that their employees simply must be able to cope with such situations. After all, if they allow stress to overcome them, their efficiency will be much lower. And when employees have poor performance, then the organization loses all its advantages in the market. Effective stress management comes down to this: change the things you can change and accept the things you can't change.

Environmental stress factors: 1. Work: quantitative, overload, qualitative, overload, unexplained, variable, poor equipment. 2. Structural climate: poor communication, lack of participation, incorrectly defined hierarchy. 3. Non-Organizational Factors Keywords: family, economy, society, life circumstances, crime, price increase 4. Role at work: role conflict, role ambiguity, responsibility for people, lack of support from the manager, inconsistency with status. 5. Career issues: slow progress, too fast progress, injustice, lack of preparation, qualification mismatch 6. Relationship: with managers, subordinates, employees, clients 7. Personal stress: needs, hopes and achievements, emotional instability, overestimated (underestimated) self-esteem, ambiguity.

There are at least two classifications of methods for neutralizing stress. The first classification is based on the nature of the anti-stress effect:

physical (bath, hardening, water procedures, light exposure),

biochemical (pharmacotherapy, alcohol, herbal medicine, etc.),

physiological (massage, acupuncture, exercise, etc.),

psychological (auto-training, meditation, rational therapy, etc.).

The simplest will be physical methods to reduce stress - exposure to high or low temperatures, light of different spectral composition and intensity. Numerous observations show that hardening, sauna and Russian steam bath are excellent anti-stress methods that have been used in folk medicine for centuries. Sunbathing in moderate doses also has a beneficial effect on mental and physical health.

Biochemical methods of stress relief include various pharmacological preparations, medicinal plants, narcotic substances, alcohol and aromatherapy.

The last method is to manage the mental state of a person using essential oils, which have sedative and anti-stress properties. The most famous soothing properties are the smells of lavender, valerian, lemon balm, ylang-ylang and neroli. For aromatherapy, an aromatic water lamp, smoking sticks, fragrant baths or massage with oils are used.

Physiological methods of stress regulation consist in a direct impact on the physiological processes in the body, in particular, on the cardiovascular, respiratory and muscular systems. They include massage, acupuncture, exercise, muscle relaxation and breathing techniques.

Psychological stress reduction methods are autogenic training, meditation, biofeedback, breathing techniques, muscle relaxation, rational psychotherapy, stress dissociation, the use of positive images (visualization), neurolinguistic programming.

Let's take a quick look at the main psychological methods. Autogenic training is one of the options for self-hypnosis, with its help a person can have a significant impact on mental and vegetative processes in the body. The system appeared in the 1930s, thanks to Johann Schultz, who created his own direction in the western and eastern (in particular, the yoga system).

Meditation has common roots with autogenic training, but still differs from the latter, which requires great willpower and conscious control over the process of self-regulation. So while auto-training requires a constant effort of will to combat the unstable modulation of thoughts and sensations, then in meditation there is no volitional control.

Biofeedback (BFB) is understood as such methods of self-regulation of human vegetative functions that allow you to directly monitor your own physiological parameters and influence them using technical devices.

Breathing techniques are also very effective in normalizing the psychological state of a person. Our psychological state is reflected in the nature of breathing, and, on the other hand, by changing the nature of breathing, we can change our mood in the right direction.

There are many ways to neutralize stress. Some methods involve awareness of a stressful situation, the development of stages to overcome stress. Others - relaxation - activities, methods to reduce stress (rest, sleep, special exercises, communication with loved ones), are especially effective in situations of fatigue, professional burnout. Ideally, use not one, but a combination of these methods.

1. So it is necessary start with an analysis of your feelings, sensations(“I feel tired, depressed, irritated, aggressive, indifferent, etc.”). Finding the source of stress is essential. It is the knowledge of the source that determines whether it should be fought.

2. A common cause of professional stress is time pressure. Meetings, negotiations, departures - all these events are regular. Effective time management is a great value in the modern world. In this case, you should plan activities for each day (everyone, not just leaders!). To do this, it is necessary to answer the questions: what tasks need to be solved first of all? What are the most important issues? But you should also leave time for unforeseen situations.

3. Rest, relaxation must be added to the to-do list. In this case, we are talking about both short-term rest (these are various relaxation exercises that can be used during work), and regular rest - sleep. And yet, which is also very significant, the need for vacation to recuperate. Each of us has the same need for rest as the need for activity, even if you are very efficient and emotionally stable, tension tends to gradually turn from a “ball” into a big “snowball”.

4. Doing your favorite activities gives energy, brings pleasure. Doing what you love, you feel a certain freedom: after all, this is completely your choice. A hobby often gives us new information, helps us learn something, develop something in ourselves, whether it be reading, collecting something, traveling, cooking, sports and much more.

5. Exercise- a well-known way to reset the negative. Charging, swimming, sports games are an excellent way to release negative energy.

6. Be outdoors more often: The beneficial effect can be seen from a picnic with friends, and from a simple walk.

7. Listen to music, attend concerts. Such an atmosphere helps to immerse yourself in a special world - the world of fantasy. In addition, being in a circle of people opens up the possibility of new acquaintances, communication.

8. Assemble a small house collection of favorite books, music, films, which help you relax and have a good time.

9. Occasionally give gifts to your loved ones and yourself in particular, when you are in a bad mood, you are depressed by something. By doing something nice for the dearest people, you yourself will feel better, rejoice together. Taking care of loved ones, we stop feeling lonely, we feel our significance and the value of family and friendships.

10. Look at the problem situation from different angles: imagine how you usually act in such moments, and what else you can do. And the more options you can find, the better. Let the list include even those solutions that are completely uncharacteristic of you, unusual and, perhaps, seem unacceptable. Or is this the best way out? It is often useful to move away from the usual programs, patterns of behavior. This helps to get rid of obsession and stereotyped thinking, the manifestation of flexibility, and hence creativity.

11. Speaking of creativity. Should more often refer to the verb "create". It can be ideas, objects, anything. By creating something new, a person develops himself, increases his significance. Therefore, it is more often worth connecting the imagination, and there is always a field for creative activity in any job.

12. Try treat certain situations with humor. Laughter gives relaxation, reduces the significance of a stressful situation, helps to regulate the emotional state.

13. Is always try from difficult situations extract experience. This, firstly, contributes to personal and professional growth. Secondly, it helps to adapt to possible stressful situations in the future.