When Stress becomes Distress
Posted on: February 13th, 2013
We all experience stress in our daily lives. Teens stress about standardized tests and college prospects. Adults worry about finances and work-life balance. Even young children lose sleep over peer acceptance in school or the last test grade. Stress is a normal physical or emotional reaction to an environmental pressure, and the human body reacts by releasing adrenaline to increase alertness and reaction time.
But when does stress turn to distress? When stress begins to have negative emotional and physical effects, the condition becomes one of distress. It can often be the result of an inability to cope with the stressor(s), or sometimes the duration of the stress is prolonged and very intense. From physical side effects such as headaches and fatigue to emotional problems such as anxiety or depression, the results of distress can be severe. In the extreme, the individual can develop eating disorders or drug and alcohol dependency.
There are two cues which seem to accompany the transition from normal stress to distress. The stressor is acute and long-lasting. Also, the individual has no control over the situation, so he or she is completely unable to manage it.
If you are experiencing some of the emotional or physical symptoms of distress, Maureen Kritzer-Lange psychotherapy can help. Stress management is not always intuitive, but done constructively, it can provide the tools to mitigate distress and its many consequences.
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