Since the concept of stress was incorporated, it has been widely studied by different disciplines, including, of course, Psychology.
Mainly, when trying to understand stress our gaze has been focused on the changes that occur in human beings, apparently provoked by sources extrinsic to the individual, that is, elements that are in the environment and that generate this response that ends up unbalancing the physical and emotional harmony.
From a different perspective, the American psychiatrist David R. Hawkins affirms that what may be stressful for some is not stressful for others, since Stress emerges from internal factors that operate in the subjects, what individuals specifically hold in their minds. ; Therefore, it is not possible to escape from it. But what are these internal determinants? How do they operate? And how should this problem be addressed if it is not caused by external factors?
Stress is not characterized by being a negative response since it fulfills an adaptive and survival function.
However, according to what Lazarus stated in 1966, if the individual has the perception that personal resources are insufficient to successfully face a situation, there may be a non-positive evaluation of the stimulus, resulting in physical and emotional manifestations. emotional, such as muscle pain in the neck or back, headaches, digestive discomfort, sleep abnormalities, anxious or depressive symptoms, among others, and depending on the chronicity of the stress, triggering diseases.
The human mind
The human mind can be represented as an iceberg. The part that floats on the water is what people are aware of, what they can make visible about their subjective world. However, there is a much larger portion of their interiority, which has great influence on how they feel and act, and which in this metaphor is represented by everything that is beneath the surface; This would be the unconscious.
The unconscious dimension of human experience houses an enormous amount of information about others and about oneself. , which is put into play in every moment of interaction. In this area is a collection of emotions, feelings, belief systems and memories that silently influence the way we feel and are in the world.
The role of beliefs and positionings
It is not strange to observe that different individuals react differently to the same situation. There are those who listen to a certain type of music feeling calm and well-being, while others just want the sound to stop; a highly complex intellectual work that for some may be frightening, for others it may represent a stimulating challenge. The list of examples is extensive.
These individual distinctions respond to those positions that are taken and the belief systems that are operating, whether consciously or unconsciously: “I don’t like that music”, “classical music is relaxing”, “I am not capable enough to achieve it”. ”, “my boss does not value me”, “I am good at this”, “boring people stay home on a Saturday night”, “I must be productive, otherwise it will be a wasted day”, “old age is not she is attractive”, “I can’t be alone”, “at my age I should have already achieved this”, “I am not enough”…
All these ideas, and many others, They were inserted into the innocent minds of people from culture and society, and also as a consequence of upbringing. and they talk more about themselves than about the particular situation or stimulus, since it is human beings who provide a certain meaning or interpretation, conditioning their reaction to them.
The role of emotions and feelings
Having already understood the relevance of thoughts and beliefs, it is essential to connect these notions with those of feelings and emotions, since they have the helm of the mind.
Each feeling corresponds to a condensation of a large number of thoughts, being repressed and suppressed even throughout the entire life cycle, since human beings have a significant tendency to try to escape from what they feel. However, all this accumulated psychic energy look for unhealthy ways to express yourself emerging through psychological illnesses, and also expressing itself physically, through some psychosomatic illness or physical illness.
These sensations come to be expressed in a way that produces an imbalance, because each individual manages what they feel through certain mechanisms that allow them to continue functioning without having to directly face their emotions and feelings, among them the best known are repression. , suppression, expression and escape.
In suppression and repression, emotions and feelings are put aside , selected according to socialization. In repression, this happens unconsciously, and among the mechanisms most used to carry out this task are denial and projection, while in suppression it happens consciously.
The pressure of suppressed emotions is expressed as mood swings, irritability, tension in the muscles of the neck and back, headaches, cramps, menstrual disorders, colitis, indigestion, insomnia, hypertension, allergies, and other somatic conditions.
As for the expression, what happens is that the emotional experience is externalized through language and/or the body. However, this strategy only allows enough pressure to be relieved so that the rest of the energy can continue to be suppressed. Furthermore, this type of mechanism results in the sensation being amplified.
In relation to the exhaust it is related with the avoidance of emotions through entertainment. People’s fear of facing themselves leads them to absorb various avoidance activities such as Social Networks, television programs, constant surfing on the Internet, video games, food, drugs and/or alcohol, among other behaviors.
About this, David Hawkins points out that the optimal state of the human being is characterized by happiness, satisfaction, peace and joy; nevertheless, These states are obscured by clouds of repressed and accumulated negative emotions. which generate a specific type of perception of the world.
For example, someone who maintains a high level of internal anger and resentment will tend to see hostility and belligerence in others and situations, in turn generating thoughts of attack, injustice and revenge, while someone who is dominated by fear , you will observe a frightening and dangerous world, producing the emergence of thoughts of vulnerability, tragedy, helplessness, among others. This is what happens with each negative emotion that covers like a veil the ability of individuals to see reality.
By turning the problem of stress to the internal space of human beings, it becomes evident that The answer in relation to relief should not be sought in the stimuli that the world provides, but in personal work associated with the emotional dimension. that allows you to release the accumulated pressure of repressed emotions and feelings, as well as dismantle those systems that limit and encourage the emergence of these negative emotions. Since what unbalances the subjects physically and psychologically is what they hold in their minds.
Final comments
As we have seen, Stress is the consequence of hidden triggers within the same individual , the suppressed emotions found in the mind, and the associated belief systems. Which implies a personal vulnerability to a stress response to certain stimuli, which will be conditioned by factors that often influence unconsciously.
Thus, the way in which these processes operate involves great wear and tear due to the enormous amounts of energy that are used to sustain these mechanisms and maintain in the unconscious everything that is being repressed and suppressed, which generates stagnation in the processes of personal growth, and the emergence of physical and mental illnesses.
In conclusion, since the cause of stress is not external, it is understandable that the best approach strategy is to focus on the inner world of people, since in this way work can be done that contributes to modifying beliefs and judgments related to what is outside and inside, as well as getting rid of suppressed emotions, ensuring that stress can be eliminated and prevented.
