Range of treatments: Stress
Everyone living in modern society has experienced stress in some way or another. Occasional stress is normal and part of life. However, constant stress puts the body in a constant state of alert, which can make you downright sick. It has become clear that not only are serious and long-lasting stressful situations harmful, but even comparatively low stressors can lead to mental and physical illnesses in the long run. This is because in addition to the severity and duration of the stressful event, individual resilience also plays a major role in how strong the ongoing overload affects the organism. For example, previous experiences of trauma and even prenatal experiences, such as possible traumatisation of the mother during pregnancy, can lead to an increased sensitivity to stress.
Chronic stress: Important indications
- Chronic tension
- Heart problems
- Difficulty concentrating
- Nervousness
- Irritability
- Sleep disorders
Stress: What actually is it?
Stress is the physical and emotional reaction to dangerous situations or acute challenges. Here are some examples to illustrate this: You want to pay for your order and notice that your wallet is gone. You have an important appointment and someone spills coffee on your jacket. If something unexpected or acutely overwhelming happens, your body involuntarily switches to stress mode. Your pulse increases, your blood pressure rises, your heartbeat starts thumping, your breath quickens, digestion stops and the muscles tense up. As a result, the body is now optimally prepared to either flee or attack immediately. This is a relic from the Stone Age that ensures survival when faced with acute threats because it frees up possible resources immediately. In modern everyday life, however, where it is usually rarely a question of defending your life, this pattern is often of little help. Usually, complex problems cannot be solved by fleeing or by fighting. Most people freeze to a greater or lesser extent when they are overwhelmed, persevere and try to calm down again in one way or another. Physical counter-reactions, such as running or fighting, which break down the flood of stress hormones into the body quickly, usually do not take place. That is why it takes a comparatively long time for the body and mind to calm down again after stressful events in normal everyday life. However, if given enough time for regeneration, the body and psyche will regain their balance and the stress will not leave any traces.
Why is chronic stress so harmful?
However, if the stress persists for a long time without adequate recovery, the organism will remain in a state of alert for an unnaturally long time. Nowadays, because multiple strains are often the order of the day and mobile devices make us available virtually anywhere and at any time, constant stress is often perceived as the norm. Important regeneration processes no longer take place in a body under tension. This gradually leads to exhaustion and a weakening of the immune system. In the long run, this can be seen in different physical and psychological symptoms, which usually arise insidiously, but gradually increase in strength and diversity.
Symptoms: How does chronic stress manifest itself?
Typical signs of chronic stress include
- Sleep disorders
- Restlessness
- Depressive moods
- Reduced performance
- Lethargy
- Difficulty concentrating
- Memory problems
- Frequent colds and infections
- Muscle tension
- Teeth grinding
- Stomach pain and digestive problems
- Tension headaches and migraines
- Loss of libido
- Potency problems
Common causes of chronic stress
The causes of chronic stress can be very different. They can take place on both the physical and psychological level, affect us from the outside, or they can be generated by ourselves. In addition, the various triggers of stress – the so-called stressors – are also assessed differently on an individual basis. A waiting time of 20 minutes in a traffic jam can drastically increase the stress level of one person, while another may react to it calmly. But even if everyone has a slightly different stress tolerance, certain causes can be identified to which a particularly large number of people react with stress. This includes:
- Conflicts
Anger, arguments, disputes and unresolved long-term feuds with other people, be it with the partner, within the family, with neighbours, business partners, competitors, etc. trigger chronic stress in many people.
- Career and occupation
Chronic overload at work, deadline pressure, double load and family strain, a lack of free time, but also insufficient demands, unemployment, a lack of orders, boredom and a lack of success have a high potential to generate chronic stress.
- Psyche
High demands on yourself, perfectionism, a search for recognition and strong orientation around the opinions of others, often paired with low self-esteem, can also lead to chronic stress.
- Health and physical needs
Illnesses, physical limitations, pain, disabilities, a lack of exercise, an unhealthy diet, but also hunger, thirst, heat, cold and lack of sleep are all important stress factors.
- Environmental conditions
In addition, heavy media consumption (TV, mobile phone, Internet, video games, etc.), constant availability, and constant noise and overstimulation also increase stress levels.
- Major life events
Separation or divorce, the death or serious illness of a loved one, caring for a relative or other strokes of fate also often lead to excessive demands.
- Trauma
Experiences of trauma, war and disasters as well as unconscious experiences of prenatal trauma caused by stressful experiences by the mother during pregnancy can also contribute to an increased feeling of stress.
Frequent comorbidities and complications from chronic stress
Usually, there are several causes that lead to chronic stress in the long run. If the initial symptoms of stress are not taken seriously or are not associated with the actual cause, the permanent stress can also develop into serious illness. The most common secondary diseases of chronic stress include mental illnesses such as:
When stress occurs very frequently or for a long time without sufficient regeneration phases, important hormones, among other things, which are responsible for performance and feeling happy, are in imbalance. This can lead to depression or make an existing depression significantly worse.
– Burnout
Heavy tension, chronic stress and overload can also be seen through total exhaustion. The boundaries between depression and burnout are usually fluid.
Chronic stress can also trigger anxiety disorders. While the exact connection has not yet been determined, there are indications that persistent stressful experiences lead to epigenetic changes, which in turn influence enzyme activities that activate the anxiety centre.
– Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
A very bad stress event, such as a serious accident, an experience of violence, war or a natural disaster, can overwhelm a person’s psyche to such an extent that the reaction to it does not occur immediately, but only weeks, months or even years later. Typically, the traumatic feelings can be re-evoked by certain triggers.
Chronic stress can also contribute to the development of eating disorders. The pleasant feeling of eating can be abused to reduce stress and result in binge eating with and without subsequent vomiting. In order to counteract the loss of control the person affected also feels, there can also be pronounced phases of starvation.
To cope with stress, many people turn to everyday drugs such as nicotine, caffeine and alcohol, which can be addictive in the long term. To improve performance in the case of chronic stress, stimulants such as Ritalin, cocaine or other agents are also used more and more frequently, and then again depressant medication is required to be able to come down and sleep again.
– Obsessive-compulsive disorder
Chronic stress can also lead to obsessive-compulsive disorder in certain personalities, in which certain actions and thoughts have to be carried out over and over again in order to achieve a perceived feeling of security.
– Borderline personality disorder
Extreme burdens during childhood with sustained stress, as well as often experiences of trauma, can lead to the development of a borderline personality disorder in certain personalities. This personality disorder is characterised by instability of self-image, massive mood swings and a strategy of self-harm in order to feel better.
Physical complications
In addition, chronic stress also increases the risk of a number of serious physical illnesses, such as
- Cardiovascular disease
- Diabetes
- Allergies
- Autoimmune diseases
- Bronchial asthma
- Migraines
- Back pain
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Gastritis
- Tinnitus
- Sudden hearing loss
- Impotence
- Infertility
- Obesity
Which therapies exist for chronic stress?
The list of negative effects of chronic stress on physical and mental health is long and diverse. In the worst case, chronic stress can even be fatal. It is therefore extremely important to intervene as early as possible and start a comprehensive treatment. Conventional medicine primarily prescribes the use of behaviour therapy as well as the application of relaxation techniques and medication.
We do it differently!
Since not only the causes, but also the effects of chronic stress are individually very different and complex, the CALDA Clinic relies on a multi-modal approach when treating chronic stress. This is a holistic approach where particularly effective and proven therapy methods from different specialist disciplines are finely coordinated and combined with one another.
The CALDA Concept: Let us help you!
As a client of the CALDA Clinic, you will receive a 1:1 therapy specially tailored to your needs according to the CALDA Concept. This is a tailor-made and highly effective precision therapy that is holistically oriented: Scientifically-based methods from classical medicine are combined with specially tested treatment methods from complementary medicine, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and orthomolecular medicine.
Your advantage: Treatment with the CALDA Concept works very effectively on different levels of the organism and is extremely solution-oriented. As a result, amazing results can be achieved within a short time – and usually without the use of psychiatric drugs!
The CALDA Concept
Our motto and our promise to you:
We treat the causes, not the symptoms!
Wherever possible, we work without the use of psychiatric drugs!
We dedicate our time and our extensive expertise exclusively to one single client.
The CALDA Concept: Every therapy starts with the correct diagnosis
Every treatment according to the CALDA Concept is based on a comprehensive and extremely detailed diagnosis. This is the only way to meticulously uncover and specifically treat the underlying causes and disease contexts, which otherwise unfortunately often remain hidden.
The CALDA Concept: Our expertise for your health!
You can read about all the advantages, content and processes of the CALDA Concept here.
You can also find out more about the contents of the various programmes of the CALDA Concept here in detail.
If you are suffering symptoms as a result of chronic stress, we recommend that you participate in the CALDA Full Program.