Stress Disorders:
Understanding, Coping and Healing
We at the Peace of Mind Institute help you to develop a deeper understanding of stress disorders, learn coping strategies and discover ways to heal.
Stress Disorders:
Stress disorders are reactions
We humans „feel and sense something“. This is what we have ahead of other living beings. With so-called stress disorders, we react to traumatic events. The criteria are that the affected person experiences helplessness, powerlessness and threats to their physical or mental health, or witnesses how others experience such an existential threat. In modern trauma research and practice, it is the subjective evaluation of the traumatized person that determines whether it is trauma or not. Thus, a situation can be experienced by resource-rich people as absolutely insignificant or not very burdensome. However, being classified by another – less resourceful person – as significantly stressful and traumatic. In this context, we also speak of resilience, which means psychological resistance to stress and strain. This is partly congenital, but can also be trained.
Causes and Risk Factors for Stress Disorders
What is psychological trauma?
An experience can lead to psychological trauma when a person is exposed to a situation that is meaningful to them.
- feels defenseless, helpless and inescapably abandoned, and
- cannot cope with them with their previous experience.
The severity of the stress factors can be seen as a predictor of the severity of the consequences. Stress factors can be classified as follows.
The Different Types of Symptoms
Reliving the trauma
In this case, the affected person has frequent unwanted memories of the traumatic event, as well as nightmares and flashbacks (intrusions)
Avoidance of stimuli
In this case, the affected person avoids stimuli and situations associated with the event in order not to be reminded of them
Increased arousal
This is characterized by difficulty falling asleep and staying asleep, strong startle reactions, increased alertness or alertness (hypervigilance), concentration problems
What are the different types of stress disorders?
The acute stress reaction:
This is a transient disorder after exceptional stress within minutes to 48 hours after trauma
Post-traumatic stress disorder:
This is a delayed reaction that can occur after a few weeks to months after trauma.
Adjustment disorder:
Problems with „normal“ life crises, within a month.
Our experts can help you
The psychiatrists and therapists of our institute are trained to treat all types of stress disorders. Depending on the individual disorder, they will work out the best possible form of therapy for you, discuss it with you and carry it out.
One of the forms of therapy we offer for stress disorders is EMDR. This helps particularly well in processing what has been experienced. Your treating psychiatrist or therapist will tell you whether EMDR is effective in your individual case and can contribute to your recovery.
So-called trauma therapy can be carried out both as psychotherapeutic and as hypnotherapy.