Phase 4​ Stress collapse

I work with four phases of stress.

This way, you can more easily "spot" where you are on the stress scale via your stress symptom types.

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All symptoms are relative and can / will of course vary from person to person, but the symptoms are typical.
Some experience the symptoms differently, some get many symptoms, others have few.

When you get stressed, you move through different phases, depending on how stressed you are.
 

You start in phase 1 and move on to phase 2, 3 and finally phase 4. (if you do not stop in time).

You can also swing back and forth a bit in the phases.

The symptoms that you got in phase 1, so they will follow over to the next phase, etc.

So you "carry" the symptoms with you and thus also get new symptoms on top.

In phase 1 the body whispers to you - in phase 2 the body speaks -  in phase 3 the body shouts -  in phase 4 it screams.

So the body "speaks" louder and louder. (see picture below).

Stress relief phase

When you need to de-stress, you have to go out of all the phases again, but by the same path that you have entered.

So for example your phase 3 symptoms they disappear so before phase 2 symptoms etc.
You then move into phase 2 (symptoms slowly disappear), and then on to phase 1.

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The stress collapse

You are now in phase 4 the actual stress collapse the actual collapse.

Your nervous system has broken down because you did not stop in time and your body has now stopped you.

You have now run so long, of you either experiencing illness, a mental breakdown.

Maybe you find that you can not get out of your bed, put on socks or maybe you sit and stare into the air and cry.  

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It's SO hard to have a stress collapse - the whole system has gone down.  

You are in free fall.

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Inside our brain there sits a small area called the Amygdala.

When we have been affected for a long time by stress, that area of our brain grows.

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When you get out of the inappropriate chronic stress where the amygdala has taken over, you easily get destructive feelings and you can no longer see clearly or see opportunities.

The stress itself becomes master over you, and your fears and anxieties begin to develop - your body tenses up.

The body is in combat mode, it will defend you, and therefore you get increased muscle tension, increased blood pressure, poor concentration, poor sleep, etc.

It takes too long  time, to make the body calm down again.

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You can not just get upstairs quickly, in the other phases there you can often be hauled ashore, but in phase 4 it is about getting through it through a lot of rest and good professional help.

It is now about getting rest and being de-stressed with the help of a professional.

You need to be helped to achieve a state of rest so that you can recover effectively.

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Your whole body trembles, so it can be difficult to achieve the state of rest without help.

In this phase, great patience is required because it takes time to get above water again.

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You're safe  totally affected by your identity, who am I ?, what happens to me?

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You often have a hard time knowing yourself, you may have guilt and feel it is all a defeat.

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A stress collapse is often associated with a great deal of shame and guilt

- but put it away, you can not use it for anything.

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Once you have reached phase 3 and 4 which is chronic stress and a definite stress collapse,

then it causes changes in your brain, for example in the form of our cognitive functions such as thinking, language, memory, concentration and attention.

Prolonged stress affects the cognitive functions very negatively. Our ability for clear and rational thinking and problem solving is clouded when we are stressed. You can sometimes feel that you completely lose track, which can be very uncomfortable and threatening - the ability to remember and concentrate is also affected by stress.

You forget and have a really hard time focusing your attention on something and keeping it there.

It can be a work assignment, a conversation, a book, a movie, etc.

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When you are in a definite stress collapse, the cognitive functions can be so affected that you can experience shutting down completely - a kind of cognitive collapse, where you feel that you can not think a sensible coherent thought, can not concentrate or remember and where the overview is gone.

It is, of course, a terrible experience

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The stress symptoms can become so intense and unpleasant that you can no longer function as you used to.
For example, you can no longer take care of your family and everyday chores, including taking care of your work.

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Many people are actually shocked at how affected they can be by stress.

How quite uncomfortable you can have it in your body, how uncomfortable you can feel, and how much stress affects what you can overlook, find out, power and feel like.

Stress affects all parameters of one's life, one's mood and one's interactions with other people.

There is something that you can not just control by "catching up with yourself".

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But dear ones, there is help to be had.

I have helped hundreds of people who have had a stress collapse.  

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In this phase there  screams the body to you.

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Typical symptoms

When you have been in phase 3 stress for too long without stopping, it develops into a definite stress collapse.

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Remember that it is individual what symptoms you may have.

However, some of these symptoms are typical of stage 4 stress.

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You can read about the time and phases after a stress collapse - see here

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You can read about more stress symptoms on this page

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