For technical reasons, we are only publishing today (we apologize to the Author and Readers) the conclusion of the article, the first part of which was published in issue 4 of “Głos”.
The average person, lacking appropriate psychological knowledge and the ability to apply scientifically developed stress-compensation techniques, activates, in difficult situations, the defense mechanisms with which they have been equipped through personality predispositions, upbringing and environmental processes, acquired knowledge, experiences, familiar behavioral patterns and adaptive abilities.
The most frequently observed reactions are spontaneously expressed emotional states in the form of crying, shouting, aggression directed outward or inward, and depression, including resignation-based attitudes (suicidal ones). Next come a reflexive escape from problems, seeking solace in alcohol, avoiding difficult situations, mounting fear and anxiety, increased self-observation, the appearance of various somatic complaints, etc. Put succinctly, this issue can be described by saying that fear causes ailments, which in turn intensify fear, creating a so-called “vicious circle” situation.
Not everyone is able in such cases to obtain professional psychotherapeutic, medical or psychological help. An additional difficulty is the lack of suitably trained specialists dealing with these problems. Psychiatry is recognized in the country as a shortage specialization. Access to a specialist doctor presents problems both formal, due to the long waiting period in the queue, and internal, because of reluctance to seek advice from a psychiatrist.
A psychiatrist is most often associated with treating the mentally ill rather than people who are emotionally hyperactive; therefore, many patients report their ailments to neurologists, believing that they are the doctors who treat neuroses. Common opinions are in fact mistaken. Neurologists do not formally deal with the treatment of neurotic disorders. Here, there is a similarity between the names “neurosis – neurologist” as well as certain historical circumstances. Neurology and psychiatry were once a single specialty, which is why, to those around them, it sounded better to say that a neurologist rather than a psychiatrist was treating me...
Stress causes the disintegration of the human psyche and also affects physical condition. According to the creator of the concept of stress, H. Selye, the human organism reacts to various harmful factors (physical, infectious, metabolic and psychological), known as stressors. Changes occur in the function of the hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis and throughout the endocrine (hormonal) system. In our description, we focus mainly on psychological stressors.