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What is Acute Stress?
Acute stress can be said to be a normal reaction to an abnormal event. Events that can create acute stress occur suddenly, are uncontrollable and disrupt our basic sense of security, i.e. they are traumatic.
Examples of traumatic events are an assault, a death, a natural disaster, a traffic accident, a serious emergency onboard a ship or aircraft, etc. In principle, anyone who experiences a traumatic event suffers from acute stress. Not only those who have experienced the event but also people who help with the rescue efforts and the witnesses or relatives of the victims.
People are variously vulnerable to acute stress. Some can withstand very high stress, while others are very sensitive. With knowledge of how acute stress arises, what happens in the body, and how the condition affects behaviour, the situation can be handled better, both in the short and long term.
Guests in a calm environment act differently than when they find themselves in a stressful situation.
How Does the Body React when Exposed to Acute Stress?
In acute stress hormones are secreted which activate the instinct to "flee or fight". This instinct is an important survival mechanism that makes both people and animals want to flee or fight in difficult situations; they say that the "reptilian brain" takes over. This stress reaction is temporary.
Symptoms usually occur within minutes of the event's impact and disappear after a few hours or 2 to 3 days after the event. Following are examples of psychological and physical symptoms that can occur with acute stress!
Agitation, aggression, and overactivity as well as a willingness to withdraw from the situation. Reduced level of consciousness, stupor. Another common symptom is loss of perception and loss of sense of time - time is perceived as slower or faster than normal. Distortion of memory, false memories, memory loss. Some experience problems with logical thinking, it takes longer to make decisions and solve problems, maybe even self-centred behaviour. Only the learned pattern of behaviour can be carried out in practice, with difficulty concentrating. You might experience impaired ability to communicate, reversion to only being able to speak their mother tongue or loss of language used in the profession.
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You might experience a sense of sight changes, tunnel vision, hearing changes, and absence or distortion of sounds. The speech might be affected, by speaking in falsetto. Some experience strength increases but fine motor skills disappear. You do get increased pain tolerance. The posture might be affected, you become crouched or cramping using your hands for protection. Faster heart rate and affected breathing are common. You get dilated pupils, cold sweats, pale face, dry mouth, tremors, nausea, hollow feeling in the stomach, a feeling of weakness, vomiting, and loss of control of the bowel and bladder.
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