Have you ever had an experience where you were under extreme stress(& I mean EXTREME)?

Yes. I called it a nervous breakdown.

@Seelix

May I please know a few more details about yours?
-How long it lasted?
-What caused it?
-Any other signs or symptoms of it?

Yes, more than once. Call your doctor and get some Xanax!

I went through a really hard time about 10 years or so ago, dealing with depression and anxiety. Nothing caused it, really, aside from the culmination of depression and the onset of panic attacks to add to anxiety I had already been dealing with. I was pretty much out of commission – I couldn’t work, I dropped out of university, and I sought medical help (which, unfortunately, was met with the suggestion of religion and nothing else). Eventually, about 6 years ago, I found a doctor who was able to work with me to find a better therapy for me, which ended up being a medication. I’ve gotten past the depression but I still deal with anxiety issues and so I’m still taking it.

Get some medical attention. Even if meds aren’t the right solution for you, a good doctor should be able to recommend something that will help you.

I have been under various high stress situations many times in my life and for long durations.
What matters is how you cope with it.
I was able to handle mine and learn techniques to handle mine.
We each have different ways of dealing or not dealing with it. It affects our bodies and minds differently.
If you are under a lot of stress then see your primary care, get a therapist, do something to help you through it.
I did minimumly those things when it bubbles to overflowing. I however am in a place at this point that I can handle a significant amount, only because I have learned how to deal with it or where my break points are.
I have read statistics that each year lived in a stressed way is the equivalent of 6 non-stressed years. Why would a person choose to not seek help?
If you feel physical pain from your stress, you need to get to a Dr.

Yes. I had this very accutely once for about 4 months following a break up. Dry heaves every morning for days, shaking at times during the day when nothing was specifically triggering it, inability to focus well, crying, lack of appetite, significant weight loss, obsessive thoughts.

Years later a more chronic state of general anxiety for a few years, not related to the first episode, specifically related to an illness. My symptoms were feelings of low level anxiety throughout the day, nightmares, tremendous fear anticipating a doctors appointment. Although I have overcome the general anxiety I am very bad at dealing with doctors, and especially the gatekeepers at doctors offices.

Alas, that sounds pretty much like my normal mode of operations.

I think what you’re asking is more about how one reacts to stress rather than whether they were actually under extreme stress.

I’ve never experienced what you’re talking about – but I’ve been in situations where I’ve worked months on end with an average of 2 hours of sleep a night, had to flee my city because it was flooded, wondered if my brother was alive because planes flew into and exploded and toppled huge buildings above his subway station, and more.

You can only determine whether or not how your reacting is healthy – and the reactions you describe don’t sound healthy in any circumstance.

@augustlan lol, somehow that advice sounds familiar. ;)

Yes. I am actually in that state of mind right now. I have been under chronic stress for an extended stretch of time recently, and I can feel it taking its toll. I have a therapist and I’ve scheduled and appointment with a doctor.
You should consider talking to your doctor, also.

When I was 16, our train from Russia was late arriving in East Berlin, where we would change to a West German train after getting through customs. It was one in the morning. This was during the Brezhnev era, and everyone was warned up the wazoo about what might happen to us if we did anything wrong behind the iron curtain.

We knew wrong included smuggling out papers or smuggling in contraband materials, but we also believed that you might be pulled in for questioning at any moment by the KGB. This was serious. At least for some boys, anyway.

Still, it was late at night. Customs was closed. We hadn’t eaten anything all day and there wasn’t any food in the East German train station.

There was some discussion between our chaperones and the East German security force. I don’t speak German so I don’t know what was going on, but voices were raised and threatening hand gestures. For Chissake, it wasn’t our fault the train was late. Clearly, they had no idea what to do with us.

At that point, one of my classmates broke down and started sobbing. I remember looking at him, and thinking, ‘What are you crying for? We’ll get out all right. There’s another train in the morning.’ I felt so calm and certain, I wondered at myself.

There wasn’t much the security folks could do, so we sat down on benches around us, with our luggage beneath our feet, and tried to sleep in the cold German night. Eventually the sun came up, and customs was opened, and we went through without incident, and caught the next train home. But I was always impressed with myself after that. It was a pretty big deal, and I knew just what we could do, and it happened.

Another time… well, that was last summer and I’ve already told that story.

Yes. Over about a week, my relationship with my boyfriend broke down and the same weekend my ex husband told me he was leaving the state and I would now have total care of our children. He owed me thousands in child support. My house was broken into and many of our (my children and my own) possessions were stolen leaving me with no computer to do my university work, my car broke down, I got a huge quote for some dental work. I was rather stressed. However, as the saying goes “this too will pass” and it did and we (children and I) worked through each problem, my children were fine, I was fine and life went on.

Yes. I had a spot like this in my mid 20’s and it was called a nervous breakdown by others. I wasn’t alone, that’s for sure. To me, it felt like my world was imploding, everything I assumed of myself to have accomplished and hadn’t was looming like a failure when in reality I’d not even gotten around to attempting some of these things. My strive for ideal relationships with people around me and relationships between them was unrelenting and no matter what made sense for me to hear, it didn’t penetrate to where I felt any relief or drive to stop trying whatever I trying.

See a doctor, rule out any physical/biological changes and consider short term medication until you can reprogram yourself. I think most people go through growing spurts of the psyche and in the modern day with the ideal that all is possible, you may have overwhelmed yourself.

Hell week. The final week before we were initiated into the fraternity. That’s as much as I’m allowed to say, LOL. It was physical and mental.

But truly, after my mother passed away when I turned 19, nothing has evoked such a feeling from me. Every challenge I face is met with “whatever, I’ve been through worse.”

I have been through something like this a couple of times due to dire circumstance and my best advice is to avoid medication at all costs if you can not that I have anything against anyone who does chose to use it but it is just my personal belief that it’s part of life to go through stress of all extremes and natures, and to be able to pull yourself out requires strength and determination, and someones (perhaps many someones) to talk to. Know in your own mind that the feelings and situations are not permanent, that’s pretty much half the battle.

Yes. It almost killed me, seriously. It even put me into menopause in my 30s. More than one organ began to fail.

I had to go to court to testify in a family matter, and I knew everything rested on my not fucking up.
I had to wait about 18 months to testify, and every day I was on edge. I lost all my concentraition for work. I became quite angry and difficult. I was very suicidal.
I got thru it with antidepressants, therapy, and the support of my family, but I often felt alone. Fortunately, I never was.

Yes and it turned out to be my hormones acting up , they gave me some meds and it was amazing how it faded away .
Or it could be panic attacks , anixety attacks or depression there are meds that can really help you .

+ up good question