STRESS BREAKDOWN: TREATMENT OF STAGE THREE SYMPTOMS
The treatment of stress breakdown is always rest, relief of stress, and sleep. In third stage breakdown the same rules apply.
However, third stage stress breakdown presents a major problem in that the changed behaviour of the person in stage three is almost inevitably going to be misinterpreted by someone as a problem which is not related to stress. The responses that other people make to the changed behaviour of the person with stage three stress breakdown may make the situation worse if the diagnosis is not made.
I would suggest the following golden rule: If a person’s unusual or abnormal behaviour has occurred in a time of high levels of stress or responsibility, the over-stressed person should not undergo psychotherapy, or counseling, or even have joint discussions until properly rested and relieved of stress.
All methods of psychotherapy impose a stress on the client or patient, even if it is just the requirement to be somewhere on time for an hour appointment. The requirement of just getting there and finding a parking place might be enough to further disable an over-stressed person. As well, most exploratory interviews, no matter how gentle, always include some personal stress, and the person experiencing stage three stress breakdown symptoms may be made worse if these exploratory interviews are carried out when the person is still over-stressed.
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