Humanities Studios: Pedagogy, Psychology, Philosophy

The nature of human psychological reactions to the influence of stressful situations was analyzed in the article. Psychological reactions are seen as complex multilevel entities. They arise when a person evaluates the situations that surround him. They have shown that both the components of the conscious and the elements of the unconscious and the subconscious are involved in this process. All levels of the human psyche (unconscious, subconscious, conscious and subconscious) are involved in the process of evaluating a situation or deciding whether to choose a particular behavior or activity strategy. The limbic behavioral response in a stressful situation is mostly updated. It is accompanied by a sense of threat to life. This reaction is a natural program of consistent response of the individual to external stimuli. The person is not conscious enough to control the behavior now of its launch. The choice of a fight-or-flight response is instinctive, driven by genetic factors and social learning. They are most often manifested in situations of hopelessness or when loved ones pose a threat. Fear can turn into anger and vice versa when re-evaluating the situation. Freeze response is the next step in the implementation of the natural stress response program. It contributes to the encapsulation of trauma energy. The program of reactions is complemented by 2 more types - false actions and faint. Protective mechanisms may manifest themselves. The protective mechanisms are thoroughly substantiated within the depths of psychology. Their essence lies in the regulation of internal conflict. Unlike defensive reactions, coping behavior is focused on the active interaction of the individual with the stressful situation. The adaptive role of coping is that it not only helps to achieve the situational balance of the body, but also to reduce or eliminate further harmful side effects, in comparison with the protective reactions. Based on the analysis of studies of Ukrainian and foreign scientists concluded that these reactions are due to genetic factors and the process of social learning

stress, psychological reactions, defense mechanisms, coping strategies, coping behavior styles