It’s a cold hard fact of our everyday lives. Stress. Whether in abundance, or mercifully low impact, we all experience it from time to time. There are many common stressors (events or situations which have the potential to cause us stress), but there are also many which affect some and not others. Or they seem to be affected differently. For example, someone who struggles with some anxiety or low self esteem might think a delayed reply to an email is a personal reflection on them, whereas someone who is more confident assumes the recipient just got busy. There may be someone who is enraged by the slow traffic, while in the car next to them someone is singing their favorite song at the top of their lungs.
“Stress is an important dragon to slay – or at least tame – in your life. “ Marilu Henner
Stress has the potential to have profound effects on our physical bodies both in the short and the long term. When our brain recognizes a stressful event or situation it sets into motion a release of hormones triggering a cascade of physiological changes. The “flight or fight” or “sounding of the alarm” type of responses served us well as a survival mechanism when we had to act fast to avoid dangerous animals way back when. Or continue to serve us well to react quickly to a fire, or our child running out into traffic. These would be examples of “acute” stress. Acute stress has a sudden onset and usually dissipates when the stressful event is over.
“Chronic” stress is long wearing and constant- often in varied states of high or low-but always present. There are many reasons people experience chronic stress, be it mental illness such as anxiety or depression, trauma or grief, or “future shock.” Future shock is the term used to describe the phenomenon where modern technology has developed exponentially more in the last ten years then in all of human history and our physical bodies have yet to catch up. (Other causes of chronic stress like oppressive poverty or being in an abusive relationship are very complicated and I would never be arrogant enough to suggest that “deep breathing” exercises could make any significant difference.)
The Stress Response
In a stressful event, the eyes and ears send signals to the brain relaying the danger of the situation. The area of the brain which processes emotion, the amygdala, interprets the information- if danger is perceived, a distress signal is sent to the hypothalamus. This “command center” controls the autonomic nervous system- the system responsible for involuntary body functions such as breathing, heartbeat, lung function, and dilation and constriction of blood vessels. There are two branches to the autonomic nervous system, the sympathetic and the parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system could be compared to a gas pedal, triggering the fight or flight response. The parasympathetic is the brake, calming the body after the stressful event is over.
With the activation of the sympathetic nervous system the adrenal glands are signaled to release adrenaline into the bloodstream. The heart beats faster, moving blood to muscles to be ready for fast action. Breathing becomes more rapid, lungs increasing in ability to take in more oxygen. With more oxygen, the brain becomes more alert, reaction time increases and senses are sharpened. Blood sugars and fats are released from temporary stores to increase energy. As the initial dose of adrenaline subsides, the body begins the second phase of the stress response- the HPA axis, involving components of the endocrine system. They rely on hormonal signals to keep the sympathetic nervous system activated and if there is no clear signal that the danger is over, a chain reaction of hormones are constantly released. The body stays “revved up” preparing for more danger. Without the signal to put on the “brakes” of the parasympathetic nervous system, the body can stay in this state perpetually, i.e. chronic stress.
“Every stress leaves an indelible scar, and the organism pays for its survival after a stressful situation by becoming a little older.” Hans Selye
The negative effects of long term low level chronic stress on our health are significant. Of course we know the obvious issues like muscle tension and headaches, but persistent adrenaline (or epinephrine) surges potentially damage blood vessels and increase risk for heart attack or stroke. Elevated cortisol, while beneficial for increased energy in cases of acute stress, can increase appetite in a chronic stress leading to weight gain and risk of diabetes. There is a connection between cortisol and inflammation as well, exacerbating any auto immune disorder and perhaps increasing the risk of many other illnesses.
The moral of the story is we need to find ways to put on the brakes and be able to activate our parasympathetic nervous system. It is a good idea to have a loaded “toolbox” of ways to relax, de-stress, press pause. In the next post, I will go into detail about the “relaxation response” and how you can enact it.
References
“Understanding the Stress Response” Harvard Health Publishing, Harvard Medical School
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