The presence of stress in one's life is an unavoidable way in which we react to it is what will determine the outcome. I have touched on the subject of stress in the past, but this time I want to delve a little deeper into how our brains and bodies react to stress and the things we can do to relieve stress in our day-to-day lives.
The stress response
The brain, the mind, and the body all work together in a complicated way to produce the stress response. The stress response evolved so that the body has a natural and healthy reaction to the perception of threat or danger. It is designed to assist us in coping with challenging or dangerous circumstances. Its ultimate goal is to assist you in confronting and surviving those circumstances for as long as possible.
But this system can sometimes become overactive since the brain cannot distinguish what is real or imagined. So even when there is no real threat, the stress response releases the same hormonal factors; hence, in reality, it is impossible to avoid stress.
For instance, if you are worried about something that hasn't happened yet or someone has had an upset day at work for no apparent reason, this can cause the system to become triggered. In other words, a person can believe that they are in imminent danger due to stressful situations, even if they are not in any physical danger.
The brain plays a crucial part in identifying and perceiving potential dangers: The physical and physiological response is the same whenever the mind believes there is a risk, even if there isn't any actual danger coming toward us at that moment. This state of mind is what 'worrying' is.
When chronic worry becomes too much for our bodies to handle, in addition to everything else happening around us each day, chronic effects of the stress response begin to set in. This leads to all the response hormones converging to task the body causing Insomnia and anxiety. We feel more tired than usual during the day, which keeps us awake at night instead of sleeping well enough each night before beginning another challenging day again tomorrow.
The mental and neurological processes
The mind and brain are two separate yet interconnected entities. The brain is the organ that controls all of our body's functions, including how we perceive the world around us, how we move our body and the feelings that we have.
Thoughts, including more abstract concepts like beliefs, values, and goals, are governed by the mind, which controls our body. These two components of our body provide an overall feeling of who we are, enabling us to successfully navigate the environment that surrounds us.
When confronted with a potentially harmful situation, one area of the brain called the amygdala is activated to assist us in reacting fast (like running from a bear). It also governs our capacity to read the expressions on the faces or in the voices of other people; this is one reason why it can be so difficult to avoid feeling embarrassed when someone makes fun of us It relates to our sensation of the moment through the neuronal circuits of previous experiences and aligns it with our thought and memory to create a perception that it shares with the hypothalamus,
Through this intricate process of interconnected network, the amygdala sends signals to other parts of our bodies via hormones such as Adrenaline and noradrenalin whenever there is a perception of threat, regardless of whether or not the perceived threat is real. These signals instruct our body to activate defensive mechanisms to defend itself against the perceived danger. The reaction can be either to run away (flight), to stand up and fight or just hide in fear (fright) until we reach a secure place or time.
Anxiety and Fear
In what has been alluded to above, it can be noted that reality is not determined by perception; when certain situations and pressure confront us, it is only natural to think that the end of the world is near because our brain perceives it as a threat. However, it is essential to remember that your perceptions are not the same as reality.
Perceptions are very subjective and are frequently influenced by factors like our thoughts which are pre-programmed from our early experiences in life from age one to twelve years when our brain was undergoing myelination and wiring. Hence our perception is influenced by what we think, what we are accustomed to, and what others have told us in our formative years.
If someone were to say something unfavorable about your friend and then find out that he had passed away, they would most likely think to themselves, "Wow! I thought he was still living, but he passed away." In this scenario, their perspective shifted from believing that he was alive to realizing that he had passed away, although there was no shift in the objective truth of the situation that he is dead.
Hence reality is constant but can be 'changed' from positive to negative by our mind because the brain cannot determine the difference between imagination and reality. It triggers the same neuronal circuitry and releases the same hormones to prepare the body to react by action or protection to ensure survival.
So because the human brain is designed for survival, our initial reaction to potential danger is to run away or fight. However, if neither of these options is available, we may end up in a freeze from fear. This phenomenon is usually massively influenced by experience or thought ingrained in our belief system and suggestions from social interactions;. However, rationally speaking, there is no evidence to support its existence in reality. Significant examples include ghosts, aliens, demons, vampires, and others.
Biological and chemical responses
The two hormones Adrenaline and cortisol, are the hormones released into the bloodstream under the brain's instruction by the Adrenal gland, which sits on top of the kidneys when there is perceived stress by the body.
As a response to a stress trigger, a signal is sent to all of the major organs in the body by adrenalin, including the brain, the heart, and the lungs. The physiologic effect is intended to boost the energy of the muscles and metabolism and reduce pain and other sensations, concentrating all the body's internal mechanisms on confronting this perceived threat.
Hence, it causes the heart to beat faster but also produces an increase in blood pressure, which allows for a more excellent supply of oxygen to be distributed throughout the body. The muscles become tense to react faster, and whilst the skeletal muscles' tension increases, the smooth muscles of the internal system constrict, causing various effects on the bladder, the stomach, the intestines, and colon, as well as the pupils, which get constricted. This is responsible for all the so-called anxiety symptoms,
In the brain, neuronal electrical currents, also called action potentials, responsible for transmitting chemical signals from one nerve cell to another, get altered by adrenalin and affect most brain functions. These nerve impulses include some neurotransmitters that control impulse control, reaction to food, and sleep cycles; these affect how we think about the world around us. These impacts by stress are responsible for the vegetative symptoms of stress like appetite, anger, sleep disturbances, and more.
The adrenal gland makes cortisol available to the body at the same time adrenalin is released. It remains in the bloodstream for a more extended period following stress triggers than other hormones because it acts more slowly than other reactions. Initially, the objective action of Cortisol is to mobilize glucose as a fuel for the surge in metabolic and muscle activity to confront a perceived threat. However, lingering in the blood over time, and repeated trigger of this hormone has deleterious effects.
Our subconscious mind contains automatic thoughts, which are thoughts that occur continually without any conscious effort required; for instance, 'I am going to flunk this test because I haven't studied enough.' or ' I am going to be lonely after separating from my parents going to college.' These thoughts may or may not be real, but they nonetheless induce anxiety since many individuals who experience them for extended periods believe them without a doubt.
Effects of Stress
Everyone is affected by stress in their unique way.
It is essential to remember that people react differently to stress in their unique ways. Some people are more prone to the adverse effects of stress than others, and some may be able to cope with the same stress level considerably better than others.
It is essential to state the importance of understanding stress so that you appreciate how to manage it properly. It might keep you from being your best self at work or home, even as it is a natural part of life. You can design a coping system or get help to obtain one.
Even though there are situations in which stress can be helpful, like when studying for a test or competing in an athletic event, most of us deal with stress daily, which can adversely affect our health and well-being. Chronic levels of worry and tension can contribute to health problems such as Insomnia, anxiety, depression, gut dysmotility like diarrhea or constipation and heart disease if they are not adequately controlled. Sustained cortisol levels can lead to metabolic syndrome, reproductive dysfunction, hair loss, type 2 diabetes, and depressed immunity, making us vulnerable to autoimmune diseases and cancer.
Combating Stress
The most crucial step to combat stress and the motivation for this article is to recognize the fundamentals and realize your unique individual sources of stress, the triggers that set you off, and the physiological responses you have to them.
To determine your sources of stress, the events that set you off, and the physiological reactions they cause and understand how you experience stress.
In the next part of the continual expose', you will learn how you react when you're under pressure and methods that can aid in the alleviation of stress.
Everyone reacts differently to stress in their unique way. There are instances when making seemingly insignificant adjustments can significantly impact how you experience stress.
Conclusion
Even if the stress reaction is an inevitable aspect of living, this does not mean that it should be disregarded. Because stress can have significant consequences for your physical and mental health, it is essential to determine the factors that are likely to provoke it in you and develop strategies for dealing with its effects.
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