If you don’t know what stress is today, then congratulations! You have won the lottery in life! For the rest of us, we deal with stress on almost a daily basis. Here, you will learn more about the mechanics of stress and how to manage your stress to promote better physical and cognitive health.
If you have ever been stuck in a traffic jam while being late for an important meeting, been nervous for the next test or presentation, or overthinking about that silly thing you may have accidentally said that may have offended a person you care about, then you know the feelings of being stressed out. Your heart starts pumping faster, you may be jittery, and sometimes, you may even feel on edge, and any trigger could tip you over into the realm of anger or sadness. Having those stressors in our lives is normal. Sometimes, stress is considered a blessing because a little bit of stress may motivate us to perform better. For example, imagine you are a student who wouldn’t worry about your exam; if that were the case, you may end up not even showing up for the test. So, that icky feeling may motivate you to study and get ready for the test. On the other hand, you may get so stressed about it that it paralyzes you and stops you from functioning normally. You may overthink the outcomes of the test, and all those negative thoughts may stop you from focusing or, again, even showing up to the test. So, sometimes, a little bit of stress would not be harmful. Here, we focus on excessive and negative stress.
Why do I get stressed, and how does stress work?
Before getting into how stress impacts your health, let’s discuss how stress works in your body. Feelings of being anxious or stressed out can be traced back to a system in our body called the Autonomic Nervous System. As the name implies, this system regulates some of our involuntary body responses, such as digestion and motor functions (e.g., movement of arms and legs). Evolutionary speaking, it was an effective tool for our ancestors to react to external threats and increase our chances of survival. This autonomic nervous system has two subcomponents called sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. The sympathetic nervous system activates the body's "fight or flight" response during stress, increasing heart rate, blood pressure, and energy supplies. Conversely, the parasympathetic nervous system promotes the "rest and digest" response, calming the body after stress by decreasing heart rate and increasing intestinal and gland activity. To understand how and why these systems work the way they do, we should understand their evolutionary functions. Let’s imagine you are travelling in time and going back to the era when humans were still living in caves. One day, you venture out and end up in the forest. All of a sudden, you spot a wolf charging towards you. Now, in order to survive, you need all the energy you have to be sent to your limbs, so you can either fight the wolf, or if you can’t, just run away as far as you can until the wolf is not the threat to you. The opposite system (parasympathetic or rest & Digest mode) gets activated after the threat is perceived to be ended. When this system is activated, the body gets back to its normal function, and the digestive system works normally, along with other systems related to growth and reproduction. That is an awesome automatic system to have, right? It was indeed. The autonomic nervous system helps us as humans (similar to many other species) to survive by providing a very efficient system to prioritize the necessary systems in our body to address the environmental issues surrounding us. However, nowadays, we are (mostly) not chased by wolves in our society anymore; instead, our debts, work challenges, or family issues have replaced the wolves and other predators as our stressors. The problem is, our body doesn’t know the difference and has not evolved at the same rate as the progress in our technologies and lifestyles. In contrast to ancient times, when the stressors were mainly temporary (i.e. we were chased by a predator for only a short while, and after that, we had either successfully escaped or became the wolf’s next delicious meal). However, nowadays, the stressors live with us for most of our lives. The chronic activation of the sympathetic nervous system, or fight or flight mode, takes an extraordinary toll on our health and longevity by suppressing our body’s normal functions. The chronic activation of the fight or flight mode can lead to so many physical and psychological issues, from stomach ulcers and heart problems to anxiety disorders and depression. Therefore, it is very important first to understand our nervous system and how it works, then try to diffuse the situation by taking the body out of fight or flight mode so it can finally find some time to rest, digest, and repair itself. There are several ways to decrease stress and how to have lower anxiety levels on a daily basis. Some of the ways to improve your mental health by lowering your stress level are included below.
How can I reduce my stress:
Get Enough Sleep:
Proper sleep schedule and getting enough sleep are known to play a crucial role in reducing stress levels and emotional regulations. You can find more information about sleep and its benefits in another blog on this website.
Mindfulness:
Mindfulness is one of the other techniques to reduce stress levels and help cope with stress on a daily basis. Although it may sound challenging at first, with practice, and changing your mindset on life, you can regulate your emotions by accepting the situation as it is at the moment and trying to cope with the situation by accepting the circumstances as they are, in a more realistic way. You can find out more about mindfulness in other blogs posted on this website.
Diet:
Although it may be surprising for some, a proper diet and hydration can also have a significant impact on our mood, emotions and anxiety levels. If you don’t believe it, think about the last time you realized that you, or someone else, have become agitated, edgy, and frustrated when you were starving or your blood sugar had fallen. If you have, you are not alone; there have been many studies confirming that lower blood sugar can lead to those feelings. Proper hydration also plays a role in our mood, stress level, and general health. You can find more about diet, hydration, and their association with mental health and longevity under other blogs on this website.
Environmental factors, and relationships:
One of the major and most obvious factors related to our general health, and specifically our stress level, could be traced back to our environment. It goes without saying that if you want to lower your stress, try to limit your exposure to stressful situations and people who may trigger stress for you. Instead, try to surround yourself with people you enjoy being in contact with and find more time to spend with them. Having a support system in place goes a long way to ensure your mental health, as well as longevity in the long run.
As you can see, stress can impact many aspects of our lives, and it is interconnected with many other factors such as diet, socialization, and physiological needs, like enough sleep. Not maintaining a life with a healthy amount of stress can have both short-term effects, like elevated anxiety levels, and also long-term effects, impacting your digestive system, leading to cardiac diseases, lower immune system, and psychological disorders. All of those risks could, in turn, negatively impact your longevity and lead to a significantly shorter health span. So, go out there and tame the big bad wolf of stress!
Related Scientific findings:
Corliss, J. (2022, July 6). Six relaxation techniques to reduce stress. Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/six-relaxation-techniques-to-reduce-stress
Kulshreshtha, A., Goetz, M., Alonso, A., & Shah, A. J. (2023, March 7). Stress may lead to lower cognitive function, study finds. CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2023/03/07/health/high-stress-lower-cognition-study-wellness/index.html
Lupien, S. J., McEwen, B. S., Gunnar, M. R., & Heim, C. (2015). Effects of stress throughout the lifespan on the brain, behaviour and cognition. Nature Reviews Neuroscience, 10(6), 434-445. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4490700/
Shields, G. S., & Slavich, G. M. (2020). Effectiveness of stress-relieving strategies in regulating patterns of cortisol secretion. In G. Fink (Ed.), Stress: Physiology, biochemistry, and pathology (pp. 485-496). Academic Press. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32204833/
Wright, P. (2024, January 3). The effect of stress on the brain and ways to manage it. Nuvance Health. https://www.nuvancehealth.org/health-tips-and-news/the-effect-of-stress-on-the-brain-and-ways-to-manage-it
Disclaimer
This information is provided for general use only and to raise awareness about brain health and longevity. Before implementing any of the recommendations provided here, please review them with your healthcare provider. Not all recommendations may be suitable for everyone.