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How Stress Impacts our Mental and Physical Health

Posted: October 07, 2023
By: weadmin

At some point in our lives, we have all experienced stress to a degree. Stress is a feeling of emotional and physical tension. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, Stress is how the brain and body respond to any demand.  These demands could be short-term demands like exercising, having to prepare for a test, meeting a thesis submission deadline or having an argument with your spouse. They could also be major and long-term like working in a toxic environment, assault, or going through a messy divorce. While the effects of long-term stress can be detrimental to your health, not all stress is bad. Stress is a normal part of life and sometimes it can be that extra push to achieve a short-term goal.

Types of Stress

Stress is classified based on its duration, as influenced by the stressor. The two major classifications are:

1.      Acute Stress

This is stress caused by your brain’s response to short-term demands. These demands happen quite frequently in your daily activities like exercising, writing an exam or an argument with your spouse. This type of stress helps you meet the demands that come with your everyday regular life and this stress doesn’t last long. It is that burst of excitement you feel when you try something new or the anticipation for something or an event. Since it is short-term, it is usually not harmful and your body recovers almost immediately.

2.      Chronic Stress

This type of stress lasts for a much longer period and is caused by long-term demands. If you work in a toxic environment or are currently going through a divorce, you may have chronic stress. According to a stress in America survey carried out in 2018, work and money were discovered to be the leading causes of chronic stress in adults. When you have stress for weeks or even months, it can be classified as chronic stress. Chronic stress left unchecked can have a negative effect on the function of your brain and body. To battle chronic stress, there would be major life adjustments which should incorporate stress management habits.

How Stress Affects Your Brain and Body

In order to understand how stress affects your brain, you have to first understand how your body reacts to stressors or stress stimulants. When you are exposed to a stressful situation, your body responds adequately through a series of reactions to help combat it. These reactions bring your body to a state of “flight or fight” which aids in survival.

According to a Harvard Health publication, the stress response begins in the brain. In the presence of a stressor, the eyes or ears send the information to the amygdala. The amygdala is an area of the brain which contributes to emotional processing. The amygdala interprets the images or sounds and sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is the area of the brain which functions like the command center of the nervous system. It communicates with other parts of the nervous system through the autonomic nervous system (ANS) on whether the person needs to fight or take flight.

The ANS has two components, the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system is the actual trigger of the fight-or-flight response by sending signals to the adrenal glands. These glands pump adrenaline in response into the bloodstream. Adrenaline causes an increase in the heartbeat rate, increases the volume of blood pumped to the heart, muscles and other vital organs. The lungs make room to take in more oxygen which leads to extra oxygen sent to the brain which also leads to increased brain function and alertness; sense of sight and hearing becomes sharper. Adrenaline also triggers the release of glucose and fats from temporary storage sites in the body, supplying energy to all parts of the body. If the brain still perceives danger,the hypothalamus releases corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH). This hormone travels to the pituitary gland and triggers the release of adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) which travels to the adrenal gland and causes them to release cortisol.

When the brain senses no more danger, the parasympathetic nervous system kicks in and reduces the reactions initiated by the sympathetic nervous system.

Effect of Chronic Stress on the Body

Chronic stress leaves your body in a persistent state of the fight-or-flight mode as a result of the continuous release of adrenaline. This can damage blood vessels and arteries which then increase your blood pressure. Sadly, this predisposes you to strokes or heart attacks. Also, a constant high level of cortisol in your body leads to processes that are meant to replenish your energy levels lost during stress.  For instance, one of the effects of cortisol is increase in appetite. This however, also contributes to the buildup of fat tissue which can lead to weight gain and obesity when not controlled.

Effect of Chronic Stress on the Brain

Stress has both short and long term effects on the brain. In the presence of a stressor, the amygdala which is the part of your brain that governs your survival instinct is more active than other parts of your brain. This leads to a temporary decrease in the function of other parts of your brain. As a result, your rational thinking, memory and mood may be affected negatively. When you have chronic stress which lasts for weeks and months, these parts of your brain that is not actively used may begin to lose their ability to function at the optimum rate. The part of your brain that triggers the “fight-or-flight” becomes dominant and the general brain function is affected. These effects can be reversible in short term stress but are harder to reverse in chronic stress. Unfortunately, this predisposes you to mental health conditions such as depression or anxiety.

Check out Understanding Stress: An Unsuspecting Health challenge for more on the impact of stress health.

References:

https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/stress/index.shtml

https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress/effects-nervous#menu

https://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/stress

https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response

https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/protect-your-brain-from-stress