Everybody knows that modern life is stressful, but do you really know to what extent chronic stress is negatively affecting your overall health and well-being? - in short, A LOT. It has been reported that 75%-90% of ALL visits to the doctor are due to stress related problems. Stress is literally causing the diseases we are afflicted with, and has been linked to the pathogenesis of a variety of psychological and medical problems such as: heart disease, depression, anxiety, diabetes mellitus, autoimmune disorders, etc., the list is lengthy. Additionally, stress worsens the symptoms of preexisting conditions. Thus, I believe that most (if not all) medical & psychological problems are caused by our inability to effectively manage and cope with our stress levels, even if we are unaware of it. The good news is that that we can ALL learn to have control over our response to every stressor we come across. We just need to notice the signs before things get out of hand, by specifically learning to become in-tune with Sympathetic overactivation, detailed below, and do something about it in that moment.
So, what is stress?
Stress can be defined as any internal or external stimulus that creates tension in the mind, body, or spirit. In short, anything can be stressful, and an individual’s response to a stressor is as unique as the individual. Each individual’s unique biology and biography will determine the level of stress he/she feels and to what degree the stressor affects him or her. That stressful feeling that we have all felt, doesn’t actually start as “stress,” rather it is our body’s instinctual response to a threat, and it begins in the nervous system, specifically the Sympathetic branch of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS).
The ANS is that part of our nervous system responsible for governing all the things that are not under our conscious control, such as such as digestion, kidney filtration rates, hormone excretion, rate, etc., hence the name. The ANS’ two separate branches, the Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) and the Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) can be thought of as two opposing forces. The PNS is usually referred to as the rest and digest aspect of the ANS, because it is the part of the nervous system that must be activated in order to properly digest our food, get a good night’s rest, repair tissue, and generally have an overall relaxed and calm disposition. Peace of mind can only be obtained while the PNS is activated. On the contrary, the SNS is the part of the ANS which is referred to as the fight, flight, or freeze, and this part of our nervous system is only concerned with our survival, activated by real or imagined threats to our well-being or to the well-being of our loved ones. When the SNS is activated, all bodily processes not necessary to save our life are shut-off and anything that can be tossed will be discarded in order to preserve our life. This is why if someone has ever been in a life-threatening situation, people may vomit, defecate, or urinate on the spot, and where that phrase, “Scared the @#$% out of me,” comes from. This is why when we are feeling very stressed out we tend to get sick, have trouble sleeping, have digestive issues, etc., because the body and mind can not be concerned with maintaining life, if they have to worry about saving our lives.
It is important to understand that these opposing energies or programs, PNS and SNS are always running in every moment of our lives. In other words, just like it is always either night or day, we are always operating on either PNS or SNS, and just like there are different moments of day such as morning, sunrise, noon, etc., we are operating to different degrees in each of the SNS and PNS. However, we switch back and forth between these two systems at a much faster rate than the different moments of day or night. For example, every inhale we take slightly activates the SNS and every exhale slightly activate the PNS. In order to enjoy optimal health and well-being, there must be a synchronized balance between these two systems, but unfortunately, due to the stressors of modern life, most people are functioning principally in Sympathetic overdrive, unless they are mindfully aware of the changes in their nervous system and they spend time every day to incorporate stress-reducing techniques. The SNS does not care about our quality of life or anything other than survival, thus, as well intentioned as this system is in keeping us alive, over-activation of this system will have noxious consequences for our overall health and well-being, as it is the system directly responsible for that stressful sensation and the development of chronic stress, thus, we must balance these opposing systems in-order to enjoy optimal health and well-being.
At every moment, there are thousands of pieces of information being processed by our brains, but we are not conscious of all of these stimuli. For example, think about the way your clothing feels on your skin, deepen your breath, and listen to the sounds near and far. Since our brains have our best interest in mind –survival- the brain is always scanning and looking for danger, and this is especially true for trauma survivors' whose brains tend to be more reactive to threats and threatening situation than people who have not been experienced trauma. Anytime our brains feel threatened, the SNS is activated, so slamming your foot on the brake to prevent a car accident or hearing about something terrible that has happened to another person will likely activate your SNS. If our brains are left to their own devices, they will always favor SNS activation over PNS activation, simply because our animalistic instinct to survive is very strong and modern life is stressful. The problem with that is that if we allow the nervous system to continually activate the SNS, this is like running at full speed at all the times. If your mind and body is continuously activating the SNS, the PNS cannot easily be activated, and thus the body cannot repair itself, rest, digest properly, or have peace of mind. Over time, overactivation of the SNS will lead to chronic stress, which will lead to problems in virtually all bodily and mental processes. Chronic stress is believed to have an important role in the pathogenesis of all disease processes and it is known that it makes underlying health problems worse.
So who do we recognize the first signs of stress in our bodies?
When the SNS is activated we may notice of the following symptoms: feeling fearful, frustrated, agitated, overwhelmed and/or anxious; increased heart rate; increased breathing rate, sweating (not due to heat); dizziness; tightness in chest; feeling butterflies in our bellies; gastrointestinal disturbances such as feeling suddenly nauseous or as if we need to defecate; muscle tightness or contraction; etc. When this SNS activation progresses to stress, sleep is harder to come by, digestion is off (constipation or diarrhea), we feel anxious and on edge, we tend to get sick, etc.
According to the the American Institute of Stress (AIS), here is a list of 50 common signs and symptoms of stress.
Frequent headaches, jaw clenching or pain
Gritting, grinding teeth
Stuttering or stammering
Tremors, trembling of lips, hands
Neck ache, back pain, muscle spasms
Light headedness, faintness, dizziness
Ringing, buzzing or “popping sounds
Frequent blushing, sweating
Cold or sweaty hands, feet
Dry mouth, problems swallowing
Frequent colds, infections, herpes sores
Rashes, itching, hives, “goose bumps”
Unexplained or frequent “allergy” attacks
Heartburn, stomach pain, nausea
Excess belching, flatulence
Constipation, diarrhea, loss of control
Difficulty breathing, frequent sighing
Sudden attacks of life threatening panic
Chest pain, palpitations, rapid pulse
Frequent urination
Diminished sexual desire or performance
Excess anxiety, worry, guilt, nervousness
Increased anger, frustration, hostility
Depression, frequent or wild mood swings
Increased or decreased appetite
Insomnia, nightmares, disturbing dreams
Difficulty concentrating, racing thoughts
Trouble learning new information
Forgetfulness, disorganization, confusion
Difficulty in making decisions
Feeling overloaded or overwhelmed
Frequent crying spells or suicidal thoughts
Feelings of loneliness or worthlessness
Little interest in appearance, punctuality
Nervous habits, fidgeting, feet tapping
Increased frustration, irritability, edginess
Overreaction to petty annoyances
Increased number of minor accidents
Obsessive or compulsive behavior
Reduced work efficiency or productivity
Lies or excuses to cover up poor work
Rapid or mumbled speech
Excessive defensiveness or suspiciousness
Problems in communication, sharing
Social withdrawal and isolation
Constant tiredness, weakness, fatigue
Frequent use of over-the-counter drugs
Weight gain or loss without diet
Increased smoking, alcohol or drug use
Excessive gambling or impulse buying
Unless we actively train our minds, through stress-reducing techniques which will help give us the new patterns necessary to support our stress response effectively, our stress responses will continue to spin out of control. Thus, like a parent or care-giver, taking a baby by the hand so he or she will learn to walk, we must show our minds how to break free of past patterns. The best way to begin to train our minds and coax the brain back into relaxation is to first become aware of the way stress feels in the mind and body. Anytime the mind feels flustered or uncomfortable or we take a sharp inhale and hold our breath, this is an indication that ANS is being activated.
How past trauma plays a role in the stress-response
Some individuals will have a more difficult time managing their stress response than others and this is where individual biographies meld with biology. According to years of compiling research, if an individual experiences significant childhood trauma, then he or she will most likely have an altered response to stress as an adult. Childhood trauma such as witnessing or hearing physical or verbal domestic violence, child abuse, or neglect is toxic for developing brains. Research has shown that adults exposed to such levels of trauma during childhood will have altered brain biology and function, in comparison to adults who did not experience trauma, making these trauma survivors more sensitive to stressful situations and life adversity. Considering that traumatic events are usually highly frightening, the parts of the brain responsible for processing danger and survival become altered in these individuals.
Thus, childhood trauma survivors will likely not be able to bounce back to baseline after experiencing a stressor such as a break-up, a house-fire, the loss of a loved one, etc., in comparison to someone who did not experience toxic stress as a child.
Additionally, adult trauma survivors will likely also have a more difficult time coping with life adversity and stressors as well. Unfortunately traumatic incidents are a part of life and most people will have experienced at least one traumatic incident throughout their life, thus, we must come to grips with how to handle our response to trauma. When it boils down to it, how we react to trauma and how we continue to replay it in our minds is what continues to affect us day after day, rather than the details of the traumatic event.
So, who can we effectively cope with stress?
There are many things we can do to help cope with stress, such as various stress relieving techniques, but it is in my professional opinion that the best tool we have to effectively reduce our moment to moment stress response is through conscious breathing techniques. The breath is the only part of the ANS which we can control, and it is key to activating the PNS when we feel threatened and the SNS has spun out of control. The breath is not only a cost-effective way to manage stress, it does not cause any adverse reactions, and once we have learned a few conscious breathing techniques we can easily apply them to any situation in any moment of time.
As I continue to add to this blog, I will share more and more conscious breathing techniques, but in the meantime, know that long and deep breaths activate the PNS, and you can research diferent breathing techniques, such as square breath (sama vritti), ocean breath (ujjayi), and the the three part breath (dirga pranayama). You can also work on breath awareness by paying attention to what happens to the breath in every moment of your life. Notice what happens to the breath when you slam your foot on the brake, when you get bad news, when you see or feel something absolutely beautiful such as being in nature or that feeling of new love, and notice in what situations you stop breathing.
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