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Weekly Theme #8: Stress

  • Jan 25
  • 3 min read

Stress: What is it?


Stress is both the psychological perception of pressure and the physiological response to it. When your body experiences stress, both your mind and body reacts to it in what we call the stress response, or sometimes referred to as your fight-or-flight response.


There are three stages to your stress response:

  • The Alarm Stage is when your nervous system activates and creates a chain of physical reactions

  • The Resistance Stage is when your body works to calm back to normal

  • The Exhaustion Stage happens when your body loops through the first two, creating chronic stress


Distress vs Eustress

Distress is normally what people think when we say “stress”. When you are distressed you are often anxious, worried, and feel like you have no control over your situation. Distress leads to both physical and mental symptoms like muscle tension and depression.

Eustress is stress that leads to a positive response. It is often viewed as short-term, manageable, and motivating. Unlike distress which can feel overwhelming, eustress gives a sense of excitement and is necessary for positive well-being.



Neuroscience of Stress Response


The stress response starts as soon as we perceive a stressor. The amygdala sends the stress signal to the hypothalamus which then communicates with your body through the autonomic nervous system (control site for involuntary body functions).

The sympathetic nervous system (one site of the autonomic nervous system) is activated by the hypothalamus, which then pump epinephrine (adrenaline) into your blood. This creates the physical changes in your body, like increased pulse and blood pressure and heighted sense.

This cascade happens so quickly, so much so that all this happens before your brain’s visual centers fully process the situation. This is why people can make split second decisions during crisis before they even think about their actions.

Once the epinephrine subsides, the hypothalamus activates the HPA axis (hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis) which in the end releases cortisol.



5 Small Steps to Control Your Stress


  • Maintain a healthy lifestyle: practice habitual self-care, take daily walks, get enough sleep, and eat a balanced diet.

  • Mindset shift from distress to eustress: when in situations of distress, think how you can turn it into an eustress situation; for example, think of your growth once your overcome a challenge.

  • Build a strong social network: have people readily available for your to safely address and validate your stress.

  • Reduce mental load with one decision: when things feel overwhelming, don’t sit a try to make a whole plan to deal with it, just do the first step

  • De-catastrophize: branch out from the worst possible outcome to the better ones. Your brain often makes situations worse then they actually are.



References

Lindberg, S. (2019, February). Psychological Stress, Physical Stress, and Emotional Stress. Healthline; Healthline Media. https://www.healthline.com/health/psychological-stress#self-care

https://www.facebook.com/verywell. (2019). Decoding Your Fight or Flight Stress Response. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-stress-response-3145148

Kirby, E. D., Glenn, M. J., Sandstrom, N. J., & Williams, C. L. (2015). 12.2 Neural Mechanisms and Circuitry of the Stress Response - Introduction to Behavioral Neuroscience | OpenStax. Openstax.org; OpenStax. https://openstax.org/books/introduction-behavioral-neuroscience/pages/12-2-neural-mechanisms-and-circuitry-of-the-stress-response

Scott, E. (2020, September 27). When Stress Can Actually Be Good for You. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/what-you-need-to-know-about-eustress-3145109

MentalHealth.com. (2024, September 19). Types Of Stressors (Eustress Vs. Distress). MentalHealth.com. https://www.mentalhealth.com/library/types-of-stressors

LeWine, H. E. (2024, April 3). Understanding the stress response. Harvard Health; Harvard Health Publishing. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response

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