You Are Not Your Stress
We are all affected by stress at one point or another. For thousands of years, stress has been our body’s way of identifying and responding to external threats. Stress can trigger survival mode responses as a way to keep us safe, especially during life or death situations. Nowadays, stress presents itself in various situations that are not always life or death. Stress can appear during major life events such as moving, job losses, or divorces. Stress can also appear during daily tasks such as grocery shopping, paying bills, or making phone calls. How ever stress presents itself in your life, it is important to remember that stress is not your fault, and you are not your stress.
What is stress? Stress begins in the amygdala, the part of the brain that experiences emotions and is responsible for processing fearful and threatening stimuli. When a threatening stimulus is detected by the amygdala, it sends distress signals to the hypothalamus which activates the sympathetic nervous system. The hypothalamus then sends hormones like the Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) from the adrenal glands into the bloodstream, which then raises the body’s cortisol and adrenaline levels. Commonly known as the “stress hormone”, cortisol raises our blood pressure and our heart rate. When our minds and bodies are in this heightened state of awareness, we are supposed to be better equipped for handling stressors. Once the perceived threat has passed, these heightened cortisol and adrenaline levels should go down. However, for people who are chronically stressed, these levels remain heightened, even after the threat has been resolved.
When we experience stressful or traumatic events, it is common for our bodies to undergo certain stress responses or modes of survival. The most common stress responses are known as fight, flight, freeze and fawn. Many people are familiar with fight or flight, but freeze and fawn are also common responses. During times of stress, some people become angry and aggressive, some people quickly leave the scene, some people freeze up, dissociate or detach, and some people attempt to please or calm the aggressor in order to escape.
Stress is also a common contributor to anxiety, which can take on many forms including generalized anxiety, social anxiety, and health anxiety. Experiencing stress was intended to be helpful, but over time, it has transformed into a sometimes debilitating disorder that affects us emotionally, mentally and even physically. Many people do not know that extreme stress can take on physical forms within the body such as headaches, heart pains, stomach pains, and panic attacks. Stress is so powerful that it can manifest its way throughout our entire bodies.
Those living with chronic stress are constantly in survival mode. This makes daily living very difficult, as their bodies are constantly on high alert. It is hard to feel safe and secure when your mind and body are constantly interpreting its surroundings as a threat. Cortisol affects the body in many ways. In addition to regulating our body’s stress response, cortisol helps regulate metabolism, blood pressure and blood sugar, helps suppress inflammation, and helps control sleep-wake cycles. Because cortisol is used to help regulate various aspects of our bodies, chronically heightened cortisol levels can have negative effects. Elevated cortisol levels can suppress the immune system, increase blood sugar, cause digestive issues and may lead to heart disease as a result of constantly high blood pressure.
However, it is important to remember that experiencing stress is not your fault, and there are many ways to combat it. Our brains are extremely elastic, meaning that our thinking patterns and behaviors are always able to adapt to new ways of being. Some ways to combat stress are to get quality sleep, exercise regularly, practice mindfulness and meditation, practice deep breathing, spend time in nature, sing a comforting song, find simple reasons to smile and laugh, and surround yourself with healthy and supportive relationships. When I am feeling stressed, my favorite coping mechanism is to go for a long walk in my neighborhood while listening to uplifting music that I can hum or sing along to. Of course, most things in life are easier said than done, but the more mindful you are in your daily life, the more regulated your stress levels can become.
Stress and anxiety are based on primitive survival instincts. They are meant to keep us safe in our daily lives. While some people may experience healthy levels of stress, many people experience debilitating and chronic stress. If you do experience chronic stress, it is not your fault. You are not your thoughts. You are not your hormones. You are not your stress. Keep believing in yourself and try not to take life too seriously. At the end of the day, we are all tiny specs on a floating rock in outer space.
