1. Stress Comes from the Outside
Your perception of events and the
influences (such as health habits) on your body and mind actually cause
chemical changes within your body. It’s all connected. It’s easy to
understand why an event outside your control would cause you stress. If
you’re not expecting something to happen, or if something difficult or
negative occurs, you may not be prepared for it. Outside factors and
events—a car accident, a pay cut, a bad snow storm—create stress in our
lives all the time.
“Just as stress comes from the outside, it also comes from the inside.”
2. Stress Comes from the Inside
Just as
stress comes from the outside, it also comes from the inside. It can be
caused by your perception of events, rather than by the events
themselves. A job transfer might be a horrible stress to one person and
a magnificent opportunity to another. A lot depends on attitude. But
even when the stress is undeniably external—say, all your money was just
stolen—stress effects a host of changes inside your body. More
specifically, stress in all its many forms interferes with the body’s
production of three very important hormones that help you feel balanced
and “normal”: serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine.
3. Sleep Soundly with Serotonin
Serotonin is
the hormone that helps you get a good night’s sleep. Produced in the
pineal gland deep inside your brain, serotonin controls your body clock
by converting into melatonin and then converting back into serotonin
over the course of a twenty-four-hour day. This process regulates your
energy, body temperature, and sleep cycle. The serotonin cycle
synchronizes with the cycle of the sun, regulating itself according to
exposure to daylight and darkness, which is why some people who are
rarely exposed to the sun, such as those in northern climates,
experience seasonal depression during the long, dark winter months—their
serotonin production gets out of whack. Stress can throw it out of
whack, too, and one result is the inability to sleep well.
4. Survive with Noradrenaline
Noradrenaline is a hormone produced
by your adrenal glands, related to the adrenaline that your body
releases in times of stress to give you that extra chance at survival.
Noradrenaline is related to your daily cycle of energy. Too much stress
can disrupt your body’s production of noradrenaline, leaving you with a
profound lack of energy and motivation to do anything. It’s that feeling
you get when you just want to sit and stare at the television, even
though you have a long list of things you absolutely have to do. If your
noradrenaline production is disrupted, you’ll probably just keep
sitting there, watching television.
5. Deal with Pain with Dopamine
Dopamine is a hormone linked to the release of endorphins in your brain.
Endorphins
are those things that help kill pain. Chemically, it is related to
opiate substances like morphine and heroin, and, if you are injured,
your body releases endorphin to help you function. When stress
compromises your body’s ability to produce dopamine, it also compromises
your body’s ability to produce endorphins, so you become more sensitive
to pain. Dopamine is responsible for that wonderful feeling you get
from doing things you enjoy. It makes you feel happy about life itself.
Too much stress, too little dopamine, and nothing seems fun or
pleasurable anymore.
6. The Upside of the Stress Response
When your body is experiencing the
stress response, it undergoes some very specific changes. Here’s what
happens inside your body when you feel stress:
• Your cerebral cortex sends an
alarm message to your hypothalamus, the part of your brain that releases
the chemicals that create the stress response. Anything your brain perceives as stress will cause this effect, whether or not you are in any real danger.
• Your hypothalamus releases chemicals that stimulate your sympathetic nervous system to prepare for danger.
• Your nervous system reacts by raising your heart rate, respiration rate, and blood pressure. Everything gets turned “up.”
• Your muscles tense, preparing for
action. Blood moves away from the extremities and your digestive system,
into your muscles and brain.
• Your senses get sharper. You can
hear better, see better, smell better, taste better. Even your sense of
touch becomes more sensitive.
Sounds like a
way to get things done, doesn’t it? Imagine yourself at the next office
party, clever and funny, attracting crowds that hang on your every
word. Stress can be great! No wonder it’s addictive.
7. The Downside of the Stress Response
The downside is that stress, while
beneficial in moderate amounts, is harmful in excessive amounts, as are
most things. More specifically, stress can cause problems in different
systems all over your body. Some of the less desirable symptoms,
directly related to the increase in adrenaline in the body, include the
following:
• Sweating
• Cold extremities
• Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea
• Muscle tension
• Dry mouth
• Confusion
• Nervousness, anxiety
• Irritability, impatience
• Frustration
• Panic
• Hostility, aggression
Long-term
effects of stress can be even harder to correct, and include such things
as depression, loss or increase of appetite resulting in weight
changes, frequent minor illnesses, increased aches and pains, sexual
problems, fatigue, loss of interest in social activities, chronic
headaches, acne, chronic backaches, chronic stomachaches, and worsened
symptoms associated with medical conditions such as asthma and
arthritis.
8. What Goes On in the Brain
You already
know that stress causes your cerebral cortex to begin a process that
results in the release of chemicals to prepare your body to handle
danger. But what else goes on in your brain when you are under too much
stress? At first, you think more clearly and respond more quickly. But
after you’ve reached your stress tolerance point, your brain begins to
malfunction. You forget things. You can’t concentrate. You lose your
willpower and indulge in bad habits like drinking, smoking, or eating
too much.
