Regain Control of Your Stress
Stress takes a toll on our bodies in countless ways – physically, psychologically and physiologically. We are all familiar with the physical pain that stress plants firmly in our necks, shoulders, back and even hips. We know stress makes us sad, depressed, and…well, more stressed.
Physiologically we experience increased heart rate, high blood pressure, racing thoughts, and unexplained bouts of fatigue. Why do these things happen? Well, at the onset, our bodies release hormones in amounts proportional to the amount of stress we feel. These three main hormones – adrenaline, cortisol, and norepinephrine – all have different roles in how our bodies react to the stress.
Survival Mode
Adrenaline is the “fight or flight” hormone and is primarily responsible for the initial responses we feel. Your muscles tense up, your heart races, and you feel a surge of energy. Essentially, it allows your body to focus entirely on the task at hand to ensure “survival”. Norepinephrine works similarly to adrenaline but also serves as a backup. If one gland isn’t working properly the other will kick in to pick up the slack.
Cortisol is a steroid hormone that takes slightly longer to kick in than the other two. It works to help the body keep bodily fluids and blood pressure balanced and puts unnecessary functions on the back burner, enabling you to entirely focus on getting out alive.
Anxiety
Stress goes hand in hand with anxiety. The symptoms we experience when the hormones kick in are nearly identical to the checklist for a panic attack. When we have long-term stress in our lives we learn to live with racing hearts and thoughts, sweaty palms, trembling, muscle aches, headaches, insomnia, forgetfulness, difficulty concentrating, nervous energy, feeling fatigued…and so many other things that take a toll on our minds and bodies.
One of the worst things about stress and anxiety is the cycle they create. The more stressed we are, the more anxiety we have. The more anxiety we have, the more stressed we are. Soon enough we feel like ticking time bombs just waiting for our heads to blow straight off our shoulders.
Experiencing anxiety for an extended period of time can actually cause our neurotransmitters to start misfiring, causing our hormone levels to get out of balance. Essentially, our bodies “learn” these new patterns and recognized them as being normal. It’s then up to us to get a grip on our stress and reset our bodies back to the manufacturer’s settings.
While the “fight or flight” response is good to have in times of real danger, it’s not healthy to experience that on a regular basis in our everyday lives. Long-term stress can cause mental instability, memory loss, heart disease, and even cancer.
What To Do
These things are not a magical fix to solve your problems but if you truly commit yourself to basic healthy changes, you’ll find yourself in a good place to start making changing elsewhere in your life.