The two faces of stress: developing resilience and recognizing overload – Neuroscience News

Summary: Stress, a reaction to demands, is not universally negative; this has its advantages. The positive side, eustress, can promote well-being and resilience.

Researchers point out that the difference between helpful and harmful stress is largely a matter of perception and bodily response.

However, chronic stress affects all organs and can cause anxiety, depression and various health problems.

Highlights:

1. Eustress is the positive side of stress, improving our sense of well-being.
2. Chronic stress affects all organ systems, leading to anxiety, depression and digestive problems.
3. Continued high stress without relief can be harmful, diminishing our ability to return to a relaxed baseline.

Source: Mayo Clinic

This may seem surprising, but from a medical perspective, not all stress is bad. Healthy stress levels help build resilience, says Safia Debar, MBBS, a stress management expert at Mayo Clinic Healthcare in London. In this expert alert, Dr. Debar explains the difference between good and bad stress and how to know when you’re in danger of overload.

Stress is a physical and psychological reaction to a demand, and that demand can be anything, says Dr. Debar. Stress that is good for us and can even give us a feeling of well-being is eustress, the opposite of distress. The same event, say marriage, could cause one or the other, says Dr. Debar.

“It’s about the perception of that stress and how your body actually handles it,” says Dr. Debar. “Chronic stress will impact every organ system in the body: you might experience anxiety, depression and digestive issues, for example.”

Stress causes a cascade of reactions in the mind and body as you respond to stress, says Dr. Debar. Under normal stress, a person begins at a base level of relaxation, encounters a stressor, the stress response begins, peaks, and then returns to base level.

Among the physical changes that can occur when you perceive a threat:

• The sympathetic nervous system and the production of the main stress hormone, cortisol, are activated.
• Thinking becomes negative as you experience or anticipate something bad. Attention becomes hyperfocused on what is happening.
• The heart, lungs and muscles prepare to fight or run. There is an increase in heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate, as the body needs to supply more oxygen to the cells. Tight muscles.
• The digestive and reproductive systems are not needed, so their activities slow down.
• The immune system shifts its focus from fighting microscopic invaders such as viruses or cancer cells and shifts into inflammatory mode, increasing its production of proteins called cytokines that adjust this process.

“When someone realizes that the threat has passed, the body begins to repair itself and ‘clean house.’ It moves into a state of repair, renewal and growth as the stress response is eliminated.

Physically, breathing and heart rate slow, blood pressure normalizes, you breathe more deeply, muscle tension decreases, the digestive and reproductive systems return to normal activity, and you can begin to connect with others to tell about the threat that you just live,” said Dr. Débar said.

“If your stress rises and then falls again, you have completed our cycle. There’s no wear, there’s no damage,” says Dr. Debar.

“In fact, it’s probably good for you because it leads to greater resilience.” If you’ve ever overcome a stressful life event, processed it fully, and completed that cycle, then the next similar experience you have, you think, “Oh no, but I can do this.” »

However, when a person is repeatedly subjected to excessive stress, the ability to return to baseline slowly begins to diminish, says Dr. Debar.

“You can build up stress and stay there, having a prolonged response. That’s when you’re hypervigilant: you’re nervous but tired, you’re anxious,” explains Dr. Debar.

“Or, life has thrown so many stressors at you that you don’t respond to them adequately. It is the lack of recovery rather than the stressor itself that is critical. After a while, you may become numb and show no response.

Sometimes people think it would be nice to show no reaction at all, Dr. Debar adds, but internally, the stress response and its cascade of internal activities are still happening. They’re just hidden.

There are several signs that you might be in danger of stress overload and it’s time to address them, says Dr. Debar:

• If the stress seems incessant and constant.
• If stress feels out of control and you can’t relax or feel like you’re on autopilot.
• If you have difficulty regulating your emotions.
• If you start hiding from life and/or people.
• You experience physical symptoms such as headaches, chest pain, stomach upset, problems sleeping, or more frequent nausea.

“Think about how your body handles stress and how you handle it emotionally, physically, and in your relationships,” says Dr. Debar. “What are you doing, what are you not doing.”

Chronic stress can have long-term effects on health. People who experience persistent physical symptoms or find that lifestyle changes don’t seem to help should consult their healthcare team, says Dr. Debar.

About this research news in psychology and stress

Author: Safia Débar
Source: Mayo Clinic
Contact: Safia Debar – Mayo Clinic
Picture: Image is credited to Neuroscience News