Stress- a necessary reaction or a harmful one?

16 Aug

We talk more and more about stress.

Often we talk about it in combination with illness or unhealthy symptoms; physically, mentally and/or emotionally. Because yes, stress does affect us. All stress does.

What happens in the body when we are stressed? In its origin, stress as a reaction is good and positive. We must not forget that. No one wants to be without the body's stress response! It's what both keeps us alive and gets us out of danger. The stress response is our biggest survivor, so we need to be in good touch with it. It's our fight-and-flight button, so to speak.

If we look way back in time when we needed to get out of our caves to catch food. The drive that made man go out to catch food, so that both he and his family and perhaps clan could survive, that drive is strongly linked to our central nervous system. The same part of the nervous system is what is triggered when danger is out in the field and he has to fight for his life in the hunt for food.

It is the sympathetic part of our nervous system (CNS). That part is like the gas pedal on a car. It makes a person go into battle or take flight. The survival response is something we all want to maintain, even in today's lifestyle.

A simple explanation of what happens physiologically;

❤️ More blood is pumped to the heart.

💪 Muscles tense up

💓 Pulse and blood pressure increase

🫁 Lungs expand with increased oxygen uptake

🛌🏼 Reduced need for sleep

😫 Stress hormones such as adrenaline, nor-adrenaline, and cortisol are released

These reactions are good and positive for a short period of time when we have to act quickly and so to speak irrationally for our survival.

At the same time, we need to understand the importance of the other part of our CNS, the parasympathetic part, or what I choose to call the brake. This part is switched on when we are at rest and calm. When the brake is on, the following happens:

💖 Oxytocin is secreted

❣️ Blood flows to our digestive system

🧬 Our immune system is strengthened

💗 Heart rate and blood pressure are lowered

❤️‍🩹 The body heals and rehabilitates

🧬 New cells are created

These two parts of our CNS cannot be activated simultaneously. Gas and brake (sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems) should alternate and be given equal space, regularly.

Stress can take the form of tension and pain in the body. Worse than that is that we become mentally exhausted and emotionally numb, but there are so many things you can do yourself to avoid stress taking over your life!