The worst type of life stress is one that we feel we either have no ability to influence or control, or when we believe we cannot influence our sense of wellbeing and safety. Studies have shown that women struggle with stress more than men. Millennials and Generation Xers are reporting a great deal of stress, and those who struggle with their identity and face discrimination and social biases are afflicted by an enormous amount of stress.
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Our Brains Under Stress
Gaining Control over a Stressed Brain by Veena Verma-Dzik
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xperiencing stress at times is not necessarily a bad thing. We all need a bit of adrenaline to get us going, to motivate us in completing a task. For some of us, this small burst drives us to success. It is a different story when life stressors become overwhelming. Issues at home, financial strains, dealing with loss or a state of affairs that’s beyond our control can all lead to the accumulation of cortisol to take over our nervous system and impact our overall health.
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When stress occurs, the emotional center of the brain, the amygdala, sends a signal to the hypothalamus, the command center of our brain. A signal is then sent to the adrenal glands to activate the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. Once activated, a series of hormones is released to create the stress response. As we all know, cortisol is our greatest stress managing hormone. Cortisol serves its purpose in a healthy, natural way by helping metabolize glucose, controlling blood pressure and, of course, aiding in our “fight, flight or freeze” response. Over periods of chronic stress, the fight, flight or freeze response cannot turn off. This causes a downward spiral in our health, leading to anxiety, depression, sleep disturbance, heart disease, digestive issues and memory impairment. In terms of the health of our brains, studies show that under chronic stress and elevated cortisol, the volume of our brain decreases in size. In other words, our brains actually shrink. We may not even realize the progression of this physical toll on our bodies and brain health. However, there are solutions.
What Can We Do to Manage Stress and Protect Cognitive Health?
Although most stressful events are more than likely out of our control, we do have the strength and capability of grasping control of our mental and cognitive health. There are many supplements that are supported by research that have been shown to be extremely helpful in the health of our brains and management of stress.
