The stress-response or what is referred to as the fight/flight or freeze response is a protection mechanism that occurs in the body when we perceive a life-threatening event and our nervous system gets triggered.
Unfortunately, our nervous system reacts similarly to non-life-threatening events which contributes to long-term and far reaching effects physically, mentally and emotionally. And this is the focus of my article today.
Let’s start with what happens physiologically when we perceive something is a threat. Our eyes, ears or both send a message to our Amygdala (the primitive brain). It is the part of the brain that interprets information which then sends a signal to alert the hypothalamus of a threat. The hypothalamus then alerts the autonomic nervous system which controls our involuntary body functions such as breathing, heart rate, blood pressure and other functions.
When the nervous system is triggered blood rushes from our prefrontal cortex (the rational brain) to the extremities and consequently leaves us in a place of irrational and illogical thinking. When this happens, we tend to overreact to situations and say and do things that we later regret. You may have heard expressions like “It happened in the heat of the moment.” or “I don’t know what came over me.” Because in part it is true – the triggered stress response highjacked our rational thinking. We switched into auto-pilot and all of the messages that we were engrained early on in life for how to communicate and behave took over.
So, if your parent(s) “freaked out” (meaning the stress response took over) about something (and to be clear something non-life-threatening) they perceived as a threat when you were a kid, you will most assuredly do the same when you are presented with something that feels similar to your nervous system. How can this be? Well the nervous system does not know the difference between past or present it only knows the “charge” you felt.
For example, I was in a car accident years ago. Someone had crashed into me from a side lane. No one was hurt thankfully but the shock to my nervous system stayed with me for years. Each and every time I saw a car coming out from a side lane, I felt an electrical shock wave run through my body. It was like the accident was happening all over again in that moment. The same can be said for veterans who come home from war. The nervous system remembers what happened and it reacts accordingly to anything that feels like a threat.
The effects of the stress response and in particular chronic stress can cause a number of major physical and emotional conditions, such as:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- High blood pressure
- Heart attack
- Stroke
- Increased susceptibility to infections and illnesses
- Gastrointestinal conditions
- Neurological disorders, such as Parkinson’s disease
But it also shows up in everyday life as procrastination, overwhelm, zoning out, finding it difficult to own your power, feeling true joy and connection, overthinking everything, feeling stuck, avoiding attention, finding it difficult to say no or set healthy boundaries, self-sabotage, self-sacrifice, stuck in the should-shame-guilt cycle, feeling lonely, pushing down or tucking your feelings, incapable of letting in praise and compliments.
Wow that is a lot!!!
Can you see how the stress-response not only negatively impacts your health and well-being, but the ways it can limit you from achieving your goals and dreams?
The costs are HUGE!!!
Here are the Top 5 Triggers of the Stress-Response:
- Finances
- Work Demands
- Personal Relationships
- Caregiving
- Not Getting Enough “Alone” Time
Ok so we have covered how the stress-response works, its effects and how it impacts us. The question now becomes – how do we stop it?
First things first, we need to see it – to become aware of it – to be truly conscious of it. We need to observe our patterns of behavior, and identify our personal triggers. We need to tune into our bodies and become aware of where we feel it.
- Do you feel it like a gut punch?
- Does your throat tighten up?
- Do you get teary-eyed?
- Does your head hurt?
- Do you feel pain in your heart?
- Do you get shaky in your hands and legs?
These are just some of the ways we can tune into what is happening and note that we are triggered in some way and that the stress-response is activated.
What do we do next? Hit the PAUSE button! Yes, once we see and feel what is happening, we need to pause and make a choice as to what we want to do next. The pause gives us an opportunity to shift back into rational thinking.
So, what does a pause look like? It can be stopping and taking a few slow deep breaths. Yes, focused breathing will help regulate your nervous system and bring you back into a very grounded state. It shifts you out of the sympathetic nervous system i.e. fight or flight and into the parasympathetic nervous system of rest and digest. And when we are grounded we can once again make rational decisions.
Another way to take a pause is walking away from a person or situation until you have calmed your nervous system.
We can also build our resiliency to being triggered in the first place by practicing meditation, yoga, tai chi or my personal favorite tapping – the Emotional Freedom Technique. This technique involves tapping on various acupressure points which in turn signals the nervous to calm down almost immediately. And what I particularly love about this technique as a former clinical researcher is that it has clinical data to back it up. A recent clinical study published in the Journal of Evidence-Based Integrative Medicine by Bach et. al. showed significant decreases in anxiety, blood pressure, cortisol levels (stress-response hormone) and other health-related markers.
If you are interested in learning more about how you too can push pause and come into your most grounded state of being, contact me at [email protected]. I would be delighted to support you.