What is Stress?

We’ve all felt stressed out at one time or another, but what exactly is stress? Is all stress bad? Should we avoid stress altogether? Here’s a bite sized guide with what you need to know. ​

Essentially stress is a physical response meant to protect us. 

Back in the day when we had to fight off saber-tooth tigers, and hide out in cave’s, our stress response of fight or flight kicked in to ensure our survival, you know so we didn’t get eaten. 

Sure we don’t have to run from tigers on our way to pick up the groceries anymore, but let’s face it we still have to deal with stresses of a different kind. 
Every day we face a multitude of demands placed on us, from work deadlines, wanting to spend time with family and friends, plus everyday financial obligations, to name just a few.

As cool as Fred Flintstone was, thankfully the inventions of modern man have made our lives much easier in many ways over thousands of years, but it would seem that our body’s response to stress has changed very little in that it still tries to protect us when it perceives we are under attack. 

Once our brain believes we’re under attack, it alerts the hypothalamus, which in turn sets off a combination of nerve and hormonal signals. This system then prompts your adrenal glands to release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline, cortisol and norepinephrine which prepares the body for physical action.


Fight, flight or freeze?

 - The fight response can sometimes make us anxious or aggressive.

 - The flight response can lead us to ignore situations we perceive to be stressful instead of dealing with the problem.

 - The freeze response where we get stuck in the unknown, and perhaps caught in shallow breathing or holding the breath. 

So what do all these hormones actually do for us?

 - Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. 

 - Cortisol is our primary stress hormone. It does some pretty cool stuff like altering our immune system responses and suppressing our digestive system, reproductive system and growth processes. It also limits nonessential functions that may be damaging to us in a fight or flight situation.

 - Norepinephrine helps to increase the force of contraction in both our skeletal muscles and the heart. It also prompts the narrowing of blood vessels which raises our blood pressure.

The overall effect is our heart starts pounding, we’re breathing faster and feeling like all our senses are heightened, otherwise known as an adrenaline rush. Now don’t get me wrong, an adrenaline rush can feel pretty exhilarating when you’re at the top of a roller coaster. This isn’t ‘bad stress’ and your hormone levels will very quickly return to their normal state. 

The negative side to this is rather less cool. If we’re living with this heightened state of stress for prolonged or regular periods of time. Our brain function can be reduced, leading to an inability to think straight which can happen when our blood flow is being diverted to the most important muscles needed for fight or flight.

In short, if we are kept in a state of stress for long periods, it can be detrimental to our health. 

Having listened to a talk yesterday about saving for retirement, this one comment really stuck with me. 
“Health brings wealth. Wealth doesn’t necessarily bring health.” I think that’s so powerful, our health is our biggest asset and so often taken for granted.

So now we know what stress is, we need to learn how to listen to our bodies more and realise any signs of ongoing stress that we need to address. Stay tuned for the next instalment about how stress affects the body and some signs to watch for. For today though just do one kind thing for yourself, go for a walk outside in the fresh air, spend one minute feeling gratitude for something good, or give yourself a compliment.

Did you know that by some awesome brain voodoo it is impossible to feel stress or fear when you are feeling genuinely grateful for something! Try it.

Hopefully you’ve learnt a thing or two from reading this quick blog. If you you’d like to learn more
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