“THE GREATEST WEAPON AGAINST STRESS IS OUR ABILITY TO CHOOSE ONE THOUGHT OVER ANOTHER” William James
Learning to recognize stress allows you to take a step back to observe and deal with emotions before they can affect mental or physical health. Most of us aren’t even aware of the constant pressure we put on ourselves or what it does to our bodies.
For me, winter is the most stressful time of the year. What should be a season of holidays, family, and fun, turns into feelings of obligation and controlled chaos. Trying to keep up with the pace of festivities is hard enough but adding cold weather into the mix throws my body over the edge. I take on too much and the cold weather makes my MS symptoms worse. By the time I listen to my body screaming for a reprieve, it’s too late. I’ve triggered a flare.
Introducing the amygdala-
Acute stress causes the brain to shift from executive control and thinking centers in the frontal lobe to our emotional and reactive centers in the amygdala.1 The amygdala is the part of the brain that is responsible for emotions, memory, motivation, and survival instincts.2
Basically, the amygdala is the boss of your brain shaping behavior and controlling emotions including anxiety and fear.
What is the stress response?
The stress response is the body’s automatic emergency system and its job is to keep us safe from harm.
The stress response will activate whenever it senses your body is lacking control or expressing anxiety, helplessness, sadness, or anger.
When threatened the body goes into fight or flight mode and the sympathetic nervous system activates hormones including adrenaline to give the body the energy needed to get you out of danger.
To switch off this response the body needs to sense the threat has passed so that the relaxation response engages and then the nervous system will return to normal.
Interesting fact– If you live in a chronic state of ‘fight or flight’ it becomes difficult to think rationally because both systems cannot be engaged at the same time.
Why can’t I think when I’m stressed out?
When the brain stem which is the primitive part of the brain, is engaged by the stress response, rational and critical thinking is diverted from the prefrontal cortex.3 This literally means we can’t think clearly when our bodies are under stress and it’s the reason people can’t remember exact details from a traumatic event.
Modern fight or flight
When our ancestors faced conflicts, they either fought, escaped, or died. Modern threats are much less clear. Often stress is a product of our emotions, perceptions, and assumptions vs an actual threat to survival. The body, however, doesn’t know the difference.
Positive vs negative stress
To complicate things further, the body can’t tell the difference between positive and negative stress. For example; feelings of excitement about something you’re looking forward to, or some sort of conflict.
Researchers from Northwest University reported that negative stress can trigger new MS activity and positive stress reduced the likelihood of new lesions on MRI.
Why does stress make MS symptoms worse?
According to the NMSS booklet, “Taming Stress”– “During times of stress, more energy is required to think, problem-solve, and handle daily life. At stressful and demanding times, symptoms may be experienced more strongly because the energy to deal with them and get on with life has been drained. Stress may add to the feeling of overwhelming fatigue, which is already one of the most burdensome symptoms of MS.”
Learn how to recognize stress
Signs of negative stress:
- Anxiety Fear Anger Sadness
- Loneliness Irritability Shame Jealousy
- Panic Attacks Nightmares Depression Worrying
- Resentment Disappointment Feeling overwhelmed
Physical signs of chronic stress:
- Insomnia High Blood Pressure
- Memory loss Heart palpitations
- Chronic pain Muscle spasms or tightness
- Appetite changes Sleeping too much
- Headaches Fatigue
- Stomachaches Lowered immunity
Emotional stress is part of having a chronic illness like MS but by learning coping methods we can reduce the intensity and try to mediate the effect on the immune system.
How we choose to react to stressful situations can give us some control over the outcome. For instance, one study reported that being in stress management therapy reduced the development of new brain lesions.4
Takeaway
Don’t let stress immobilize you. We are responsible for interpreting situations and we decide how we will respond to them. Try practicing strategies to reduce stress and positive mindset techniques like reframing a negative situation with a more positive outcome. Lastly, create a plan for stress management and prevention which will enable you to build resilience and be better equipped to manage adversity in the future.
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1 2 Weeks to A Younger Brain, An Innovative Program for a Better Memory and a Sharper Mind, Gary Small and Gigi Vorgan, Chap.3, p53 2 www.thebrainmadesimple.com/amygdala.html 3 www.upliftconnect .com/Stress:It’s-Not-In-Your-Head, July 28,2017,Melody Walford 4 www.healthline.com/health-news/ms-stress-could-predict-ms-disease-activity-121813#1
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