Article: stress and the autonomic nervous system

Life is about 20% what happens to us and 80% how we respond to it. "It is not stress that kills us - it is our reaction to it” Hans Selye

What do we mean when we say we are "stressed out"?

It’s a little word applied to many situations. A word often used, but with different implications.

Maybe we are having a bad day. Too little sleep. Tetchy. Premenstrual. Argumentative. Bad attitude. Or maybe we are feeling pressured by too many things to do. Or too little time to do them. Maybe we just fell out with our best friend or partner. A short fuse set an old problem rolling. Maybe work is getting to us. A feeling that life is a rat race without a purpose. Pressures of making decisions. Or deadlines. Commuting or car driving. Maybe no one is listening to us. Or we feel unsupported. Maybe the children are playing up. Or your relationship with your parent is not going well. Sickness in the family. Burned out, frazzled, and the end of our tether. It's all about how we feel at that very moment.

There are many causes of stress but they can be put into four basis sources:

1. The Environment - Weather, pollens, noise, traffic and pollution continually exact demands on the mind and body
2. Social Stressors - Deadlines, financial problems, job interviews, presentations, disagreements, time and attention from loved ones, loss of life
3. Physiological - Rapid growth in adolescence, menopause, illness, aging, injuries, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, inadequate sleep. And physiological reaction to environmental and social threats and changes also result in stressful symptoms.
4. Thoughts - The brain interprets complex changes in our environment and body and determines when to turn on the 'emergency response'

Stress can be defined as a number of normal reactions of the body designed for self-preservation. Stress is a normal, desirable, and beneficial part of our lives. Many people are more active. More invigorated more creative, more productive, more alive because of stress. As you can see the stress response is a healthy and beneficial response when used properly. However, when the stress response is set off too often, and at improper times, it can have a detrimental effect on the body.

Stress researcher Richard Lazarus has argued that stress begins with our personal appraisal of a situation. We ask how dangerous or difficult it is. And then we ask what resources we have to cope.

Accumulative stress over a period of time is rarely reckoned in the same way. We only consider the result when there is a clear and loud signal way down the line. That is months down the line. Eventually our body or mind shows a reaction. And finally we are forced to look at lifestyle and decisions. Yet, it is the longer time frame of months and even years that is important for understanding the bad side of stress. Stress is an everyday fact of life. Unavoidable. But the adaptability factor decides whether responses are good or bad. The body marshals forces to confront a threat. And most of the time we recover in the short run. But stress can also be bad for our bodies and brains

Understanding Everyday Stress

Stress is an abnormal condition that disrupts the normal functions of the body or mind. No two people are affected in exactly the same way, or to the same degree, but most people living in our highly industrialized society suffer from its effects at one or more times during their lives.

Selected Life Events That Can Bring On Stress:

• Death of Spouse.
• Death of a close family member.
• Death of a close friend.
• Major personal injury, illness or pregnancy.
• Sexual molestation, drug abuse.
• Major change in the health or behavior of a family member.
• Gaining or losing a new family member.
• Sexual difficulties.
• Marital separation from mate.
• Marriages, marital reconciliation, divorce.
• Arguments with spouse, family members, friends, co-workers.
• Changes in sleeping habits or change in part of day when asleep.
• Vacations, Major holidays. In-law troubles.
• Financing major purchases.
• Beginning or ceasing formal schooling.
• Change in usual type and or amount of recreation.
• Change in outside social activities, religions, etc.
• Major change in eating habits, Iiving conditions, moving.
• Spouse beginning or ceasing work outside the home.
• Changing to a different line of work.
• Major change in responsibilities at work.
• Changes in working hours or conditions.
• Troubles with the boss.
• Being fired at work.
• Starting a new job or career.
• Retirement from work.
• Business readjustment changes in financial condition.
• Minor violations of the law (e.g., traffic tickets, disturbing the peace, etc.)
• Detention in jail or other institution.
• Dealing With Work Related Stress

Those aggravating things that go wrong in the day and those irritating things that go bump in the night – disrupting routines and interrupting sleep – all have a cumulative effect on your brain, especially its ability to remember and learn.
As science gains greater insight into the consequences of stress on the brain, the picture that emerges is not a pretty one. A chronic overreaction to stress overloads the brain with powerful hormones that are intended only for short-term duty in emergency situations. Their cumulative effect damages and kills brain cells.

The irony of the stress response is that it evolved in physical environments very different from the social and psychological ones of today. We now experience many problems, or stressors, that our brains perceive as life threatening, although they are not.

The thought of a late mortgage payment does not need an intense physical response, but we get one anyway. Just thinking of Monday morning at work can cause stress hormones to rise.

Instead of being stalked by a saber-toothed tiger, today it's a flight across the ocean or an approaching final exam that puts you on high alert. No matter. Whether the threat is real, remembered, or imagined, your brain can quickly respond with powerful chemicals that initiate dramatic metabolic changes throughout your body.

Your heart pounds, chest heaves, muscles tighten. Senses sharpen, time slips into slow motion, and you become impervious to pain. Under certain conditions, this would be an appropriate healthy reaction because now you are prepared to do battle. The trouble is you are probably still clung to your seat in the plane or at a desk. When the danger finally passes or the perceived threat is over, your brain initiates a reverse course of action that releases a different bevy of biochemicals throughout your body. Attempting to bring you back into balance, your brain seeks the holy grail of "homeostasis," that elusive state of metabolic equilibrium between the stimulating and the tranquilizing chemical forces in your body. If one of these forces dominates the other without relief, then you will experience an on-going state of internal imbalance. This condition is known as stress. And it can have serious consequences for your brain cells.

The term "stress" is short for distress, a word evolved from Latin that means "to draw or pull apart." When stressed-out most of us can probably relate to this description but it also suggests the biochemistry of stress.

The primary area of the brain that deals with stress is its limbic system. Because of its enormous influence on emotions and memory, the limbic system is often referred to as the emotional brain. It is also called the mammalian brain, because it emerged with the evolution with our warm-blooded relatives, and marked the beginning of social cooperation in the animal kingdom.

Whenever you perceive a threat, imminent or imagined, your limbic system immediately responds via your autonomic nervous system – the complex network of endocrine glands that automatically regulates metabolism. It has two branches, each pulling in opposite directions.

The sympathetic nervous system (SNS) turns on the fight or flight response. In contrast, the parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) promotes the relaxation response.
Like two tug-of-war teams skilfully supporting their rope with a minimum of tension, the SNS and PNS carefully maintain metabolic equilibrium by making adjustments whenever something disturbs this balance.
The strongmen on these teams are hormones, the chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands. Named after a Greek word meaning "to set in motion," hormones travel through the bloodstream to accelerate or suppress metabolic functions.
The trouble is that some stress hormones don't know when to quit pulling. They remain active in the brain for too long – injuring and even killing cells in the hippocampus, the area of your brain needed for memory and learning.

Some kinds of acute stress are beneficial. It has been shown that for a short time some people function better with deadlines and challenges. Stress management is the key, not stress elimination. The challenge in this day and age is to not let the sympathetic nervous system stay chronically aroused.