The body’s response to stress through the eyes of neuroscience
We are all constantly exposed to the effects of the social and natural environment, and our bodies have to adapt to the changing environment. We are exposed to both external and internal stressors, such as reacting to our thoughts, attitudes or pain, experiencing stress related to the external environment. According to neuroscientist, medical manager of “Eglė sanatorija” and speaker of this year’s “LOGIN” conference, Dr. Kęstutis Skaumins, for millions of years we were exposed to stressors in the natural environment, and now we are affected by social or professional stressors. In the course of evolution, our nervous system has developed “survival strategies”. One of them is the neurobiological mechanisms of stress response:
“The stress response involves neurotransmitters, the diffuse modulation system of the brain, the stress response control mechanisms of the autonomic nervous system, and the neuroendocrine response to stress. If the impact of the stressor lasts a long time, the risk of so-called stress diseases appears. We call stress diseases diseases whose development is involved or whose course is worsened by the body’s prolonged reaction to chronic stress.
These include heart disease, digestive system disorders, obesity, high blood pressure and stroke. Chronic stress can worsen the course of diabetes, asthma, arthritis or provoke headaches, migraine attacks, depression, anxiety and increase the risk of Alzheimer’s disease,” the neuroscientist presents a bouquet of diseases directly related to stress or their exacerbations.
Psychosomatics: the patient was already scheduled for surgery, but another cause of the pains was revealed
Is it true that stress can provoke not only real diseases, but certain psychosomatic symptoms? What and how strong can they be? Finally, how to distinguish that this is not a disease, but psychosomatics, because it is really possible to get confused? Dr. According to K. Skaumins, we call psychosomatic disorders a group of physical symptoms that are directly caused by psychological factors. The name comes from the Latin words mind (Latin Psyche) and body (Latin Soma).
“People sometimes experience symptoms that are difficult to explain medically. These can be anxiety, insomnia, pains in various parts of the body, increased blood pressure, breathing or digestive problems, stomach ulcer, dermatitis and impotence. Such people often turn to doctors, demand tests, and when the tests do not show pathological changes, no diagnosis is confirmed. This causes irritation and frustration.
These individuals usually do not recognize that they have psychological challenges, they believe that the cause of the symptoms is physical. In my practice, I had a patient who complained of severe abdominal pain. Even a surgical operation was already planned for her. However, before that, the patient was referred to a neurologist and a psychiatrist, and depression was diagnosed and treated. The pain went away and no surgery was needed,” says the interviewer.
The duration of stress is critical: what can help when it is prolonged
Avoiding stress probably sounds like a mission impossible in today’s world. And the advice “you don’t get nervous” can cause even more anxiety. However, Dr. According to K. Skaumins, even when the current social or work environment is stressful and stressful, we must avoid a prolonged stress reaction:
“The reaction of our nervous system and body to stress is a normal and necessary reaction given by nature. Without this ability to respond, we would not survive. The problem is not the stress response itself, but the duration of exposure to stressors and the duration of the response. If the reaction lasts no longer than 1 hour, we can call it eustress, or a normal stress reaction, which is often even beneficial for health. Distress, or a health-damaging, prolonged stress reaction, is what we must avoid,” the specialist explains the difference.
According to the interviewer, very often our reaction starts with psychological things – different people react differently to the same events. It depends on our beliefs, attitudes, values, on how we think and evaluate.
“So the first tip is to change these things. For example, let’s not bring “work to home”, but “home problems to work”. Well, if we haven’t already avoided it, and the reaction has started and continues, let’s help ourselves by visualizing things that make us happy, such as vacations or pleasant images. Let’s practice meditations. Let’s engage in physical activity, conscious exercises for tensing and relaxing individual muscle groups, and deep breathing practices.
It helps to have a positive attitude and gratitude for life, focusing attention not on problems, but on your own successes. You can practice yoga or otherwise ‘remove’ yourself from a stressful environment.” Dr. K. Skaumins adds that distance and a change of environment often save in such situations – change the environment for a while, stop yourself, pamper yourself and relax in a pleasant environment. Attention to good sleep is also extremely important.
Burnout – karma for maximalists? The very first signs of burnout
“Burnout” is another word these days that is slowly becoming almost a swear word. Dr. K. Skaumins says that he often encounters people who have lost the so-called work-life balance, and the path to burnout is paved with good wishes:
“Burnout is a reaction to work. It occurs when there is a conflict between the employee’s demanding attitude towards work and the employer’s expectations. The first mistake we make is thinking that working better means working more. What does it mean to work harder? This means that you will have to give up something. First, we give up our hobbies, then we give up rest, then it’s the turn of relationships with loved ones, and so on,” the neuroscientist points the way to the abyss of emotional and physical problems.
When a person is really in the grip of burnout, it becomes very difficult to work and generally function in social life. However, at the beginning, we are careful and modest with red flags, but the body waves long before that, but we tend to simply ignore some signals.
“Internal conflicts and tensions arise, and those around us begin to notice changes in our behavior. All this has consequences – both psychologically and in terms of health. Both the aforementioned psychosomatic symptoms and the aforementioned stress illnesses appear. The first “prophets” of burnout are emotional exhaustion, constant fatigue, indifference to oneself and others, cynicism. Unfortunately, at a certain part of this path to illness, we can no longer help ourselves. Either you have to change something in your life, or turn to specialists”, Dr. concludes the conversation. K. Skaumin.
Tags: Neurologist processes body stress lasts longer hour body sends signals
