Stress

What is stress?

Stress is anything that triggers a mental, emotional, or physiological change. For instance, when you perceive a threat or a major challenge, chemicals and hormones surge throughout your body, which can affect your emotions and perceptions.

The “stress hormone” is known as cortisol, which plays an essential role in stressful situations. Cortisol can:

  • Raise the amount of glucose in your bloodstream

  • Alter your immune system response

  • Dampen your reproductive system and growth process

  • Affect parts of the brain that control fear, motivation, and mood

These physiological changes can help you deal with high-stress situations more effectively. It’s a normal process and crucial to human survival.

Although stress is common, and everyone experiences stress throughout their lives, chronic stress can have negative effects on your long-term health. Chronic stress can contribute to:

  • High blood pressure

  • Sleep problems

  • Fatigue

  • Mental cloudiness (brain fog) and memory problems

  • Weakened immune system, leaving you more vulnerable to other ailments

The different types of stress

Acute stress

Acute stress is short-term stress that results in an immediate response to the triggering event. It can be something routine and minor, such as an alarm clock going off, a new assignment at work, or getting into a minor argument with someone - which can happen to anyone. Acute stress can come out of something that you actually enjoy as well, such as experiencing the thrilling, adrenaline rush when you’re on a roller coaster. Some acute stressors don’t normally do you harm; they might even be good for you. Stressful events can give your body and brain practice in developing the best response for future situations. However, acute stressors can be a more severe event (e.g., car accident or life-altering tragedy), which can impair your physical and mental health.

Episodic acute stress

Episodic acute stress occurs when you have frequent episodes of acute stress. This might happen if you’re often anxious and worried about things you suspect may happen (e.g., moving from one crisis to another). Certain professions, such as law enforcement or firefighters, are frequently faced with high-stress situations. As with severe acute stress, episodic acute stress can affect your physical and mental health.

Chronic stress

When you have high-stress levels for a prolonged time, the stress can turn into chronic stress, which can have a negative impact on your health and may contribute to:

  • Anxiety

  • Cardiovascular issues

  • Depression

  • High blood pressure

  • A weakened immune system

Chronic stress can also lead to frequent ailments such as headaches, upset stomachs, and sleep difficulties.

Signs and symptoms

We all have different things that stress us out. Two individuals can be confronted with the same stressor, and have different responses to it. We are also equipped with unique experiences, strategies and resources, and distress tolerance. As a result, our symptoms can look vastly different:

Some signs of stress are:

  • Chronic pain

  • Sleep problems

  • Digestive problems

  • Irritable bowel syndrome

  • Significant changes in appetite

  • Concentration difficulties

  • Poor decision-making

  • Memory problems

  • Irritability

  • Decreased libido

What causes stress?

The list can be endless, although some common ones include:

  • Relationship conflicts

  • Financial constraints

  • Changes in occupation or living circumstance

  • Life-altering accidents or illnesses

  • Living through a natural or manmade disaster

  • Being the victim of a crime

  • Being a caregiver for a loved one with a chronic illness like dementia

  • Living in poverty or being homeless

  • Having little work-life balance, working long hours, or having a job you dislike

How can CogniThrive help?

Although we may not be able to control or address some of the stressors, we can assist by:

  • Identifying internal and external stress “warning signs”

  • Increasing one’s awareness of how stress is affecting them emotionally, mentally, and physically

  • Reframing unhelpful thought patterns, because the way we view the stressor can have a profound effect on the way we experience it

  • Exploring environmental circumstances that trigger or exacerbate stress

  • Problem-solving how to resolve the stressor

  • Replacing maladaptive coping skills with healthier ones