Why ignoring stress is dangerous to your health

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

An excerpt from the book Burnout. A New Approach to Stress Relief”on how the habit of running away from problems can result in chronic overstrain.

End the cycle

“I’m going to sell drugs, just to get out of this job” - this is how Julia, Amelia's friend, answered the question “How are you?”. It was the last Saturday before the start of the school year. Julia was just joking. However, the situation was nowhere more serious. She works as a high school teacher. Its burnout has reached a critical level. The thought of the beginning of the next quarter makes the poor man reach for a bottle of wine at two in the afternoon.

Who likes that his child's teacher is filled with cynicism and drinks her bitter life with alcohol? But there are many of them. Burnout devastates, suffocates with apathy, and most importantly, the teacher becomes callous - there are more such cases than you might think.

- Somehow I came across a note about a teacher who came to school on the first day of school so drunk that he forgot his pants. And I said to myself: "The Lord is a witness, here is your future," Julia admitted, draining the first glass.

“Despair is overgrown anxiety,” Amelia replied, recalling her own teaching experience. “And anxiety builds up because of the stress that builds up day after day and never ends.

- Gold words! Julia announced, refilling herself with wine.

“The problem with the school is that you’ll never get rid of the causes of your stress,” Amelia continued. - And I'm not talking about children.

“It is,” said Julia. - In children, on the contrary, the whole point. But the administration, reports and pieces of paper are terribly annoying. “And you’ll never get rid of them.” But you can do something about the stress itself. Complete the stress response cycle.

- I totally agree! Julia nodded. - Wait, what's the cycle?

In this chapter, we will answer Julia's question. The answer is at the same time the basic idea of the entire book. "Recycling" stress and getting rid of its causes are completely separate processes. To prevent stress from building up, you need to go through the whole circle.

Stress

To begin with, we will learn how to separate these two things.

There are stressors. They can be anything: anything you see, hear, touch, smell, or even imagine in your mind is a threat. Stressors are external: work, money, family, time, social norms and expectations, experience of discrimination, and so on. And there are internal ones. They are more difficult to describe and much more subtle. Self-criticism, rejection of your appearance, difficulties with self-determination, negative memories, fear of the future - to varying degrees, all these factors can be determined by your body as a potential threat.

Stress is the body’s nervous and physiological response when you face one of the above dangers.

We have developed this mechanism in the course of evolution to cope with a sudden attack by a lion or, say, a hippopotamus. As soon as the brain detects an aggressive animal, an automatic “stress response” is triggered in us - a chain of changes throughout the body that adapts the body to increased stress. It will be hot now! Adrenaline fills the muscles with extra blood, glucocorticoids keep them in good shape, and endorphins help to ignore all this discomfort. Your heart goes into a fast rhythm, the thrusts of blood in the arteries become more powerful, which increases the pressure in the vessels, and you have to breathe frequently (monitoring the cardiovascular system is a favorite way of scientists to measure stress levels). Muscles tense, sensitivity to pain decreases, attention sharpens, but becomes tunnel-like - you are focused on the present moment and on what is happening right under your nose. All senses are working to their fullest, and only information directly related to the stressor is pulled from the depths of memory. To maximize your survival, the body temporarily "extinguishes" the activity of other organs: digestion slows down, the parameters of the immune system change (analysis of immune activity is the second favorite way of scientists to record stress). Cell growth and repair will wait, reproductive function is also irrelevant. Your entire body and psyche changes in response to what you perceive as a threat.

Here comes the lion! The stress response floods to your ears. What are your next steps?

Run!

You see, this whole complex, multi-stage reaction has a single purpose - to deliver the maximum amount of oxygen and energy to your muscles so that you can dodge the enemy. The rest of the processes are temporarily inhibited. As Robert Sapolsky put it, "We vertebrates have a stress response based on a simple fact: your muscles are going to be racing like crazy."

So you ran.

What's next?

Two options. Either the lion eats you (or the hippopotamus tramples on - it doesn't matter, then you don't care), or you are saved! You run to your village, the lion is chasing on the heels, but you are screaming for help with all your might! People run out to finish off the predator together - and you managed to survive. Victory! You rush to hug your family and neighbors. Life is good, you are filled with gratitude. The sun shines twice as bright, and you gradually relax, realizing that it is safe to be in your body again. Then you and your fellow villagers butcher the carcass, fry a large piece over the fire and feast together. Take the rest, inedible parts of the lion away and bury it with a special ritual. Return home holding hands with your fellow villagers you love so much. Breathe in deeply the native air and thank the lion for his sacrifice.

The stress response is over. Thanks to everybody, you're free.

You've dealt with the stressor, but what about the stress itself?

The human stress response was perfectly tailored to the environment in which our species evolved. Actions to neutralize the "lion" simultaneously defuse the stress response. And here you might think that the cycle of stress response always ends by eliminating the stressor - the cause of stress.

But such an interpretation would be too simple.

Imagine that you are running from a lion in a severe thunderstorm. Lightning flashes all around, and suddenly one of them hits the predator! You turn around and see his lifeless body. But are you filled with sudden calmness and peace? Oh no! You stand in bewilderment, your heart is pounding. Look around for other dangers. Your body still wants to get off the ground: run or fight! Or maybe huddle in a cave and cry? The gods punished this toothy monster, but your body still does not feel safe. The cycle of the stress response must be completed. The mere disappearance of the threat is not enough. Most likely, you will run into the village and, breathless, tell your fellow villagers your terrible story. Everyone will groan with fear and jump with happiness with you. Praise to the heavenly deities for the saving lightning!

And here is the modern version. The lion is already ready to rush at you! Adrenaline, cortisol, glycogen - the whole cocktail works to its fullest. You grab your gun, bang! The lion is shot, you are saved.

Now what? The threat is gone, but your body is still under an avalanche of physiological reactions. You have not yet performed actions that the body recognizes as a signal to relax. It is useless to say to yourself: "Calm down, everything is fine." Not even the sight of a wounded lion will help. Actions are needed to symbolize safety. Otherwise, you will remain with this "cocktail" of hormones and neurotransmitters. Over time, it will blur, but relaxation will not come. The digestive, immune, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal and reproductive systems will remain in a depressed state if they do not receive a signal to return to full-fledged work.

And that is not all!

Imagine that your stressor is not a lion, but some idiot colleague. He does not threaten your life at all, but he does little dirty tricks. There is a meeting, he again inserts his stupid comment, and you - oh god - are flooded with adrenaline with cortisol and glycogen. However, you have to decorously sit with this idiot at the same table and be nice. Fulfill a socially approved role. Who will feel better if you jump over the table and scratch out his insolent little eyes? Your physiology is hungry for the enemy's blood. But instead, you have a calm, socially acceptable, highly constructive meeting with his boss. He agrees to support you. And if this moron starts to appear again, the senior manager will remind him of corporate ethics.

Our congratulations!

You have dealt with the stressor, but the stress itself has not gone away yet. It saturates the entire body until you perform magical relaxing actions.

Day after day goes by … But there is still no “hang up” command.

Let's see what happens to one of the systems - the cardiovascular system. A chronically activated stress response leads to increased blood pressure. Your vessels are designed for soft blood flow, and just imagine! - gushes like a garden hose. Naturally, they wear out faster, break faster, and increase the risk of heart disease.

Chronic stress seems harmless, but it causes life-threatening illness.

And remember that this overload occurs in every organ and every system in your body. Digestion. Immunity. Hormonal background. The human body is not designed to live in this state. If we get stuck in it, the stress response, instead of saving our lives, slowly kills us.

In Western post-industrial society, everything is turned upside down. In most cases, stress kills us faster than the stressor that caused it. And this will continue until you consciously complete the cycle of the triggered stress response. As you deal with daily stressors, your body is trying to clear out the daily stress. You must give the body resources to discharge. And this task is critical to your well-being, along with sleeping and eating.

But first we need to figure out why we are not doing it now.

Why are we stuck

A loop can get stuck halfway for a variety of reasons. Most often we see three:

1. Chronic stressor → chronic stress. Sometimes our brain triggers a stress response, you do what it asks, but the situation itself does not change.

Run! - the brain commands when you are given a daunting task: to speak in front of colleagues, write a giant report, or go through a responsible interview.

Living in the XXI century, you start to "run" the way it is typical of our contemporaries. Coming home in the evening, put on Beyoncé's album and dance selflessly for half an hour.

"We ran away from the predator!" - proclaims the brain. You catch your breath, smile from ear to ear. “Who's a good fellow? I'm fine fellow!" As a reward, the brain produces a whole list of biochemicals that create a sense of serene happiness.

But a bad morning comes … A daunting task awaits you in the same place.

Run! the brain exclaims.

And the cycle starts over.

We get stuck in stress responses because we endlessly return to stressful situations.

This is not bad in itself. The harm begins where our ability to defuse tension ends. And this happens regularly, because …

2. Social norms. Sometimes the brain activates a stress response, but you cannot do what it requires.

- Command to run!

And he gives in to adrenaline.

- I can not! - you answer. - I'm sitting on the exam!

Or like this:

- Let's give this impudent person in the head!

And you feel a surge of glucocorticoids in your blood.

- I can't kick him in the head! This is my client! - you lament.

You need to sit, smile politely, and conscientiously complete your study or work task. In the meantime, your body is boiling in a cauldron of stress and waiting for you to take action.

And it gets even worse. Society can tell you that it is wrong to feel stressed in such a situation. Convincing arguments are presented, authoritative opinions are heard. Stress is ugly. This is a sign of weakness. This is disrespect for others.

Parents often raise their daughters as "good girls." They are hampered by fear, anger and other uncomfortable emotions of the child. Smile and wave. Their feelings are more important than children's feelings.

In addition, the expression of uncomfortable emotions in our culture is regarded as weakness.

You are a smart, strong woman, and when an uncouth passer-by on the street shouts “Cool tits!”, You force yourself to ignore the rudeness. He's not a maniac, but just a nerd, there is no reason to be angry with him or be afraid. He's not worth your attention, nonsense.

However, the brain says: "Nightmare!" and forces you to step up.

3. The third reason for getting stuck is safer. Is there a strategy that simultaneously saves you from street harassment and defuses the stress caused by it? Of course. Turn around and slap this boor in the face. But then what? He suddenly realizes the vileness of his harassment and will stop them forever? Unlikely. Most likely, the situation will escalate, and he will hit you back, and in this case, your situation will become even more dangerous. Sometimes winning is just passing by. With a smile, without reciprocal aggression, saying to yourself that this is nonsense - this is your survival strategy in this case. Use it with dignity. Just remember that coping strategies like these don't deplete your stress. They only postpone the given need of the body. It is not a substitute for completing a loop.

So there are tons of ways to deny, ignore and suppress your stress response! As a result, we walk, laden with decades of unfinished cycles. They languish inside our body in anticipation of release.

Emily Nagoski, Ph. D. in healthy behavior and an expert on sexuality, and her sister Amelia Nagoski co-authored the book Burnout. A New Approach to Stress Relief”. In it, they scientifically explain what stress is and what reaction the body considers normal to it. The sisters also talk about why it is dangerous to ignore it, how society affects our well-being and how to get rid of feelings of depression and emotional exhaustion.