Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way. When you sense danger – whether it’s real or imagined – the body's defences kick into high gear in a rapid, automatic process known as the “fight-or-flight” response.
The fight-or-flight response was first described by Walter Cannon in 1929 so this goes back a long way. Doctors now call the body’s reaction to stress the General Adaptation Syndrome (GAS). There are three stages to the GAS, Cannon’s theory describes the first stage. He stated that animals react to threats with a general discharge of the sympathetic nervous system, priming the animal for fighting or fleeing.
Normally, when a person is in a serene, unstimulated state, the "firing" of neurons in the locus coeruleus, a nucleus in the brain stem involved with physiological responses to stress and panic is minimal.
When we sense danger or we sense an environmental stressor, now it’s important to note here this could include just a perception of danger, we relay the information from the sensory cortex of the brain through the hypothalamus to the brainstem.
Now the brain stem is very important as, though small it is through the brain stem that the nerve connections of the motor and sensory systems from the main part of the brain pass through to the rest of the body. So at this point the muscles tense, the heart beats faster, the breathing and perspiration increases, the eyes dilate and the stomach may clench. All of these things are actually done to keep us safe from the danger we sense, however this is just the beginning, just a very small amount of stress can affect the body quite dramatically.
Now the previous signalling process immediately increases the rate of noradrenergic activity in the locus coeruleus, and we become alert and attentive to the environment. We begin to produce epinephrine (adrenaline). Along with epinephrine, nor epinephrine also underlies the fight-or-flight response. As a stress hormone nor epinephrine affects parts of the brain where attention and responding actions are controlled, directly increasing heart rate, triggering the release of glucose from energy stores, and increasing blood flow to skeletal muscle.
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert. Now for a moment imagine you are an antelope in the South African wilderness. Suddenly you look up and sense the presence of a huge lion. Now this antelope doesn’t think like you and I. He doesn’t say “hmm I sense a Lion I must get out my gun and shoot him dead”. No what happens is the fight or flight response kicks in. All of the actions I have described start to happen and the antelope does whatever he has to do to save himself. All of the things previously described would help this antelope.
As a human, in emergency situations, stress can save your life – giving you extra strength to defend yourself, for example, or spurring you to slam on the brakes to avoid an accident.
The stress response also helps you rise to meet challenges. Stress is what keeps you on your toes during a presentation at work, sharpens your concentration when you’re attempting the game-winning kick, or drives you to study for an exam when you'd rather be watching TV.
However as intelligent human beings we sometimes become stressed over things that we do not need to. Beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to our health, our mood, our productivity, relationships, and our quality of life.
Long-term exposure to stress can lead to serious health problems. Chronic stress disrupts nearly every system in your body. It can raise blood pressure, suppress the immune system, increase the risk of heart attack and stroke, speed up the aging process and of course contribute to infertility. Long-term stress can even rewire the brain, leaving you more vulnerable to anxiety and depression.
The body doesn’t distinguish between physical and psychological threats. When you’re stressed over a busy schedule, an argument with a friend, a traffic jam, or a mountain of bills, your body reacts just as strongly as if you were facing a life-or-death situation. If you have a lot of responsibilities and worries, your emergency stress response may be “on” most of the time. The more your body’s stress system is activated, the easier it is to trip and the harder it is to shut off.
With the release of “emergency” hormones throughout the body, the body is on alarm, and energy is directed toward the areas needed for actual “fight” or “flight” such as the arms and legs, and away from areas the brain considers less important. Once a chronic imbalance of the autonomic nervous system is created, only the regular and consistent practice of relaxation will facilitate the restoration of the parasympathetic nervous system.
Hypnotherapy provides an effective means of establishing that restoration.
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