Stressed? How to Stay Calm in Tough Times
Your heart is pounding, your breathing feels fast and shallow, your stomach is in knots, and your racing thoughts just won’t slow down. Are you giving a big speech, running from a bear, or just trying to make it through a normal work day? The difficulty is - your physiology might react in similar ways to each of these events! Keep reading to learn why and to learn how to combat these automatic responses.
The Body’s Response to Stress
It helps me to know what’s going on in my brain and body when I feel really stressed. When I understand what’s happening, I can have a more effective chat with myself about settling down! This is a quick summary of how the brain and body communicate in a stressful situation. When we get stressed, anxious, or are in danger, a part of the brain called the amygdala responds automatically, sending a distress signal to another part of the brain - the hypothalamus.
In simple terms, the hypothalamus communicates with the body through the autonomic nervous system, which includes the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. After the amygdala sends a distress signal, the hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system through the endocrine system, which floods the body with chemicals such as adrenaline, preparing the body’s fight, flight, or freeze response to impending danger.
Source: Harvard Health Publishing
As these chemicals flood the body in preparation to fight or run away from danger, we notice sensations such as
Heart rate increases
Breathing speeds up or chest feels tight
Muscles feel tense or shaky
Body feels hot and sweaty
Mouth is dry/voice shakes
Feeling of lightheadedness
Stomach has “butterflies”
Thoughts race
The sympathetic nervous system’s response to stress can impact many major organ systems, causing a host of physical symptoms.
Source: ReachOut.com
This response happens automatically and so quickly we often have no idea it’s happening. It has to be this way because if you need to run from a bear, you don’t have time to think about it - you just need your body to do it!
After the initial rush of adrenaline subsides, the hypothalamus activates a second part of the stress response system, the HPA axis. This network includes the hypothalamus, the pituitary gland, and the adrenal glands. If the brain continues to perceive danger, the adrenal glands will release cortisol, a chemical that keeps the body “revved up” and able to respond to a threat. If the threat passes, the parasympathetic nervous system will kick in, telling the body to relax.
Chronic Stress
If you are in danger, all of these physiological responses are protective and helpful. In less extreme circumstances, the reactions provided through the sympathetic nervous system can help energize us to meet deadlines, to compete in sporting events, or to give us the extra push we need to complete difficult tasks.
These days, many of us do not experience the need to run from bears on a regular basis. When we are stressed by circumstances like sitting in traffic or having a kid throw a temper tantrum at the grocery store, we likely cannot fight or run away (as much as we might like to). And when we are left with these physical sensations we can’t release, we likely feel anxious and agitated.
The sympathetic nervous system fires up in case you ever meet this mama bear!
Photo credit: p.m. graham
Over time, chronic stress has an impact on the body from the effects of releasing hormones such as adrenaline that then have nowhere to go. Moreover, chronic stress keeps the HPA axis activated, so the body and brain never completely calm down. This ultimately can increase blood pressure, raising the risk of heart attacks or strokes, cause muscle pain, headaches, digestive issues, fertility problems, and weight gain. Chronic stress has been associated with dampening the immune system and leaving us more susceptible to a number of illnesses.
How Do We Combat Stress?
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines stress as "the reaction people may have when presented with demands and pressures that are not matched to their knowledge and abilities and which challenge their ability to cope." This definition suggests that feeling stressed has two main components 1) experiencing circumstances that tax our knowledge and abilities; and 2) feeling challenged in our ability to cope.
The reality is that stress is a normal factor of everyday life. We can’t get rid of it, especially since sometimes it helps us. The key is to manage stress more effectively so that we are not constantly flooded with physiological over-reactions to everyday stressors. There are a number of strategies that may be effective in helping us to calm our bodies and brains when we feel overwhelmed.
Decreasing Demands and Pressures
Based on the WHO definition, one way to manage stress certainly is to look for the places in our lives where stress can be reduced. Recognizing that this often is more easily said than done, it still can be worth taking inventory of our routines to determine whether we can reduce some pressures, even a little bit. Can a routine be altered so you don’t feel so rushed? Is there a task you can delegate to someone else? Do you need to ask someone for help? Is it possible to get a babysitter so you can take a night off?
Sometimes even a seemingly small change can add up to a lot of reduced pressure. When we feel overwhelmed, the body’s automatic responses often take over, making it very difficult to access our “thinking brain.” However, taking the time to stop and access the thinking parts of the brain that regulate our responses to stress is key. The thinking brain can’t engage unless we stop, take a breath (literally!), and begin to think through better strategies to reduce stressors. We start to do this by engaging the parasympathetic nervous system.
Engaging the Nervous System to Decrease Stress
While the sympathetic nervous system is responsible for revving up the body to respond to threats, the parasympathetic nervous system is responsible for calming everything back down. A major component of the parasympathetic nervous system is the vagus nerve, which runs from the brain down through to the abdomen. The longest cranial nerve, it impacts a wide array of organ systems.
When we feel very stressed and overwhelmed, an effective strategy to start calming down is to activate the vagus nerve, which tells the parasympathetic nervous system to begin doing its job of slowing down heart rate, breathing, and racing thoughts. Luckily for us and our awesome physiology, stimulating the vagus nerve can be so simple that Ferris Bueller already taught us how to do it!
Ferris Bueller taught us more than he realized about how to relax.
Photo credit: Daily Beast
A very simple way to stimulate the vagus nerve is with deep breathing. If you have trouble taking a deep breath, imitate Ferris and breathe while placing your hands behind your head as if you were stretched out on a beach chair. If deep breathing is comfortable for you, take a breath all the way down into your abdomen for a count of 5. Then slowly release the breath for a count of 6. Try this 4-5 times, placing your arms behind your head for a deeper breath if needed.
2. There is also evidence that singing, humming, and even gargling can help to stimulate the vagus nerve.
3. Splashing cold water on the face or the wrists may help to wake up the vagus nerve and activate the parasympathetic nervous system.
Relaxation Techniques
You can also calm your body and mind through a guided meditation exercise like this Safe and Peaceful Place visualization. This kind of exercise is meant to engage the senses in assisting the body and mind to relax and can be utilized for help with sleeping or before an especially stressful event like giving an important presentation at work.
Physical Activity
Movement can help to work the effects of stress out of the body. Deepening breathing and releasing muscle tension can lessen the impact of chronic stress. Practices such as yoga and tai chi, which combine motion with deep breathing and mental focus, can be especially helpful. However, it might be most important to find an activity that’s also fun for you. You’re more likely to engage in an activity if it’s fun, and this is also good for your emotional health.
Socializing and Laughing
Emotional support - knowing we have others who will listen and who we can lean on - is an important protective factor in alleviating stress. Building a network of support is key for emotional and also for practical support when we really need to ask for help with a task.
But our support network isn’t just there for the serious times. There’s also good evidence that having fun and laughing relieves tension, stimulates multiple organ systems, decreases stress hormones, and may even activate the vagus nerve, strengthening your parasympathetic nervous system response.
There is no magic way to get rid of stress, but finding the strategies that work for you are key to managing the effects stress has on your body and mind. Want to talk with someone about more effectively coping with stress? You don’t have to do this alone.
