​​STRESS: HOW IT AFFECTS THE BODY AND WHAT CAN BE DONE

​​STRESS: HOW IT AFFECTS THE BODY AND WHAT CAN BE DONE

The most important part of any treatment protocol is to reduce stress, the main culprit of systemic inflammation in the body and unattractive appearance. Let’s figure out what hormones are released under stress, how they affect the body and, of course, how to help yourself in moments of emotional tension.

🧬 STRESS NEUROCHEMISTRY

The reaction to stress begins in the brain. When you encounter something that can threaten your peace and safety (not only physical, but also emotional), eyes or ears (sensual organs) send information to the tonsils, brain area, part of the limbic system that comes into action in response to the threat.

Hypotalamus is a “command center”responsible for a lot of functions. It’s "in charge" of hunger and saturation, maintains body temperature, regulates sleep, and it’s also responsible for your relationship with others and aggression, and generally forms many emotions.

Hypotalamus is a part of the limbic system so it’s also responsible for informing the whole body about what emotion prevails now and how to respond to it. This area of the brain "connects" to the rest of the body through the autonomic nervous system, which controls such functions of the body as breathing, blood pressure, heartbeat, digestion, etc.

The frontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for logic, is also activated when a threat occurs. However, there is often no time for analysis, and the tonsil can "bypass" the frontal cortex. And if you are very scared, the amygdala simply turns off the upper layer of the brain, leaving you the opportunity to act only on the basis of primitive instincts. All these changes in the body occur in seconds. That's why in stressful and dangerous situations we are able to instantly respond to danger and save our lives.

🎭 WHAT IS CHRONIC STRESS

Chronic stress is a long-term state of stress. Women especially like to bring themselves endless nagging to their own appearance and qualities, tolerate a toxic partner, go to hateful work, regularly scroll through negative events in their heads.

The development of chronic stress is most susceptible to people with such unproductive qualities as inability to quickly switch from one thing to another; pessimism and negativity; laziness; excessive tendency to criticism and self-criticism.

Symptoms of chronic stress:

▪️Feeling of constant and continuous fatigue;

▪️Sociophobia and loss of social ties;

▪️Insomnia and other sleep disorders;

▪️Memory and concentration problems;

😖 ALL DISEASES FROM STRESS, OR ADRENAL EXHAUSTION

Our body is completely unsuitable to live in chronic stress without consequences. We are not able to resist stress for a long time without compromising health, and our sympathetic system cannot differentiate external threats, whether it's colliding with a bandit or focusing on thinking that you will be left without money/without work/without a man, etc.

Adrenal glands synthesize many hormones and it’s also responsible for adaptation to stress, regulate metabolic processes, etc. The function of the adrenal glands at the time of exhaustion is limited, which leads to disruption of many processes , as well as a sharp decrease in the level of glucocorticoid hormones, such as cortisol, due to the adequate level of which we wake up in the morning. You will start feeling weakness, lack of strength and energy, often this condition is accompanied by inflammation and pain in the joints and muscles.

Symptoms of adrenal exhaustion:

▪️ Strong craving for sweet/salty;

▪️ Emotional hypersensitivity, you literally take everything to heart;

▪️ Inability to concentrate, "fog" of consciousness;

▪️ Hypothyroidism;

▪️ Elevated temperature as a result of low aldosterone;

Conclusion: high cortisol (chronic stress) - bad, low (depletion phase) - even worse. The good news is that everything is being treated and restored, however, in the long term.

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