Do you remember a time while you felt stressed before a giant life event and then felt like a burden had been lifted off your shoulders? This process – an intensification of the stress response and then a sense of cessation – indicates the end of the “stress cycle.”
Some stresses in on a regular basis life can’t be avoided. But remaining stressed is unhealthy. Chronic stress increases chronic diseasesincluding heart disease, stroke and diabetes. This also can lead to burnout or burnout depression.
Exercise, cognitive, creative, social and self-soothing activities help us take care of stress in healthier ways and end the stress cycle.
What does the stress cycle seem like?
Scientists and researchers speak about the “stress response,” often specializing in the fight or flight response. The term “stress cycle” was popularized by: self-help experts however it has a scientific basis.
The stress cycle is our body’s response to a stressful event, real or perceived, physical or mental. It could possibly be chasing a mad dog, an upcoming exam, or a difficult conversation.
The stress cycle consists of three stages:
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scene 1 sees a threat
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stage 2 is the fight or flight response, fueled by the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol
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stage 3 it’s relief that features physiological and psychological relief. This ends the stress cycle.
Different people will react to stress in another way depending on their life experiences and genetics.
Unfortunately, many individuals experience this quite a few and continuous stressors beyond their control, including the cost of living crisis, extreme weather events and home abuse.
Staying in stage 2 (flight or escape response) can lead to chronic stress. Chronic stress and high cortisol levels can increase inflammationwhich damages our brain and other organs.
When you are stuck in chronic fight or flight mode, you do not think clearly and develop into more easily distracted. Activities that provide momentary pleasure, reminiscent of eating unhealthy food or drinking alcohol, are unhelpful strategies that don’t reduce the impact of stress on our brain and body. Scrolling through social media can be not an efficient way to end the stress cycle. In fact, it involves increased response to stress.
Stress and the brain
There could also be chronically high levels of cortisol in the brain shrink the hippocampus. So possibly impair an individual’s memory and their ability to think and concentrate.
Chronic high cortisol too reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex but increases activity in the amygdala.
The prefrontal cortex is answerable for higher-order control over our thoughts, behaviors, and emotions focused on the goal and rational. The amygdala is involved in reflex and emotional responses. Higher activity in the amygdala and lower activity in the prefrontal cortex explains why we’re less rational and more emotional and reactive once we are stressed.
There are five of them varieties of activities which will help our brain end the stress cycle.
1. Exercise – its own full stress cycle
When we exercise, there’s a short-term increase in cortisol levels, followed by: healthy reduction in cortisol and adrenaline.
Exercise too increases the level of endorphins and serotoninthat improve your mood. Endorphins cause a sense of pleasure, often called a “runner’s high.” anti-inflammatory effect.
During exercise, blood flow to the brain increases and higher activity in the prefrontal cortex. That’s why you may often think more clearly after a walk or run. Exercise generally is a helpful way to do that relieve the feeling of stress.
Exercise also can increase volume With hippocampus. This is related to higher short- and long-term memory processing, in addition to reduced stress, depression and anxiety.
2. Cognitive activities – limit negative pondering
Excessively negative pondering can trigger or lengthen the stress response. In our 2019 study, we found that there’s a link between stress and cortisol stronger in individuals with more negative pondering.
This can lead to higher amygdala activity and less rational pondering when you’re stressed distorted pondering reminiscent of specializing in the negatives and rigid “black and white” pondering.
Actions to reduce negative pondering and promote a more realistic view can reduce the stress response. In clinical settings this is usually called cognitive-behavioral therapy.
At home, this could possibly be keeping a journal or writing down your worries. This engages the logical and rational parts of our brain and helps us think more realistically. Finding evidence to challenge negative thoughts (“I prepared well for the exam, so I’ll do my best”) will help end the stress cycle.
Photo Shutterstock/Fellers
3. Creativity – the way out of “flight or fight”
Creative activities may include art, crafts, gardening, or cooking other activities reminiscent of solving puzzles, juggling, music, theater, dancing or simply being absorbed in enjoyable work.
The variety of such pursuits is increasing activity of the prefrontal cortex and promote flow and focus.
There is flow a state of complete involvement in an activity you enjoy. Reduces high stress levels of norepinephrine, the brain’s adrenaline. When you’re this focused, your brain only processes information relevant to the task and ignores irrelevant information, including stress.
4. Social contacts and the release of feel-good hormones
Talking to another person, being physically affectionate with an individual or animal, and laughing can increase oxytocin levels. It’s a chemical messenger in the brain that strengthens social bonds and makes us feel connected and secure.
Laughter can be a social activity prompts parts limbic system – the a part of the brain involved in emotional and behavioral responses. It’s increasing endorphins AND serotonin and improves our mood.
5. Self-soothing
Respiratory exercises and meditation stimulate the parasympathetic nervous system (which calms our stress responses so we are able to “reset”) through the vagus nerves and reduce cortisol.
Good crying will help too releasing stress energy and increasing oxytocin and endorphin levels.
Emotional tears additionally they remove cortisol and the hormone prolactin from the body. Our previous research has shown cortisol AND prolactin were related to depression, anxiety and hostility.
Shutterstock/Jaromir Chalabala
Action is best than distraction
Whether you watch a funny or sad movie, exercise, journal, work in the garden or do a puzzle, science explains why it’s best to end the stress cycle.
Performing no less than one positive activity day by day also can reduce our baseline stress levels and is useful for good mental health and well-being.
Importantly, chronic stress and burnout may indicate the need for change, as in our workplaces. However, not all stressful circumstances could be easily modified. Remember that assistance is at all times available.
If you may have concerns about stress or health, talk to your doctor.
