The Paradox of Stress

That which does not kill us, makes us stronger - (Friedrich Nietzsche)
​
...provided we get enough recovery - (Wellness Garage)

Chronic stress can play a central role in the development and progression chronic disease and ill health.

But stress is not all bad

Let’s consider the paradox of stress

Protection and damage are the two contrasting sides of physiological processes that defend our bodies against the challenges of daily life, whether or not we call them “stressors.”

We respond to stress in two ways:

1. The immediate physiological response that allows us to better cope with the situation at hand
2. The adaptation response that allows us to get stronger.

Our bodies are designed to respond to a challenge (or stress) by

1. turning ON a complex adaptive physiological response that allows the body to cope and
2. then turning OFF the response once the stress has passed

This process is called allostasis – the ability to achieve stability through change.

Your response to a stressor is determined by many factors:

• Environmental stressors
• Major life events
• Trauma, abuse
• Individual differences
• Behavioral responses

ALL of which determine the extent of your physiological response.

​

Over time allostatic load can accumulate OR the individual can adapt.

​The immediate stress response is mediated by two systems:

• The sympathetic nervous system – which delivers the immediate response through adrenaline
• The hypothalamic – pituitary axis – which delivers an intermediate response through the hormone cortisol

When a situation is perceived as stressful – the hypothalamus sends signals to activate both stress responses.

The hypothalamus signals the inner part of the adrenal gland to release adrenaline and which activates the sympathetic nervous system, resulting in:

• Increased heart rate
• Increased blood pressure
• Redistributing blood to the muscles
• Maximizing blood glucose by enhancing the release of glucose from glycogen in the liver
• Increasing the release of free fatty acids from fat tissue

The effect is immediate and is experienced as the adrenaline rush.

The hypothalamus also releases a hormone CRH which activates the pituitary gland to secrete adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) the hormone that stimulates the outer part of the adrenal gland to produce cortisol.

Cortisol enables the body to maintain steady supplies of blood sugar for a more prolonged stress.

Adequate and steady blood sugar levels help person to cope with prolonged stressor, and helps the body to return to normal.

Cortisol does this by:

• Increasing production of glucose in the liver from the breakdown of glycogen
• Promoting gluconeogenesis
• A process that generates glucose from non-carbohydrate substrates - turning fats and proteins into glucose
• Counteracting insulin’s effect
• Increasing appetite
• Increasing food seeking behaviour

Once the stress is over the body recovers by:

• Turning down the sympathetic nervous system
• Activating the parasympathetic nervous system
• Turning off the cortisol response

Every system of the body responds to acute challenge with allostasis leading to adaptation.

When these acute responses are overused or inefficiently managed, allostatic overload results.

There are 4 patterns to the accumulation of allostatic load:

1. Repeated "hits" from multiple novel stressors
2. Lack of adaptation
3. Prolonged response due to delayed shut down
4. Inadequate response that leads to compensatory hyperactivity of other mediators: e.g., inadequate secretion of glucocorticoid, resulting in increased levels of cytokines that are normally counter-regulated by glucocorticoids.​​

---

Remember, three factors largely determine individual responses to potentially stressful situations:

1. The way a person perceives the situation
2. The degree of recovery from previous stress
3. The person's general ability to recover from stress – largely determined by their general state of physical health, which is in turn determined by lifestyle behaviors

So the key to avoiding the damaging effects of stress is to:

1. Decrease situations that are stressful
2. Change your perception of what situations are stressful
3. Enhance your ability to recover

This is why developing stress tolerance is one of our 6 pillars of health

Strategies like meditation, yoga, mindfulness, hobbies and anything that brings you into flow can help both the recovery and the perception of stress.

Other strategies like ‘stress audits’ can help you identify the areas of life within your control that are causing you stress.  Decisions can then be made to alter or avoid these particular situations.

Changing your perception of a stressful situation is one of the most powerful ways to develop stress tolerance.

Katie Byron has a process called “The Work” in which she walks you through a process that has you answering 4 questions about the situation:

Developing a strategy to tolerate stress is a key part of maintaining health - what is your strategy?