How to Help Your Brain Manage Stress

Stress is a normal part of life. And a little bit of stress can actually be a good thing. For instance, when we lift weights, we are stressing our muscles, helping them to become bigger and stronger. Similarly, little bits of mental stress can help us become more skilled and resilient.

But too much of any type of stress can wreak havoc on our bodies and overall health. The following are the three main types of stress according to the American Psychological Association:

Acute Stress

Acute stress occurs suddenly and out of the blue. Your boss may throw you a big project to finish under a tight deadline. Or you just barely missed a bad car accident. For a short period of time you will experience an elevated heart rate and blood pressure and perhaps a migraine.

Episodic Acute Stress

These are like mini-crises that happen to some people on a fairly regular basis. Some people take on too much responsibility or are somehow overburdened in their life, and so they live in a constant state of tension.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress is the result of serious life problems that wear us down over months and years. There is really no let up with this type of stress. Chronic stress has been linked to heart disease and stroke.

The CDC reports that 2/3 of all ER visits are a result of stress. There are many physical effects on your body if the sympathetic nervous system (stress system) stays active such as your digestion slows down, food ferments in stomach, IBS issues, reflux, pain in body, and a decrease in your immune system along with several common mental health symptoms.

Cortisol is the bodies stress hormone. When your brain is exposed to prolonged periods of stress it unfortunately starts to hurt your brain in different ways.

The good news is that there are things you can do to help your brain heal itself:

1). Microcurrent Neurofeedback is a safe, noninvasive and effective way to calm your central nervous system down. My website has lots more information on this.

2). Diaphragmatic breathing - deep breathing from your diaphragm. You know you're doing this when your stomach goes out just a little.

3). Novel Movement - If you have the choice to either be inside or outside and take a walk - choose outside. Your eyes seeing the new scenery stimulates your brain in such a way that it helps your brain reduce the effects of cortisol.

4). Social connection - The opposite of cortisol is oxytocin which is the body's connection hormone. Social connection is essential and a great way to help reduce the negative effects of cortisol.

5). Omega 3 - Eat food that feeds your brain healthy things. Foods with Omega 3s are such things. Here are a few examples of such foods: some fish; flax seeds; walnuts; chia seeds; dark chocolate; blueberries.

If you have any questions about this or if you feel like you'd like more help managing the negative impact of stress, please reach out.