How Stress Affects The Brain

I came across an article a few days ago. It sheds some light on the effects of chronic stress and how it changes our brains. I thought I would share.

Stress is a familiar and unavoidable part of daily life. It comes in many forms from juggling family, work, commitments if you’re going to school.and in dealing with issues like health money, and relationships.

There is a thing called “bad stress” it’s for your mind and body. It can lead to physical symptoms such as headaches, and chest pain. It can also produce mood problems such as anxiety or sadness. It can lead to problems such as outbursts of anger or overeating.

What people might not know is that stress can also have a serious impact on our brains. When we are faced with stress, our brains go through a series of reactions -some good and some bad which are designed to mobilize and protect itself from potential threats.

Sometimes stress can sharpen the mind and improve the ability to remember details about what is happening. But it can also have negative effects on the brain, such as contributing to mental illness and actually shrinking the volume of the brain.

While we sometimes assume that facing stressful challenges makes us stronger, there is evidence that suggests that prolonged stress can have serious adverse effects on your brain health. It can increase out susceptibility to mental illness, alter brain structure, destroy neurons, shrink brain volume, and impact learning and cognition. By understanding more about how stress affects the brain, we can take steps to manage stress in our lives abs help prevent or even maybe undo some of the damage.

Scientists have found that chronic stress plays a major role in the onset of many psychiatric conditions, including post-traumatic stress disorder and manic-depressive illness (bipolar disorder).

Stress indicates that chronic stress results in long-term changes in the brain. These changes might help explain why those who experience chronic stress are also prone to mood and anxiety disorders later in life.

Stress night plays a role in the development of mental disorders such as depression and various emotional disorders.

In a study, researchers have performed a series of experiments looking at the impact of chronic stress on the brain. They found that chronic stress creates more of what’s called “myelin-producing cells but fewer neutrons than normal. This disruption interferes with the timing and balance of communication. They also found that stress can also have negative effects on the brain’s hippocampus (which is located deep in the brain hidden in the temporal lobe).

Imaging studies have indicated that stress can disrupt the body’s serotonin and dopamine systems which may play a part in mental disorders such a depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and mood disorders, etc…

An important part of the brain known aw gray matter is responsible for higher-order thinking such as decision-making and problem-solving. But the brain also has what matter which is made up of axons that connect with other regions of the brain to communicate information.

When chronic stress leads to an overproduction of “myelin” it doesn’t just result in short-term change in the balance between white and gray matter. It can also lead to lasting changes in the brain’s structure.

It’s important to remember that not all stress affects the brain and neutrons in the same way. Good stress (the type that helps us perform) helps us wire the brain in a positive way and leads too stronger brain networks and greater resilience.

However chronic stress can lead to an array of problems. Where good stress contributes to greater resilience, chronic stress is more likely to increase our susceptibility to mental issues later on.

Stress kills brain cells. In addition to changing the structure of the brain, the hormones that our bodies release when we are stressed cab destroy the neurons in our brain, particularly those that have been newly formed.

Stress doesn’t just affect the development of brain cells, it can also shrink it’s overall brain volume. Even it were healthy, stress can lead to shrinkage in the brain and is associated with regulating emotions, metabolism and memory.

When we are constantly exposed to high levels of cortisol, there’s a rick we might experience shrinkage in brain volume in our hippocampus and prefrontal cortex.

Studies have shown that in people with memory and thinking problems there is higher cortisol levels and lose greater brain volume.

People often associate adverse outcomes with sudden, intense stress created by life-altering events such as natural disasters, car accidents, or death of a loved one research suggests everyday stress that we all face over time, can contribute to a wide range of mental disorders.

Chronic, everyday stress seems to have little impact on brain volume on it’s own but may make people more vulnerable to brain shrinkage when faced the intense traumatic stressors.

Exposure to prolonged stress can make it more challenging for people to meet the demands of future stressors.

If you’ve ever experienced a stressful event and found that your memory for the details to be a bit fuzzy, it’s because sometimes stress can make events difficult to remember. We see this when a crime has occurred and the witnesses are confused about the details they have seen.

But, not all stress is created equal. Feeling a bit nervous before you give a presentation at work may help you perform better. But you much stress or stress that happens when you are trying to learn something can be harmful.

Knowing how stress affects our bodies can help us manage them. Knowledge is power.