As defined by the National Institute of Mental Health, stress is “the brain’s response to any demand.” While stress is most commonly seen as a negative, given the definition, it is merely a response. The intensity, duration, and treatment of the stress ultimately determines its connotation. Typically, the most harmful type of stress is chronic stress. This occurs when the causes of the stress are prolonged over long periods of time. The continuous stress becomes detrimental, having significant effects on both the body and mind.
Stress can be caused by a variety of factors, and each of those factors affect people in different ways. According to the 2017 Stress in America survey conducted by the American Psychological Association, the most common causes of stress in adults were the future of the nation, work, money, the current political climate, and violence/crime. However, this differs from the causes in teenagers. The most common causes of stress in teenagers include social pressure, academics, family issues, and finances.
In the normal stress response, the amygdala, which is an area of the brain that aids in emotional processing, sends distress signals to the hypothalamus. The hypothalamus is essentially the command center, and is the link between the brain and the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is responsible for involuntary movements of the body, such as breathing, heartbeat, and digestion. Within the autonomic nervous system are the sympathetic nervous system and the parasympathetic nervous system. The sympathetic nervous system triggers the “fight or flight” response, and supplies the body with a rush of energy to deal with the incoming dangers or stress. The parasympathetic nervous system triggers the “rest and digest” response, which relaxes and calms the body down.
When stress is perceived by the amygdala, hypothalamus activates the sympathetic nervous system, which stimulates the adrenal glands to release epinephrine into the bloodstream. This hormone brings about an onslaught of physiological changes; faster heartbeat, increased pulse and blood pressure, increased breathing rate, enhanced sight and hearing, and a burst of energy due to the release of glucose and fats from storage sites in the body. After the epinephrine levels subdue, the HPA axis is activated by the hypothalamus. The HPA axis is a secondary stress response system that consists of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands, and keeps the sympathetic nervous system activated. Persistent danger causes the hypothalamus to start a chain reaction of hormone release, traveling through the pituitary gland and ending with the adrenal glands releasing cortisol. Cortisol causes the body to stay on high alert during moments of stress, and after the stress is gone, the cortisol levels lower. This is followed by the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and the relaxation of the body.
During acute stress, cortisol and epinephrine levels subside eventually, and the body is able to function normally. However, during chronic stress, the parasympathetic nervous system remains activated, and continuously releases cortisol and epinephrine. When epinephrine surges continue, blood vessels become damaged and blood pressure remains elevated, which can ultimately lead to strokes and heart attacks. Persistent cortisol levels can cause weight gain due to people eating more to obtain more energy. In general, chronic stress can severely impair brain function, killing brain cells, disrupting synapse regulation, and even reducing the size of the brain. Specifically, the size of the prefrontal cortex can diminish, which is responsible for memory and learning. In addition, the size of the amygdala increases, making the brain more susceptible to stress. In order to avoid all these negative effects, stress needs to be managed properly and efficiently.
One of the easiest and most effective ways to manage stress is to take a break from the stressor. Whether it be an upcoming work or school deadline, or loud children, giving yourself time to think about something else can be really helpful. Even if it is something as simple as taking a shower for twenty minutes, taking a break may offer you a new perspective or help you feel less overwhelmed. Exercise is another good way to cope with stress. A short walk or run can have an immediate stress-relieving effect that can last for a few hours. A Harvard article Exercising to Relax states, “The mental benefits of aerobic exercise have a neurochemical basis. Exercise reduces levels of the body's stress hormones, such as adrenaline and cortisol. It also stimulates the production of endorphins, chemicals in the brain that are the body's natural painkillers and mood elevators.” There are plenty of studies that prove the positive impact that exercise has on relieving stress.
Anxiety, defined by Dr. Tanja Jovanovic, is “the mind and body's reaction to stressful, dangerous, or unfamiliar situations. It's the sense of uneasiness, distress, or dread you feel before a significant event.” Anxiety is the way we perceive situations that may interfere with our state of normality. People can experience ordinary anxiety that can come and go day to day, or anxiety disorders, which can cause distress to a person’s lifestyle. A study conducted by the Anxiety and Depression Association of America reviewed that “Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, or 18.1% of the population every year.” Though anxiety disorders are highly treatable and are manageable by medical help, only 36.9% of Americans receive treatment.
Anxiety can branch to other disorders like PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), Panic Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder, Phobias, and more
Many factors can contribute to one’s inference and level of anxiety. These may include: genetics, comorbidities, environmental factors, medical condition, behavioral choices, demographics, etc. Environmental factors and behavioral choices are the most common causes of generalized anxiety disorder. Environmental factors can be attributed to where you live and where you work/study and behavioral factors that cause anxiety can be caused by social factors, relationships, etc.
The brain is split up into two parts: a cognitive part and an emotional part. The frontal lobe connects our thoughts, experiences, and ideas all together. This is where the cognitive part is located. In the deeper part of the brain is where the amygdala is located causes the emotional response. Due to this, we only feel anxiety when the signals from the amygdala overpower the frontal lobe. The dorsal anterior cingulate cortex, located in the frontal lobe, creates fearful signals which come from the amygdala. For example, when a person with an anxiety disorder is shown images of scary sceneries, the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and the amygdala produce palpable anxiety, whereas a response would not occur with a person who does not have an anxiety disorder. Another part of the frontal lobe called the ventromedial prefrontal cortex mutes signals coming from the amygdala. Patients who have damage to this part of the brain are more likely to have anxiety disorders.
Managing anxiety is harder because unlike stress, a lot of the causing factors are internal and harder to take a break from. The best way to help cope with anxiety is practicing a healthy lifestyle in which you eat healthily, exercise, or even practice yoga. However, this can be really difficult for a lot of people to get in the routine of doing every day. One easy thing you can do to help manage anxiety is taking a moment to focus on breathing. When you are anxious, breathing generally becomes faster and shallower, so by taking a moment to focus on taking some deep breaths, you are not only turning your attention to something else, but also regaining a healthy breathing pace. Another helpful method for coping with anxiety is planning worry time. Throughout the day, try not to think about things that make you anxious, and then for ten minutes at the end of the day, allow yourself to write down or go over whatever is making you worried in your head. This prevents the anxious thoughts from taking over throughout the rest of the day. These methods, while helpful, are not treatments, so if you are experiencing severe symptoms of anxiety, consider consulting your doctor.
While Stress and Anxiety may appear to be very similar, it is important to highlight the difference between simple stress and anxiety. As explained by the New York Times in The Difference Between Stress, Worry, and Anxiety, stress is a natural response to a threat or stressor, while anxiety is the same thing, except there is no threat. A good example of this in the article is, “...you show up at work and somebody gives you an off look. You start to have all the physiology of a stress response because you’re telling yourself that your boss is upset with you, or that your job might be at risk. The blood is flowing, the adrenaline is pumping, your body is in a state of fight or flight — but there is no predator in the bushes.” The key difference is that when you are stressed, there is a direct correlation with a stressor that is and should be causing you to feel stressed, while anxiety is when you feel worried about something that is not a threat, but your mind perceives it as one.
Works Cited
American Psychological Association. Five Tips to Help Manage Stress. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.apa.org/topics/manage-stress
Bernstein, R. (2019, January 4). The Mind and Mental Health: How Stress Affects the Brain. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.tuw.edu/health/how-stress-affects-the-brain/
Beyond Blue. “Anxiety Management Strategies” Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/anxiety/treatments-for-anxiety/anxiety-management-strategies
Bhandari, S. (2018, April 16). What Causes Anxiety? 14 Things That Can Make You Feel Anxious. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.webmd.com/anxiety-panic/guide/causes-anxiety
Elizabeth. (2019, December 4). Top 10 Most Common Causes of Stress in Teens. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://halecraze.com/common-causes-of-stress-in-teens/
Facts & Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2020, from
Harvard Health Publishing. (2018, May 1). Understanding the stress response. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/understanding-the-stress-response
Holland, K. (2020, February 13). Anxiety: Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and More. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.healthline.com/health/anxiety
Harvard Health Publishing. (2018, July 13). Exercising to Relax . Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/exercising-to-relax
Jovanovic, T. (2019, November 12). Anxiety " What Is Anxiety? Signs, Causes, Symptoms. Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.anxiety.org/what-is-anxiety
The New York Times. (2020, February 26) “The Difference Between Worry, Stress, and Anxiety” Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/26/smarter-living/the-difference-between-worry-stress-and-anxiety.html
What Part of the Brain Deals With Anxiety? What Can Brains Affected by Anxiety Tell us? (n.d.). Retrieved May 22, 2020, from https://www.brainfacts.org/diseases-and-disorders/mental-health/2018/what-part-of-the-brain-deals-with-anxiety-what-can-brains-affected-by-anxiety-tell-us-062918
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