Stress & It's Systems - Part One

I've yet to speak with a client where understanding the stress response and how it arises for them, hasn’t come up. Clients often come to sessions wondering why they react the way they do and how to react differently. Discussing and understanding the systems in the brain responsible for these reactions helps clients understand what's happening in these moments. It also helps us to learn how to gain more control in these moments, so I figured it would be a helpful topic for those who may struggle with understanding how to do so. 

The most commonly known stress responses are our fight-or-flight responses. Perhaps you've heard of them!? They're protective responses of a system in our brain that I'll be talking about today. This system is known as the "sympathetic nervous system". It's part of a bigger system in our brain known as the "autonomic nervous system". Something clients find helpful is understanding this system isn't designed for thoughtful decision-making. Instead, it's designed to be automatic and EXTREMELY fast to keep us safe from danger! Let me explain.

When in stressful circumstances (like encountering a bear in the woods, experiencing abuse, or being in a car accident) this system kicks in and causes you to react quickly to make you safe. It does NOT slow down to consider the consequences of your reaction.
It's only concern and responsibility in these moments is the safety of your mind and body.
To give you a better idea of the speed of this process, consider this: The brain receives the signal to use its fight-or-flight response even before it receives the signal that it's seen danger. This means our body responds to danger or threats before we even know we've seen them! This efficient process is fantastic if the danger is a bear or an abuser. However, it can make a person feel off balance and out of control, perhaps reacting in undesirable ways when the “bear” we encounter is everyday and ongoing stress (like family stuff or work).

The sympathetic nervous system can also respond to cues from the environment that remind a person of previously experienced harm. When we experience trauma, the brain recognizes these cues as something that causes harm or pain and reacts quickly to make us safe. It initiates a series of responses, including hormones being released to send signals to other parts of your brain and body, preparing your body to respond. Some changes you may notice as a result of this response can include:
PUPIL DILATION which lets in more light so you can see better.
BREATHING FASTER which lets more oxygen into the blood.
INCREASED HEART RATE so blood is redirected to important muscle groups needed for fighting or running away

Just to name a few, you may notice things like:
MUSCLES BECOMING TENSE (eg. shoulders, arms, legs, back, stomach, hands/fists)
SENSE OF URGENCY
ALERTNESS OR NUMBNESS
This can all be accompanied by a range of uncomfortable emotions and sensations.

Because the process is so quick and sometimes intense, it can feel uncontrollable. There are two things to keep in mind. First, though the experience of the fight-or-flight response is uncomfortable and sometimes distressing, it's an important part of the nervous system that helps us to survive. Secondly, though it's automatic and very fast at getting started, we aren’t helpless to its effects. It can be calmed by engaging, what’s known as, the “rest and digest” response. I will talk more about this system and how to engage it in future posts.

Til next time, 
Tanya Rae