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  • Q&A with Australian Health Practitioners

    What is going on in my body when I experience stress?

    Related Topics
    Mental Health Stress Management
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    Penny Bell

    Counsellor, Psychotherapist

    Penny holds a Masters degree in Counselling from the University of New England, a Graduate Diploma from Wesley Institute, an Advanced Diploma in Counselling and … View Profile

    The feelings we experience of anxious arousal which we call stress are an effect of the “fight or flight” response which our bodies use to prepare us to run from danger or stay and fight. Of course the kinds of events that trigger this response in us in this day and age, unless we are living on the African savannah, don't involve a threat from an enemy or predator, but rather a psychological threat - for example, the threat of stumbling over one's lines during public speaking.  As soon as the stress response is triggered, stress hormones cortisol and adrenaline are released, and our heart and respiration rates increase, fats and sugars are released into the bloodstream to provide instant energy, our blood flow is diverted away from organs like our stomach and into our brain and large muscles to enable us to think on our feet and run, we perspire, and our immune system is suppressed.   If the stress response is triggered for a short period - as it would be on the savannah, because once we have escaped the lion we can go back to grazing in peace - then we recover quickly and no harm is done.  But if the stress continues for a long period of time, then we can find ourselves in hot water health-wise, with the fats and sugars staying in our blood leading to diabetes and cardiovascular disease, the suppression of our immune response leading to susceptibility to infection, and long exposure to cortisol increasing the likelihood of osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, weight gain and mood disorders.  Because of this it is important to have some stress reduction strategies up our sleeves, and these can include relaxation exercises, rethinking our appraisal of events, structured problem solving, regular exercise, restoring normal sleep patterns, and reducing alcohol and caffeine consumption.

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  • Brigitte Safrana

    Counsellor, Hypnotherapist

    I created Surfing The Blues and Surfing The Baby Blues Counselling & Hypnotherapy services in order to help individuals and couples restore balance in their … View Profile

    When we experience stress the body produces different kind of hormones such as norepinephrine and cortisol.  We need these hormones to function and at normal levels they are in fact indipensable for our optimum functioning.
    However, in greater levels such as in chronic anxiety the same hormones stop us to be fully functional as we experience irrational feelings and emotions on a more or less constant level that mobilize energy from storage to muscles, increase the heart rate and blood pressure and can eventually shut down metabolic processes such as digestion, reproduction, growth and immunity. 

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    Dr Alexandra Bloch-Atefi

    Counsellor, Psychotherapist

    I am a qualified holistic counsellor & trained psychotherapist practicing in Melbourne, Australia. I specialise in stress management for women, offering one-on-one counselling sessions and … View Profile

    The concept of stress was first applied to a physiological state of arousal by Canon (1914), who proposed that for an organism to function at optimal level it must possess the ability to maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis). Any force which acted to disturb the homoeostatic state was defined as a stressor.

    The stress response is a complex physiological event which results in metabolic, neuroendocrine and behavioural changes. Stress is determined by “the balance between the perceived demands from the environment and the individual’s resources to meet those demands” (Frankenhaeuser, 1986; Lundberg, 1995).

    When the body feels threat or harm, the sympathetic nervous system becomes aroused to aid in the body’s ability to cope with difficulties. During this time the parasympathetic nervous system relinquishes control of the body so that the body is able to make a physical response to protect itself.

    The autonomic nervous system provides the rapid response to stress commonly known as the fight-or-flight response, engaging the sympathetic nervous system and withdrawing the parasympathetic nervous system, thereby enacting cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, renal, and endocrine changes.

    Once the brain has decided there’s a danger, the hypothalamus sends signals down the spinal cord to the pituitary gland at the bottom of the brain, telling it to produce more adrenaline and cortisol and release them into the bloodstream. These hormones speed up heart rate, breathing rate, blood pressure, and metabolism. Blood vessels widen to let more blood flow to large muscle groups, putting our muscles on alert. Pupils dilate to improve vision. The liver releases glucose to sustain muscular activity. Sweat is produced to cool the body and blood flow is regulated away from less important organs to the muscles to prepare for a fight (Payne, 2004, Benson, 2000).

    All of these physical changes prepare a person to react quickly and effectively to handle the pressure of the moment. Read more at STRESS – What happens on a physiological level?

    Hope that helps,
    Alexandra
    www.cmbb.com.au
    Melbourne Counselling, Prahran Counsellor: Alexandra Bloch-Atefi, PhD, VIC
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