‘Don’t Stress’: Guidance and Handbook

STRESS MIGHT MAKE YOU WANT TO PULL YOUR HAIR OUT BUT IT COULD BE MORE SERIOUS!

In the late 1980’s my team at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide won a research grant to study the relationship between Lifestyle and Fertility. We called the study ‘The ‘PALS’ Pregnancy and Lifestyle Study.’ My book It Takes Two describes the study (to which we recruited 1,000 couples) and its results. But today I just want to talk about stress. At the end of the PALS study, I felt that we had explained most causes of miscarriage but we could not explain why many healthy women with excellent nutrition, were infertile?

Martial Arts to the Rescue?

Desperate to find a solution, I suggested to one person that she might undertake a martial arts exercise program. The result was that after attending a few MA sessions, she became pregnant! I then suggested the same thing to several more women with the same amazing result!

I admit that I had been inspired to suggest ‘martial arts’ by my own experience of attending a couple of Kung Foo classes. In the first class, the instructor, who incidentally was a doctor, asked me to punch him. But I found I couldn’t. I would start the punch but as soon as I became close to him, I would withdraw. We tried many times until finally I was able to complete my first full punch of some object he was holding. The effect on me was nothing less than ‘orgasmic’!

I suddenly felt a huge outrushing of a tension from my whole body that I had no idea I had been holding! And that I believe is also the reason that these healthy (but somewhat stressed) women became pregnant after taking up martial arts.

Martial Arts can release stress effectively – make sure it’s consensual!

Soon after, I started giving many talks to businesswomen’s groups about releasing stress. The essence of my current talk is summarised clearly in the slides of the talk that are illustrated in the ‘Don’t Stress’ Handbook’. You can obtain this very inexpensively through Amazon and it will help you track your progress.

This booklet of (informative) ‘slides’ explains in simple language how our stress hormones are regulated. It also provides a list of practical stress-reducing actions we can take. These range from exercise to nutrient and water intake. The booklet also outlines many of the behavioural and lifestyle choices we can make to reduce and even avoid stress.

I do agree with many other advisors that meditation and mindfulness are extremely helpful as positive lifestyle choices to reduce stress. However, I think they are ‘advanced’ practices to be undertaken after acute stress has been overcome. An acutely stressed person cannot usually settle down to quiet practices but can much more easily participate in an activity that involves action. Equally, talking to friends can help you feel less alone but often this just encourages you to dwell on the stress rather than release its negative effects.

I started this article by mentioning the effect of stress on female fertility but probably the two most common and obvious effects of stress are on brain function and on the gut-brain axis.

Direct effects of stress on the brain

We all know that we don’t feel mentally well when we are very stressed but since the neuronal systems it affects are part of the brain, the effects can be profound (these are summarised quite simply in the Don’t Stress Handbook) but here is a summary of what can occur:

The Brain might undergo some physical changes:

In the Hippocampus, a region of the brain that is critical for memory formation and learning, high levels of cortisol can damage neurons, leading to difficulties with memory and cognitive function. When cortisol levels are elevated for a prolonged period, this can lead to cognitive impairments and increase the risk of long term neurodegenerative diseases!

In the region of the brain known as the Prefrontal Cortex, stress can also reduce the brain’s volume and connectivity, which is responsible for higher-order functions such as decision-making, attention, and self-control! This can result in impaired cognitive abilities and poor decision-making.

The amygdala, the brain region involved in emotional regulation and fear responses, can become hyperactive due to chronic stress. The resultant increased brain activity can lead to feelings of anxiety and fear, making it even harder to manage stress effectively.

As well as the physical changes, stress can disrupt the balance of neurotransmitters like dopamine and serotonin, which are crucial for mood regulation, motivation, and overall well-being. An imbalance in dopamine and serotonin is common in mood disorders such as depression and anxiety. In the longer term neuroinflammation may also lead to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

Chronic stress can also increase the release of glutamate, an excitatory neurotransmitter. Excess glutamate can lead to ‘excitotoxicity’, and as a result can damage or kill neurons and impair cognitive function.

Neurogenesis and Synaptic Plasticity

Under normal conditions, the brain is constantly repairing itself, but this repair might also be impaired by stress:

Stress can inhibit the production of new neurons (neurogenesis) in the hippocampus. Reduced neurogenesis can impair learning and memory processes. In addition, stress can also affect synaptic plasticity which is the brain’s ability to strengthen or weaken synapses in response to learning and experience. Impaired synaptic plasticity can hinder learning and memory. In the longer term, chronic stress can trigger inflammation in the brain.

If not addressed, Stress can lead to a self-enhancing Pathology!

Memory and Attention: Stress can impair working memory and reduce attention span. This makes it harder to concentrate, learn new information, and recall previously learned information.

Decision-Making: Stress can lead to more impulsive decision-making and a preference for immediate rewards over long-term benefits. This can affect personal and professional life decisions.

Emotional Regulation: Increased stress can make it harder to regulate emotions, leading to mood swings, irritability, and emotional instability.

The Gastrointestinal tract is also affected. There may be direct effects such as diarrhoea and/or constipation or just an increased tendency to make poor food choices. Irregular meals can also lead to a variety of illnesses.

Sleep Disruption is also common: Stress can interfere with sleep patterns, leading to insomnia and poor sleep quality. Poor sleep further exacerbates stress and negatively affects cognitive function, creating a vicious cycle!

If you are interested in help answering any specific questions on any of these or related topics, please contact me here.

How to Mitigate the Effects of Stress on the Brain

Buried under paperwork – symbolic of of being overwhelmed by too many tasks!

Here is my personal list of stress releasing exercises that have worked for me at times of incredible pressure:

1. Cry, howl if you can and cry for as long as possible. Starting to cry might be difficult. You can buy eye drops that will help you create more tears but usually some emotional trigger is necessary to start the tears. Certain scenes in films and passages of music are usually good triggers but you may have to think back to something that made you very sad when you were young to get your tears flowing? If you can cry for many hours (or even days) you will find that you feel amazingly released.
2. Undertake some stress releasing exercise, such as martial arts, punching, kicking or at least some active aerobic exercise to release the chemicals that have built up in your body.
3. Eat healthy food – this should include Omega 3 fatty acids, nuts and seeds but possibly most importantly LECITHIN! You will find lecithin in runny egg yolks – otherwise buy some granules and add them to your food.
4. Avoid ALL loud noise! Not only is it stressful but it breaks your DNA.
5. Drink at least five glasses of water each day. Adequate hydration is critical for recovering from stress.
6. Sleep in the dark and quiet if you can. If you can’t sleep you might find a herbal tea or equivalent will help. A little alcohol is fine but too much will have the opposite effect.
7. Social Support: Strong social connections and support networks can help buffer the negative effects of stress on the brain but don’t be concerned if at the start you would prefer to be alone! 

TAKE YOUR TIME TO HEAL!