The Unwanted Biochemistry Behind The Stress Response

And why we don’t really want to overdo all that stress.

Granted, we do need a bit of stress in our lives to get things done. We humans weren’t built to be lazy slobs — we sometimes do need some form of pressure on us to get things done. Getting out of our comfort zones is always the first step to personal growth. We get some stressors in here and there to keep us on track, but too much stress isn’t good — whether it comes in the form of physical, psychological, emotional or financial stress. But too much pressure isn’t good for us at all.

Our bodies exhibit biochemical responses to stress. It is mentioned in an article by the Mayo Clinic that:

When you encounter a perceived threat — such as a large dog barking at you during your morning walk — your hypothalamus, a tiny region at your brain’s base, sets off an alarm system in your body. Through a combination of nerve and hormonal signals, this system prompts your adrenal glands, located atop your kidneys, to release a surge of hormones, including adrenaline and cortisol.

Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies. Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream, enhances your brain’s use of glucose and increases the availability of substances that repair tissues.

So what we’d have is an increased rate of hormone release from our adrenal glands, and these hormones include adrenaline and cortisol.

Now, the thrill seekers among us love to go on exhilarating adventures, such as riding on a roller coaster. The loops, inversions and G-forces generated during the ride will trigger an adrenaline response, such that we can get this sense of excitement at the end of the ride, which we also do know as an adrenaline rush. Our hearts are pumping and we’re wide awake. That’s the visible symptoms of what an adrenaline rush can do to us.

And of course, as parents of toddlers or babies can tell, an adrenaline rush for the baby is definitely not good for anyone’s bedtime. It’s neither good for the toddler nor for the parent. When a parent is trying to calm a toddler down to sleep, the last thing you want is for any disturbance to give that kid an adrenaline spike.

We’d find it terribly difficult to sleep when our hearts are pounding and our minds are racing — but that kind of sensation is more welcome when we’re on a roller coaster ride, because we’re out looking for that thrill or that excitement.

The thing is that all that excitement releases all these stress hormones. There’s a reason why roller coaster rides aren’t going to be too extensively long — joyride seekers would lose the thrill of being on the ride and would not really like all those stress hormones continuously being released into their bodies beyond a threshold concentration.

When we’re chronically stressed, our adrenal glands would be chronically releasing larger-than-usual quantities of adrenaline and cortisol into our blood.

Which, of course, inhibits our ability to sleep — and that’s why people who are chronically stressed also do find it difficult to get quality sleep.

But unfortunately, a lack of quality sleep can also result in elevated stress levels. It goes both ways.

Too much stress, and one cannot sleep properly. Insufficient sleep contributes to elevated stress.

It becomes a neverending vicious cycle. Hence mindfulness and meditation are some of the big buzzwords of today to remind ourselves not to get too stressed. We need to find proper ways to unwind and get the stress out of our systems.

When we’re releasing extra adrenaline into our blood, we’d end up with an elevated blood pressure. If our bodies are unable to regulate that pressure properly, we’d be looking at a potential link to hypertension.

Elevated cortisol increases the availability of glucose in the blood, and the last we knew about it, an elevated glucose concentration in the blood is the very definition of diabetes.

Now, cortisol also promotes the degeneration of collagen, so we could be seeing an accelerated aging process with the development of unwanted wrinkles, for instance:

And that’s just the physical side of things.

We haven’t even covered the emotional and the psychological parts of it yet, and these are also equally important because they’re part of what makes us human in the first place.

When we’re stressed, we end up having this idea of self-preservation. And that can be quite destructive in relationships, because we’d be thinking more about ourselves in a self-centred manner and be unable to care for others or even think from their perspective.

And that self-centredness will also affect our ability to think rationally or critically, especially when it is said that:

California educator and author Judy Willis said that stress can cause the amygdala — the region of the brain that regulates emotion — to work overtime, thereby hindering the ability of the prefrontal cortex to engage in critical thinking.

A stressed person tends to become much more self-centred and much less altruistic or caring, which is what the world doesn’t need more of in this present day and age.

But as the pandemic rages on, and the mental faculties of many people are challenged by the multifaceted stresses of life that come about from this pandemic, learning how to reach out to people in a non-threatening way can go a long way indeed — and it comes one full circle to getting out of one’s comfort zone yet again.

Because when we’re so overwhelmed by information, emotions or stress, we can’t really be expected to do the right things, can we?

Not to mention that oxidative stress can kick in more easily in addition to the mental stress:

Which can then lead to symptoms of premature aging beyond just the wrinkles:

But we have to learn to care. And help others find their stress release outlets too. That goes beyond how our adrenal glands respond already!

Do feel free to share this article and hit the “subscribe” button to get more updates about the economics and science concepts in nutrition and health, all deconstructed nicely for your convenient perusal!

Also do feel free to check out Dr J’s Mood & Relaxation set for managing stress! (Disclaimer: The above link is an affiliate link and I may receive commissions for any purchases made via the link.)