This Is Your Body on Stress

Stress is just your body's natural response to perceived danger. But what happens when your stress reaction never shuts off?

By Roger Cole

The hormone cortisol, acting alone and in combination with epinephrine and norepinephrine, supported Sally's fight-or-flight response in other ways. It stimulated her liver, muscles, and other organs to release extra fuel (glucose and glycogen) into her bloodstream, contributing to her strength and mental activity. It increased her pain tolerance so she didn't notice her cut, and it suppressed inflammation and swelling, a response that would have enabled her to keep going even if she had a more serious injury, like a sprained ankle.

Effects from a fight-or-flight response take a long time to wear off. Muscles that have tensed are left shortened and do not automatically go back to their former length. On the contrary, spinal reflexes make them contract if they begin to lengthen: After the danger has passed and the brain lets the muscles relax a little, the spinal cord immediately tells them to tense up again. At first, they go through a very rapid cycle of relaxing a little and then contracting, again and again. That's why Sally trembled after her scare was over. Eventually, the stretch reflex abates enough for the trembling to subside, but the muscles still don't settle back to their former resting length. They remain relatively short and tense until the reflex is reset by a relaxing experience, like the gentle, conscious stretching that occurs during a massage or a yoga session.

Muscles aren't the only part of the body slow to recover from a fight-or-flight reaction. Stress hormones remain in the bloodstream for quite a long time, and more may be released in response to memories of the danger. That's why Sally was not hungry for dinner after her fright (her digestive tract was still shut down) and why she had trouble falling asleep that evening (her brain was still highly activated).

Sally's story shows what can happen when we face acute, major stress. But what happens when we experience moderate stress repeatedly, day after day? Our bodies activate the same emergency systems, although to a lesser degree. Unfortunately, when invoked chronically, physiological responses that help us cope with danger can become dangerous themselves. Suppression of digestion can contribute to gastrointestinal problems, and promotion of high glucose levels in the blood may contribute to diabetes. Constricted blood vessels, a pounding heart, and rapid clotting can eventually lead to high blood pressure, heart disease, or stroke. Suppression of inflammation can also suppress the immune system, making us more susceptible to infection and possibly even cancer. Chronic stress can also lead to infertility, poor healing capability, and exhaustion.

Stress Busters

Luckily, there are lots of ways to reduce stress or even to head it off in the first place. They fall into three main categories: changing your situation, changing your attitude, and taking good care of yourself. Changing your situation—getting a new job, moving to a new neighborhood, or leaving an unhealthy relationship—can be very effective, but it's often not practical or even desirable. Changing your attitude—deciding you don't have to knock yourself out working overtime to prove your self-worth, for example, or deciding it's not your responsibility to make your partner change—can be very powerful, even life-transforming, because it puts you in control. When you realize you can choose how you react, many events you formerly found stressful may lose their power to push your buttons. Taking care of yourself—eating right, avoiding harmful drugs, exercising, making rest a priority, and scheduling time in pleasant environments with nice people—helps you recover from stress and keeps it from building up again.

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