How to Identify the Effects of Stress on Your Body

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Nothing had changed. At least, I didn’t think so.

I was still eating the same foods—the same kinds, the same amounts. I was still exercising three days a week. I was still going to bed at the same time every night and waking up at the same hour. I still had the same workload.

Nothing had changed—at least, I didn’t think so. Yet, everything had changed, and I didn’t know why.

I was steadily gaining weight. I had frequent headaches and tense muscles. I was constantly exhausted. I couldn’t stay focused on the work I loved. I also was forgetful and couldn’t remember important things—like people’s names.

Everything had changed, and I didn’t know why.

Stress! That’s what changed. Stress! That’s what rocked my world.

It was a season of intense challenges coming at me from all sides—family, health, work. It wasn’t just one or two things . . . it felt never-ending.

I was feeling the effects of the stress on my body, but I didn’t understand what was going on inside of me.

What is Stress? 

The National Institute of Mental Health defines stress as “the brain’s response to any demand.” 

Cleveland Clinic’s definition of stress is “the body’s reaction to any change that requires an adjustment or response.”

Usually, we think of stress as something that is bad—like overeating, loss of sleep, or a racing heart—resulting from negative events such as sickness, loss of a job, or divorce. However, it is important to remember that stress and demands on our body can also be positive. For example, exercise could be experienced as a positive and healthy load placed on our body. A new job or a family vacation are exciting events that can also produce positive stress. Or, stress could also be a strong motivator to be productive and to reach that work deadline at the last minute.

How Does Stress Affect Our Brain?

Stress is a chain reaction that begins in the brain, therefore affecting it and the rest of our body. 

“When someone experiences a stressful event, the amygdala, an area of the brain that contributes to emotional processing, sends a distress signal to the hypothalamus,” Harvard Medical School explains. “This area of the brain functions like a command center, communicating with the rest of the body through the nervous system so that the person has the energy to fight or flee.”

It is now believed that, in addition to “fight” or “flight,” there are other possible brain reactions to acute stress. For example, someone may also “freeze” and not be able to respond or react or all. Others may “fawn” or cower down, “immediately moving to try to please a person to avoid any conflict.” (This is most often seen in victims of abuse.) 

This fight/flight response naturally leads to the outward signs of stress that we are most familiar with: rapid heart rate, heightened senses, adrenaline rush. This stress response mobilizes the body’s energy stores in order to respond to the threatening situation. On the other hand, the body’s freeze/fawn responses might be hypo-ventilation, low blood pressure, withdrawing, and drooping eyelids.

Next, the hormone cortisol is released. This hormone helps to restore all the energy that was used during the fight or flight response. The level of cortisol gradually decreases after a stressful event, and the body eventually returns to a normal state. 

That is the normal up and down chain reaction for “acute” stress.

Sometimes, however, the brain gets stuck in the fight/flight/freeze/fawn response. The cortisol levels in the brain remain high, which can have detrimental effects on one’s health.

This is when “acute” stress becomes “chronic.”

According to Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science, normal levels of cortisol are healthy and serve important functions:

• Restore balance after a stressful event

• Regulate blood sugar levels in cells

• Aid the brain’s hippocampus, where memories are stored and processed

On the other hand, high levels of cortisol wear down the brain’s ability to function properly. This type of chronic stress impairs brain function in several ways:

• Disrupts synapse regulation, which leads to a loss of desire for sociability and the avoidance of relationships and interaction with others. 

• Kills brain cells

• Reduces the size of the brain 

• Affects the prefrontal cortex of the brain responsible for memory and learning 

• Increases the size of the amygdala, making the brain more receptive to stress

“Cortisol is believed to create a domino effect that hard-wires pathways between the hippocampus and amygdala in a way that might create a vicious cycle by creating a brain that becomes predisposed to be in a constant state of fight-or-flight,” Christopher Bergland writes in Psychology Today. 

The following regions of the brain—hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, amygdala—all respond to acute and chronic stress. Research suggests that the morphology and chemistry of the brain are largely reversible if the chronic stress only lasts a few weeks. The brain has amazing neuroplasticity, with the ability to reform its neural pathways. However, long-term stress for many months and years may have lasting effects on the brain.

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Other Physical Symptoms of Stress

According to the Mayo Clinic, the effects of stress often go undetected. We may think that we are physically sick from illness, when our symptoms might actually be connected to our increased stress levels.

“You may think illness is to blame for that irritating headache, your frequent insomnia, or your decreased productivity at work. But stress may actually be the cause.”

Here are some of the common effects of stress:

It’s normal to have a few of these stress symptoms from time to time. However, an accumulation of symptoms, over a longer period of time, is especially detrimental to our health.

Regarding our eating behavior—intense, acute stress often leads to lack of appetite and reduced weight gain. (This is caused by the activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and the corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH).) Chronic stress, on the other hand, can lead to just the opposite—overeating and weight gain. (This is caused by the chronic release of glucocorticoids and neuropeptide Y.) 

Research also shows that stress may be the cause of bringing on or worsening certain physical symptoms and diseases. Stress is linked to six major causes of death: heart disease, cancer, lung ailments, accidents, cirrhosis of the liver, and suicide.

“Chronic stress doesn’t just lead to impaired cognitive function. It can also lead to other significant problems, such as increased risk of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes. Other systems of the body stop working properly too, including the digestive, excretory and reproductive structures. Toxic stress can impair the body’s immune system and exacerbate any already existing illnesses.”

Looking back, I understand now what was happening during that season of intense stress and challenge that I faced a few years ago. I wasn’t crazy! Nothing had changed, yet, everything had changed. 

Stress had changed my brain and set off a chain reaction throughout my entire body.

Yes, everything had changed. 

I was in fight or flight mode during that season for too long . . . 

Photo by Joshua Earle on Unsplash

Now, I need to ask myself some questions: Did I come out of that stress? Did my cortisol levels finally decrease? Was my stress only acute or had it become chronic? 

Thankfully, I don’t have to stay “stuck” forever in this stress response. There are ways—some are even simple and easy—to begin breaking this vicious cycle. 

The first word that comes to mind is “self-care.” I can remember reading a number of great articles on how to take care of my needs—physical, emotional, mental, etc. That will certainly help me to lower my stress response. 

Here are those resources, in case you are also feeling the effects of stress on your brain and body—especially during this season of the COVID-19 pandemic.