Stress Si Rezilienta
Stress Si Rezilienta
Stress Si Rezilienta
When stress becomes chronic, this system is amped up all the time. The
same hormones that are so important for the fight-or-flight response can
lead to digestive issues, trouble sleeping, and a weakened immune
system, making a person more susceptible to viruses like the flu and
chronic health problems.
“Because stress changes the way the brain’s neurons communicate with
each other, chronic stress can cause our brains, nervous systems, and our
behavior to adjust to a vigilant and reactive state,” says Bruce McEwen, a
neuroscientist from Rockefeller University.
Because our brains are still developing throughout childhood and early
adulthood, pediatric trauma can be especially damaging. While working
to find new therapies for stress disorders like PTSD, Brianna Mulligan at
the University of New Mexico discovered that changes in DNA
methylation, a process by which genes are turned “on” or “off,” in
children who had experienced trauma. These abnormal DNA
methylation signatures may help physicians identify children who are
suffering from trauma. And, since DNA methylation is reversible, it may
be possible to develop aid trauma recovery treatments capable of
reversing the methylation.
Many studies offer early clues to how stress causes negative effects and
potential pathways to prevent those effects. And, that is something that
McEwen says should spur optimism that one day we will be able to
prevent the effects of chronic stress and PTSD.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3697199/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/resilience/art-20046311
Stress, both physical and psychological, is attracting increasing attention among neuroresearchers. In the
last 20 decades, there has been a surge of interest in the research of stress-induced manifestations and
this approach has resulted in the development of more appropriate animal models for stress-associated
pathologies and its therapeutic management. These stress models are an easy and convenient method
for inducing both psychological and physical stress. To understand the behavioral changes underlying
major depression, molecular and cellular studies are required. Dysregulation of the stress system may
lead to disturbances in growth and development, and may this may further lead to the development of
various other psychiatric disorders.
When something goes wrong, do you tend to bounce back or fall apart?
When you have resilience, you harness inner strength that helps you
rebound from a setback or challenge, such as a job loss, an illness, a
disaster or the death of a loved one. If you lack resilience, you might
dwell on problems, feel victimized, become overwhelmed or turn to
unhealthy coping mechanisms, such as substance abuse.
Adapting to adversity
Resilience is the ability to roll with the punches. When stress,
adversity or trauma strikes, you still experience anger, grief and pain,
but you're able to keep functioning — both physically and
psychologically. However, resilience isn't about toughing it out, being
stoic or going it alone. In fact, being able to reach out to others for
support is a key component of being resilient.
Articol
Oricine a tremurat vreodată la un examen sau la un termen limită la serviciu, știe cum se simte
stresul. }n astfel de situații, stresul poate fi un lucru bun, ajutându-ne corpul și mintea să
rămână alerte, gata să reacționeze la orice obstacole pe care viața ni le așează în drum. Însă,
uneori, hazardul sau înlănțuirea unor evenimente, ne oferă experiențe extreme, în care ne
percepem amenințate integritatea personală , viața noastră sau a celor dragi. În aceste
situații , stresul devine cronic, epuizând resursele organismului. Răspunsul la stresul pe termen
scurt este esențial pentru supraviețuire. El alimentează răspunsul „luptă sau fugi” care permite
tuturor animalelor să răspundă rapid la semnalele de pericol, activându-se „centrul fricii”, numit
amigdala care, la rândul ei, pune în funcțiune sistemul de răspuns la stres , cunoscut drept axa
hipotalamică-hipofizară-adrenocortică (HPA), alcătuită din hipotalamus, glanda hipofizară și
glandele suprarenale și reglementează hormonii de stress, adrenalina și cortizolul. Când
stresul devine cronic, acest sistem este activat și amplificat în permanență. Aceiași hormoni
care sunt atât de importanți pentru răspunsul de luptă sau fugă pot determina o serie de de
maladii, inclusiv boli de inimă, hipertensiune arterială, depresie, anxietate, fragilizarea
sistemului imunitar și creșterea vulnerabilității în fața bolilor . Numeroase studii s-au concentrat
pe găsirea celor mai eficiente modalități de a gestiona stresul. De la exerciții fizice, până la
tehnici de mindfulness toate s-au dovedit a fi eficiente pentru o perioadă de timp, în funcție de
durata și intensitatea stresului. Ceea ce a constituit o descoperire majoră a fost identificarea
neuro-hormonului rezilienței la stress, oxitocina. Supranumit și ”hormonul îmbrățișărilor”, este
modalitaea prin care natura și evoluția ne-a înzestrat cu antidotul stresului cronic. Acesta ne
face mai empatici, mai dornici de conexiune și apropiere de semeni, mai dispuși să ajutăm sau
să ne lăsăm ajutați, moment în care crește secreția de oxitocină și diminuează răspunsul
maladaptativ la stres al organelor interne. Reziliența nu va face ca problemele noastre să
dispară, dar ne poate oferi capacitatea de a pune experiențele în perspectivă, de-a da sens a
ceea ce trăim, de-a găsi plăcere în viață și de a gestiona mai bine stresul. Când stresul,
adversitatea sau trauma ne lovesc, încă mai simțim furie, durere și spaimă, dar suntm capabil să
continuăm să funcționăm - atât fizic, cât și psihologic. Cu toate acestea, reziliența nu înseamnă
să înlăturăm stresul, să fim stoici sau să ne descurcăm singuri. De fapt, a fi capabil să ne
apropiem de ceilalți pentru sprijin este o componentă cheie a rezilienței.
În concluzie, pentru a deveni mai rezistenți și mai adaptați în fața stresului poate însemna să
petrecem mai mult timp dând sens existenței noastre și construind relații sănătoase cu semenii
în detrimentul evitării cu orice preț a disconfortului emoțional.
Bibliografie
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3697199/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/resilience/art-20046311
The Untold World of Oxytocin, Stress, and Life
Adversity
Affiliate Disclosure
It turns out that oxytocin works alongside stress hormones to help maintain
homeostasis during times of stress and inflammation (1; 2).
The release of oxytocin is also not limited to just the pituitary gland in the
brain; it can be released from the uterus, ovaries, testes, blood vessels, and the
heart (5).
As you can see, there's a lot more to oxytocin than just love, sex and bonding.
Socially, oxytocin is known to dial down your fear response and increase your
emotions of trust, empathy, and the urge to bond with others. Its wider array
of activity is suggested to be related to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant
properties (6). It may also help modulate pain perception (7).
Oxytocin may demonstrate the missing link between why the same stress can
be both good and bad depending one’s social circumstances.
The “tend and befriend” response is mediated by oxytocin and natural opioids
produced by the body and may also have unique interactions with female
hormones. While aspects of the stress response are shared among males and
females, the female response to stress more closely follows a “tend and
befriend” profile (8; 9).
Benjamin Franklin - who was as well-known for his social adeptness as he was
for his civic and engineering - once remarked “Man is a sociable being, and it
is, for aught I know, one of the worst punishments to be excluded from
society.”
The active nurturing of relationships among family, friends, and your greater
social network is important for a number of health outcomes - the interactions
being driven by the interplay of inflammation, stress hormones, and oxytocin
(11). These findings may help explain why some psychiatric disorders occur
more commonly in one sex over another, and this new understanding may
help improve treatment approaches (12).
The “Goldilocks Effect” of Adversity
Too little adversity AND too much adversity may disrupt oxytocin balance,
while experiencing just enough stress helps to maintain oxytocin balance.
The “U-curve” reflected that both too little and too much adversity can
negatively affect health and social outcomes, while facing moderate adversity
actually helps to strengthen health outcomes.
Individuals who had earlier exposure to adversity were also the least affected
by recent adverse events. The findings lent hard data to the old saying “What
does not kill us, makes us stronger”.
You can “choose” which hormonal profile a stressful event takes - by being
mindful during it, and looking at the event as an opportunity to grow.
Additionally, reaching out to help others experiencing the same stress can be a
useful strategy (15). There are a number of examples of how reaching out to
others such as through volunteering, or providing disaster relief, can help one
cope with a stress response even if they themselves were subjected to the
emotional trauma or disaster event.
Even a 10-minute journaling exercise where you reflect on your core values
and motivations, can change how you face stressful events. Ultimately, such a
simple exercise like that could change someone’s life-long trajectory of
academic performance, career success and more.
Giving your life events greater meaning through the making of aspirational
goals, and the routine reflection on your core values allows you to cope better
with the inevitable hiccups along the path of life. These strategies help to keep
your life feeling connected to a greater, “we’re all in this together” purpose.
It works - even more so in those of us who think we are immune to it. The
subconscious mind says “Yes!” to everything that comes across it, so be
extremely careful of what you’re feeding it.
Your mind subconsciously assesses every offer that comes across your mind,
whether you want it to or not - and that processing alone depletes you of your
daily willpower reserves.
Does sex really sell?
The short answer is yes.
While pornography is an extreme example, the mind reacts the same way
when it reads or hears about the next 25% off, clearance sale, or “limited time
offer”, or sees an image of a juicy cheeseburger (or other “food porn”) - and
aside from moral and ethical discussions, psychologically - all can be
detrimental to your physical, psychological, social and emotional health.
My fiance comments that when we watch sports games together (as opposed
to, say, The Bachelor), many of the commercials are scantily dressed women
having an awesome time eating hamburgers - see the connection?
Examples include: the Budweiser lost puppy ad, the controversial Nationwide
“Because I died due to an accident” commercial”,and just about anything
from GoDaddy...
Now when you see these things in commercials, or on the news, point at it and
think to yourself, “Hey, that’s pornographic!” You will be better off to turn it
off and keep your subconscious mind from seeing it.
It sounds crazy, but it’s not too far off when you consider what’s going on
chemically in your brain.
It puts your brain on edge - priming it to deal with stress and to evaluate
decisions from an emotional state of mind instead of a rational state of mind.
And, you and I are not the exceptions.
You can notice that you actually feel isolated and “on edge” following these
activities. That’s actually your brain being anxious for your next dopamine
rush.
This is why the brain tends to push us toward the dopamine-yielding activities
in the short-term even though we “know better” internally that the serotonin,
GABA and oxytocin-yielding activities above will serve us much better..
What’s So Bad About Dopamine?
The more you can habituate activities from the first list - the more balanced
and stress-free you will feel - the less disrupted your oxytocin balance will be,
and the less negative stress you will experience.
Instead, you will feel courageous, connected, supported, and you will be less
likely to develop a range of inflammatory diseases over the course of your life.
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