In my last blog, I set out how the first stage of the stress response looks. This blog looks at the second stage of the stress response and how it can be managed.
The second wave of stress activation is underpinned by the survival brain’s evaluation of whether we lack control or agency when faced with a stressor.
This is because the thinking brain can amplify the feelings of powerlessness, as the internal dialogue homes in on the fear and anticipation of a situation. This is important. It means that the internal dialogue of either ‘this is silly’ or out of control panicked thoughts are counterproductive. The mind, instead, needs to cultivate messages of power and calm, and focus on the physical body. These are the things it can control.
This is the stage at which we can consciously intervene and stop the mind body system from escalating the response further. See a task later.
Stage 2
Where the survival brain considers that we do not have the resources to control or manage the threat, the HPA axis mobilises more hormones that increase the amount of energy available to the mind/body for expenditure during fight or flight.
Cortisol – this is the most important of the hormones released during mobilisation for stress. Cortisol:
replenishes the energy spent during the adrenaline rush in the first wave; and
boosts immune functioning by releasing white blood cells to the places in the body it will be most required, in case the body is wounded during the fight or flight response. This includes the lymph nodes and the skin. This is important to note because, although immune functioning is enhanced during stress arousal, after about 60 minutes, this stress arousal will start to dampen immune function down to about 40-70% of our baseline level.
Other hormones – the HPA axis will continue to release other hormones to improve short-term survival. These include endorphins (essentially internal opioids that supress feelings of pain) and vasopressin (regulate the cardiovascular system and triggers the defensive mode of the autonomic nervous system).
Inhibition of other hormones – the HPA also releases hormones that sacrifice long-term functioning of the body. This includes oestrogen, progesterone and testosterone (growth and sex hormones) and insulin (helps the body store energy for its long-term needs).
Sympathetic Nervous System
This is the state the mind/body is in when all the above-mentioned hormones are released. It is responsible for the fight or flight response. The nervous system is important in stress because it is the system we can hack to help influence our stress response. More on that in the next blog.
As mentioned, this a flawless system for ensuring survival in the immediate term. However, if we are constantly or chronically stressed, long-term functioning is severely impeded. This is why chronic stress causes digestive issues, sexual dysfunction, reproductive damage, inflammation, joint pain, heart problems and much more.
Short-term stress (eustress) is good, but without recovery and an end point to the response, we become stuck in a cycle of damaging our health and reducing our tolerance for stress in the future. This makes us more likely to go into a full stress response and it becomes harder to recover, which further damages our health and narrows our window of tolerance of stress. And on it goes.
In the next blog I will cover techniques that support you to recover from stress.
If you have any questions, please do reach out!