In our busy, ever (and quickly) changing world there is one thing we can all count on: stress. Whether that stress comes from predictable places— like the office or school; or from unexpected challenges— like a break-up or sudden loss, we all come face to face with stress in our daily lives. Even in times when a little bit of stress can be expected, it’s common to feel its effects on our minds and bodies in unexpected ways. But why does stress show up in so many different forms? In order to understand the complex relationship between stress, the mind, and the body, we need to start small: with hormones.
Why
If you’ve ever watched a medical drama like Grey’s Anatomy, you’ve probably heard a doctor call to their response team to “push one of epi” when working together to save their patient. Epinephrine, or “epi” is the first hormone we need to know about in order to understand both mental and physical stress responses. Both epinephrine and cortisol (a second important hormone) are released from the adrenal glands when the brain senses a threat in the environment in order to prepare the entire body to respond accordingly.
Epinephrine and cortisol serve the important purpose of talking to almost every organ in the body and sending messages on how to work together to best protect the body from a threat. This process of sensing a threat and responding in a systemic way is commonly known as the “fight or flight” response. When our fight or flight responses are activated our entire body prepares itself to get to safety: heart rate increases, bronchioles of the lungs dilate, liver creates more glucose, blood pressure increases, the digestive system slows down, and our bodies divert blood flow to protect the most important organs. All of these processes together are great for keeping us safe if we have to fight off a mugger or run from a bear! …But not so great when the stress response gets activated for an everyday stressor, like a board meeting or an exam.
Although the human body is amazing and so smart in so many ways, our drive for survival often can confuse a professional or relational stressor for a threat to our lives and safety. The excess level of stress hormones such as epinephrine or cortisol in the body can cause a wide range of uncomfortable, and sometimes even scary, symptoms throughout the body.
Common physical effects of stress to look out for include: headaches, muscle tension or pain, fatigue, chest pain, changes in appetite, upset stomach/digestive issues, sleep disturbances, change in sex drive, shortness of breath, dizziness/lightheadedness, blurred vision, increased heart rate, flare ups in skin conditions, & weaker immune system and as such, more frequent illness.
Stress can also affect mental functioning and health in many ways. Common experiences include: anxiety, restlessness, issues with memory, lack of motivation, difficulty with concentration, feeling overwhelmed, irritability/anger, sadness, depression, and panic attacks.
Naturally, when experiencing the negative effects of stress on physical and mental health, behavioral health will often change too. Common effects of stress on behavior include overeating or undereating, social withdrawal, decrease in physical activity, angry outbursts and increased risk taking behaviors such as substance use and self-medication.
The Good News
Taking stock of all the ways stress can affect our minds and bodies can be daunting, but here’s the good news: since the mind and the body are so interconnected when it comes to stress, that means they are also interconnected in a deep way when it comes to healing too! This relationship dynamic opens up a whole new category of ways to combat stress called “bottom up therapy”. We use this term in the mental health field to describe the process of focusing on the body and using physical techniques to regulate our cognitive and emotional selves. Rather than focusing on combating negative thoughts or changing your perspective on the stressor first (for example, using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy or CBT), a bottom up approach would use body movement and awareness to decrease stress.
There are many different options for bottom up stress interventions that you can do both at home, and in a therapy setting. Yoga, art, dance, progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, breathing exercises, tai chi, deep pressure (ex: massages, weighted blankets), and bilateral movements (ex: tapping, taking a walk, jumping jacks, catching a ball, etc.) are all body-based, bottom-up approaches for stress management that you can do independently at home!
The possibilities for healing don’t stop there. There are also many different bottom-up therapy theories and techniques that can be used with a professional to help process stress. Examples include: somatic experiencing, Eye Movement Desensitization Reprocessing (EMDR), sensorimotor psychotherapy, brainspotting, drama therapy, sand tray therapy, play therapy, equine-assisted psychotherapy, neurofeedback, and trauma-informed yoga.
Whether you choose to use bottom-up techniques to keep your everyday stress manageable as a part of your self-care routine, or decide to embark on an ongoing journey to process long-term stress and trauma with a therapist, it's important to remember the power your body holds in calming your mind and combatting stress responses. The more knowledge we have about the mind-body relationship, the more we can start to become aware of our own stress response and respond to them in a way that is helpful and authentic for our unique selves! Stress is a normal and natural part of life, but that doesn’t mean we are powerless to the ways in which we experience it. With greater understanding and mindfulness to mental and physical stress comes empowerment to grow and adapt in our responses to stress.