The Stress Response

Stress can come from anywhere. There is physical stress like pain, and mental stress like that caused by having too much to do or an argument with a friend. Generally you’re under stress any time your mind perceives that it does not have the resources to handle a given situation.

When you perceive any stress, regardless of its source, the part of your brain called the hypothalamus is alerted. The hypothalamus then sends out the signals for the “fight or flight response” to the rest of your body. There are different shades of the fight or flight response depending on the trigger but the pattern is the same. When your body gets the signal from your hypothalamus to stand and fight, or run for your life, blood is shunted away for the intestines to the muscles so they can be ready for a challenge. Additionally, stress hormones such as cortisol are released. The role of cortisol is to direct energy in the body so that the most important energy source (glucose) gets sent to the brain to enable quick thinking.

In our modern state of continual stress, we are often in the stress response as we try to deal with the day-to-day stressors that pile up. Now this stress response, which was supposed to be a tool we kept in our back pocket in case of emergency, is pumping stress hormones through our body which can lead to negative health consequences like decreased immunity, inflammation, heart disease and many other diseases.


Here are a few yips for ways to cope with stress so you can dial down the stress response and all that goes with it.
• Find out what your stressors are- can you change anything?
• Practice the relaxation response
• Appreciate more
• Get professional help
• Exercise

Since the stressors in your life will probably not be going anywhere, your best bet for reducing your stress response is to try to optimize the way you deal with stress. Stopping the stress response before it has a chance to gear up can offset all the physiological responses that can tax your body over time.