–
Is stress damaging? Although the answer might seem obvious, it is not that simple. In fact, the most correct answer would be “it depends”.
Let’s assume that stress is a normal component of our life. The stress response has been evolutionarily selected to cope with environmental threats that threaten our survival. For our ancestors, stress was a clear advantage, since it was necessary to get food, reproduce, find a place to shelter …
But things have changed. In our society most of those needs are met, and now the sources of stress are mainly social. We live in a world with high work and family demands and an accelerated pace of life, which is a constant challenge. This “hectic” lifestyle encourages stress.
To this we must add that the moment we are currently experiencing, as a consequence of the pandemic by COVID-19, has increased social stress. An exceptional situation that generates uncertainties about the future, health, the economic situation … In addition to the harsh social isolation due to confinement, it is added that the workload has increased (telework, family reconciliation, school support for children …). Without forgetting that, for young people, the pandemic has represented a threat to their life projects and an alteration in their lifestyle.
These circumstances can generate negative stress responses. And although the human being has mechanisms to cope with it, the impact of stress will depend on individual perception. Before the same stress situation, each person can react in very different ways depending on multiple factors (personality, social support, previous experiences …). What this perception is like determines what the neurobiological response to stress will be. If we are subjected to very intense or repeated stress, or if it is simply perceived as unpredictable and uncontrollable, it can have important consequences for our health, especially for the brain.
How can our brain be damaged by stress?
When stress makes us feel that the situation is beyond our control, an increase in one of the stress hormones, cortisol, occurs. As in everything in life, hormonally we need a balance. Cortisol is necessary to regulate numerous functions. But when that balance is disrupted, it can upset numerous genes that affect the immune system and processes as important as neuroplasticity.
What do we understand by neuroplasticity? It could be defined as the brain’s ability to change and adapt to new experiences. Thanks to it we are able to adapt and learn from new situations, in addition to facing adverse circumstances. The downside is that stress works by reducing neuroplasticity and therefore affects how we deal with problems.
On the other hand, when we get stressed our body reacts in the same way as if it were an infectious process, that is, mobilizing the cells that fight an infection, even if it does not exist. This is called inflammation. Stress is capable of causing reactions in our body similar to those produced by an infection, and that also includes our brain.
This is how the stressed brain suffers
Although stress can cause cardiac, digestive, immunological problems …, without a doubt our brain is usually the worst off. Changes in the brain may be responsible for the appearance of numerous neuropsychiatric disorders, such as post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and, above all, depression.
The depression in the coming years it will be another of the pandemics with which we will have to live. It is believed to be the most diagnosed disease in the coming decades. Possibly one in six people will experience at least one episode of depression throughout their lives. If, as we have explained, her nervous plasticity decreases due to stress, the person would have less capacity to face life’s challenges and fewer resources to face day-to-day problems. For this reason, it could fall into a state known as hopelessness.
On the other hand, let’s think about how we feel when we have an infection. We are more tired, without energy, without the desire to do anything… Do any of these symptoms remind us of depression? It stands to reason, therefore, that stress can lead to depression.
Furthermore, exposure to stress also modifies the onset and course of many neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, which among other things is related to inflammatory disorders and nervous plasticity. Just the same ones that induces stress.
In principle, this picture does not seem very encouraging. But we must not fall into despair. There are strategies that we can use to reduce the consequences of stress. Physical exercise, a balanced diet, social supports and meditation are some examples of strategies that reduce their effects. Strategies to be carefully considered to face the situation generated by the current pandemic.
Carmen Pedraza Benítez, Professor of Psychobiology, Malaga University and Margarita Pérez Martín, Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience, Malaga University
This article was originally published in The Conversation. read the original.
Democracy dies when there is censorship. Today you can help maintain independent journalism with only $ 3 a month. Contribute and be part of the solution!
