Toxic Stress on Your Brain…Just How Dangerous is it?

Stress and Life...

They go together like peanut butter and chocolate, sushi and wasabi, good wine and stinky cheese. You can't have one without the other.

Not all stress is created equal though. Some stress actually seems to be good for you right?

Stress as a motivator?

Think about it... you're studying for a really important test or practicing for a sports match that has a lot riding on it....you want to do the very best that you can.

Your body and brain are humming in anticipation...and you know you're going to crush the competition. 

The stress associated with these situations is a driving force that helps push you towards a goal. 

What about the kind of stress that can literally save your life?

We're pretty thankful for that kind of stress...right?

Imagine this....You hear someone running up behind you on a dark road at night and your body immediately kicks into a fight or flight type of stress that sends your body racing away from the danger.

These instances of "quick stress" are necessary for our survival and even our scholastic and evolutionary growth.

How does stress work in your brain?

You have this tiny little Napoleanic powerhouse called the hypothalamus in your brain.

It's a little bitty guy, but still a major player who sets up camp at the base of your brain, and he quite literally sets off a 4 point alarm in your body, as a reaction to stress.

Stress hormones called cortisol, epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine respond to it's command immediately.

In these moments of extreme fear or excitement these little soldiers go to work, driving your body towards the ultimate goal.

Once these episodes are over, these super spiked-stress hormones return to normal and your body functions level out.

Stress has actually helped your body achieve what it needed to and you're all the better for it.

One study even found that significant, but brief stressful events caused brain stem cells to grow into new nerve cells that, when mature two weeks later, improved mental performance.

But what about....

...when good stress goes bad

When we look at toxic stress— we see an almost malignant form of non- stop stress that can literally put your life at risk, and it needs to be taken very...very seriously.

Think of it like a person with chronic back problems.

They're in a constant, never ending state of pain.

They can't even sleep, which makes it worse because those muscles can't relax at night.

The pain is ongoing with no real relief...the body is exhausted and begins to break down.

This is exactly how the elevation of stress hormones act with toxic stress on your brain.

They stay raised without giving your brain any real relief.....

It's a head on collision waiting to happen...

When stress is continually present this keeps your fight-or-flight reaction always on .

Cortisol, and other stress hormones, stream through your system all day long, and that’s deadly.

This overdose of stress hormones can de-regulate almost all of your body's processes.

This puts you at increased risk of numerous health problems, including

Look at these 6 major consequences of chronic stress

Stress can actually change the DNA of your children.

I sure didn't know that...did you? 

Toxic Stress was shown to not only change the DNA in adults, but their children as well, beginning in the womb.

Researchers have found expectant mothers suffering from depression produce higher levels of stress chemicals, which reduce fetal growth and increased risk for premature labor.

Current studies also suggest that chronic (toxic) maternal stress may subdue the working of a gene in the fetus that is meant to control the overproduction of stress chemicals.

In other words, the gene in the unborn child is supposed to help regulate stress throughout their lives, but the mothers stress actually changes that particular gene before the baby is even born.

This can cause a lifetime of poor health and behavioral issues in your child.

This was really hard for me to swallow, because like all mothers I second guess myself....

"Am I a good enough mother? Should I have done that differently? Am I harming my child if I work instead of being with them,"...the list goes and on right?..

And now our stress could affect our childrens DNA structure?

I don't know about you, but quite frankly that stresses me out.

Toxic stress hijacks your immune system and keeps you sick

75% of doctors’ visits are for stress-related health complaints.  75 percent..that's incredible.

Stress is a major contributing factor to death in the United States from cancer, coronary heart disease, accidental injuries, respiratory disorders, cirrhosis of the liver and suicide.

Unhealthy amounts of stress hormones alter multiple biochemical processes in the body, everything from the immune system to the inflammatory response which makes you more vulnerable to everything from that annoying little common cold, to the killer...cancer.

Ongoing Stress weakens the Blood Brain Barrier

This leaves the blood brain barrier open to very bad molecules.The blood-brain barrier or BBB helps block harmful substances, such as toxins and bacteria from entering the brain.

When the blood-brain barrier breaks down as happens with chronic stress, some substances that are normally kept out of the brain may be able to break through, putting your brain in jeapordy.

Toxic Stress increases your risk of dementia and alzheimers

As more toxins cross over the BBB, and cortisol damages the hippocampus, your brain functions begin to falter.

The ability to retain newly learned information becomes corrupted.

This inability of the damaged blood brain barrier, to keep bad molecules out is a common finding in people with Alzheimer’s disease.

One study of elderly people found that the hippocampus size was 14% smaller in those with high cortisol levels and their ability to create new memories was seriously impaired.

Another study found that hippocampus size was directly linked to the rate of progression in Alzheimer’s disease.

Chronic stress actually shrinks your brain

Imaging done by dozens of researchers has found that children under extreme stress have less volume in both gray and white matter of the brain.

One of these areas of the brain is the hippocampus. The hippocampus helps people to process fear, so these children may not be recognizing the warning signals that they should be in dangerous situations.

Toxic stress increases the risk of addictive behavior

This is pretty self explanatory...

When you are constantly "stressed out" you are vulnerable to seeking out addictive properties that may help you relax.

Once they wear off though, you will be back to your rigid mess of stress, and continue to use the addictive substance more and more frequently for the short term relief it provides.

How to banish the silent killer lurking within your brain and keep it away for good.