How do We Manage Stress?

Managing stress is an essential component of a healthy lifestyle. April is recognized as National Stress Awareness Month to raise awareness about the negative impact of stress. It is possible to minimize health-related issues and improve mental and physical well-being by managing stress effectively.
Mental Health American (MHA) offers tips on how to reduce stress by using a Stress Screener, as well as tips on how to build resilience and know where to go for help.

How is Stress Different from Anxiety

It is important to recognize what stress and anxiety look like, develop resilience, and know where to get help. Read about stress management strategies on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
In addition to the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) and Office of the Ombudsman, NIH offers several resources that can help managers and employees deal with stress and anxiety. In addition to confidential counseling and enhancing and maintaining the well-being of all employees, the Ombudsman Office offers coaching, facilitation, and mediation services that are confidential and informal. The above links contain contact information for both services.
The following additional resources can help you cope with stress effectively:
Maintain a healthy heart by stressing less
(NCCIH) Stress
The 7 Steps to Manage Stress and Build Resilience (ORWH)
The Workplace Mental Health and Well-Being Toolkit (HHS)

The musculoskeletal system and Stress

The body tenses up when it is stressed. It is the body’s way of protecting itself from injury and pain.
With sudden onset stress, the muscles tense up all at once and then release the tension when the stress passes. Chronic stress causes the muscles in the body to remain in a more or less constant state of guardedness. An excessive amount of tautness and tension in the muscles can cause other reactions in the body as well as stress-related disorders.
Musculoskeletal pain in the low back and upper extremities has also been linked to stress, especially job stress, in tension-type headaches and migraine headaches.

Recognizing the Signs of Stress

Countless people experience ongoing discomfort due to musculoskeletal issues. While there can be a triggering injury, this is not always the case. The key factor in whether or not an injured person develops chronic pain is their response to the initial injury. Those who are fearful of pain and reinjury, solely seeking a physical solution, tend to have a more difficult recovery compared to those who maintain a moderate level of activity under medical supervision. Chronic stress-related musculoskeletal conditions are often exacerbated by muscle tension and eventual atrophy from lack of use.
There is evidence that relaxation techniques and other stress-relieving activities and therapies reduce muscle tension, reduce stress-related disorders, such as headache, and increase wellbeing. Stress-relieving activities have been shown to improve mood and daily function in people with chronic pain conditions.

Our Brains React to Stress

The brain is the central organ in determining and responding to stress, changing both structurally and chemically in reaction to acute and chronic stressors. While glucocorticoids are a key factor, other mediators like pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and the parasympathetic nervous system also play a role. In everyday terms, this is what we refer to as being “stressed out.”

Health Disorders Related to Stress

Significant distinctions can be observed between the impacts of immediate and prolonged stress, as well as variations in the effects of receiving short-term or long-term treatment with glucocorticoids. This examination delves into these matters while examining the concepts of allostasis and allostatic load and overburden, and their implications for how the brain and body react to both acute and chronic stressors. Additionally, it explores ways to mitigate the adverse effects of allostatic overstrain by leveraging the brain’s crucial role in sensing, reacting to, and effectively adapting (or not adapting) to experiences and events throughout our lives.

Exercise helps with Stress Relief

The term “stress” is often used in a vague way, and can be unhelpful in understanding how our bodies respond to daily experiences such as minor annoyances, major life events, and traumatic experiences (Fig. 1). By examining the biological and behavioral processes involved, we can gain insight into ways to intervene – a topic that will be addressed later in this article. McEwen (1998) presents two perspectives on this issue: on one hand, our bodies release chemical messengers like catecholamines when faced with sudden or unexpected events, which assist us in coping with the situation; on the other hand, prolonged release of these same messengers can lead to chronic wear and tear on our cardiovascular system, potentially resulting in health problems like stroke and heart attacks. To describe this dynamic process of maintaining balance amidst change, Sterling and Eyer (1988) introduced the term “allostasis,” meaning “achieving stability through change.” This concept complements rather than replaces the concept of homeostasis.

Chemical Changes Related to Stress

To avoid potential harm, we coined the term “allostatic load/overload” to describe the effects of prolonged or unregulated allostasis. Examples include an excessive stress response that is not turned off when necessary and a failure to initiate a sufficient response or habituate to recurring stressors. This terminology, as opposed to phrases like “the burden of chronic stress,” also encompasses behavioral changes such as disrupted sleep, overeating, smoking, and reduced physical activity that contribute to allostatic load/overload but may not be immediately evident when using the term “stress.”
Protection and damage are two sides of the physiological process that protects our bodies from daily challenges, also known as “stressors”. In addition to adrenaline, glucocorticoids produced by the adrenal cortex in response to ACTH are key hormones involved in this process. Other significant hormones and mediators, shown in Fig. 2, also play a role. Pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines are produced by various cells and are regulated by both each other and glucocorticoids and catecholamines. While catecholamines can increase pro-inflammatory cytokine production, glucocorticoids have been shown to inhibit it (Sapolsky et al., 2000). However, there are some cases where glucocorticoids actually have pro-inflammatory effects depending on the dose and specific cell or tissue type (Dinkel et al., 2003; MacPherson et al., 2005). The parasympathetic nervous system is an important part of this complex network of allostasis, as it counteracts the sympathetic nervous system’s actions and slows the heart rate. Additionally, parasympathetic activity has been found to have anti-inflammatory effects (Thayer and Lane, 2000; Borovikova)

In closing, we all have to deal with stress at some point  in our lives. It is important not to take stress lightly, but address it immediately so as to find a solution.  When stress starts to take a toll on aspects of your life you should seek prompt medical advice from licensed physician. While there are many healthy ways to deal with stress, it is important to realize that you do not have to suffer alone.  Family and friends can help with taking the edge off, by just being there to listen.

This article is not meant to provide medical advice but rather to bring awareness to stress and how it can affect our bodies in many different ways. The main take away is to strive to stay healthy in both body and mind.