Understanding the Far-Reaching Effects of Stress

The term "stress" has become so ubiquitous that it may pose a challenge if people are asked to define it. Because stress is so widespread, individuals may also be desensitized to the terminology and not fully comprehend the gravity of its consequences. However, stress is serious, as up to 70 percent of diseases are related to stress.

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Types of Stress

While stress can be acute (more immediate and shorter-term) or chronic (lasting months to years), it can also be compounded by events that occurred in the past (distant stress). This is where terms like "triggered" can arise, as a current event may mimic a past stressor event or trauma. Stress can also be categorized into encounter stress, anticipatory stress, and situational stress.

Here is an example of encounter stress and some of the body’s physiological responses. Imagine a young college student walking alone to their car late at night. Suddenly, a large person with a dark mask begins to approach. Fearing for their life, their hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical (HPA) and sympathetic-adrenal-medullary (SAM) pathways are immediately activated, secreting heightened amounts of the glucocorticoid cortisol that enacts the fight-or-flight response, allowing them to run or fight for their life. The digestive system is halted so that blood can rush to the limbs to facilitate fighting or running.

Returning to the concept of distant stressors, now imagine the young student is actually walking with a friend, close to sunset, and the parking lot is filled with other students. The approaching person is a fellow classmate. However, in this scenario, the student has had a prior assault, and the approaching friend is wearing similar clothes to the student’s former assailant. In this case, the distant stressor, or triggered traumatic memory, may activate the same physiological response as the original dangerous assault.

Moreover, if the young student had a history of childhood maltreatment on top of the assault, the student’s stress response would likely be heightened in an array of normal situations that don’t even mimic the assault. This is because chronic stressors and traumas disrupt the activation of the parasympathetic nervous system and vagal brake that restores the body to homeostasis, leaving the body vulnerable to an array of diseases and chronic health conditions.

Childhood Abuse

Childhood maltreatment not only sets up physiological roadblocks but can also lead to thinking and coping that inhibit resilience. Duprey et al. (2021) researched the effects of childhood emotional abuse and found that individuals with a history of childhood emotional abuse were more likely to internalize issues; have higher levels of hopelessness, withdrawal, and maladaptive cognitive schemas; and were more at risk for substance abuse disorders.

Meanwhile, Yan (2016) found that abuse survivors had heightened sympathetic hyperactivity, hypertension, depression, and anxiety. The increased inflammatory responses and oxidative stress also led to chronic inflammatory diseases, T-cell increases, autoimmune responses, dietary preference alterations, altered weight, and disruptions to the gut microbiome.

Complex Solutions

Complex stress cases benefit from complex solutions. While medical treatments to treat disease and mental health therapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy could help, having a more systemic approach that helps the person retrain and manage their stress response while finding ways to increase relaxation times and cultivate healthy sleep, diet, and exercise would appear to be more favorable than a prescription for an antidepressant.

Interestingly, Bisson et al. (2020) conducted a systematic review of meta-analyses of some of the most promising alternative treatments that showed evidence-based measures. Yoga appeared to show positive results, and the variety of yoga (from slower Yin to more cardio [and adrenaline-releasing] Ashtanga), combined with philosophical principles for living, could help abuse survivors work through posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) while gaining philosophical insights that could help amend some cognitive distortions. The authors also found promising results with acupuncture and transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), which were reported to be more favorable than health education. Finally, it would be imperative that the person be assessed for substance issues and offered recovery treatment, as many of these interventions could be nullified by substance abuse.