When faced with a possible threat, your brain often activates a “fight, flight, or freeze” response to help you stay safe. By releasing hormones, your body helps prepare you for whatever is necessary — as the name suggests, that includes fighting, fleeing, or freezing — to keep you alive.

While that response can be helpful in dangerous times, your body overuses it sometimes. This can cause stress and wreak havoc on the mind and body.

Different individuals present stress in entirely different ways. For instance, one person might lie awake at night, scrolling mindlessly through social media, unable to rest their eyes. Conversely, their partner could soundly sleep through the night but becomes irritable around important deadlines and frequently forgets their keys.

You must remember the effects of your body’s “fight, flight, or freeze” response and how to find relief from stress.

How to identify stress

To help account for the broad range of ways stress presents in people, healthcare providers examine several categories. Those include health changes, behavior, energy, and mood, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). They depend on self-reported emotions and can even focus attention on symptoms you might have never known were causes of stress.

Your symptoms’ timing can also help pinpoint the triggers or situations that bring you stress. Perhaps your frustration and anxiety are the results of a chronic state of emotional upheaval. For example, if your blood pressure increases after a tough talk with your boss but rapidly returns to normal, you might be experiencing a healthy stress response.

If you often replay words from your boss in your head and fixate on the talk days later, or you develop a new obsession to help cope with feelings of anxiety, you might be battling chronic stress.

How can stress affect the body?

Stress is a normal part of day-to-day life. However, it is when your “fight, flight, or freeze” response doesn’t shut off areas where your health can be impacted. Difficulties frequently arise in several crucial areas — behavioral, physical, psychological, and interpersonal.

Behavioral

Your body is smart. It is aware that too much stress isn’t good for you. So, your body might crave things that help it relax and escape negative feelings. Unfortunately, these aren’t always the healthiest ways to treat stress.

Common behavioral changes include consuming foods that are high in carbohydrates, distracting yourself with hours of endless scrolling, and increasing drug or alcohol intake.

While those activities can provide immediate relief from stress, they could also exacerbate a host of new, long-term issues.

Physical

When your body’s “fight, flight, or freeze” response is activated, your brain releases cortisol — the hormone that causes an adrenaline rush. You might feel your heart rapidly beating or experience overwhelming energy bouts.

However, according to the Johns Hopkins Medicine Health Library, too much cortisol can cause physical changes, like high blood pressure, oral health issues, and weight gain. You might also experience flare-ups of existing chronic health conditions, like irritable bowel syndrome and eczema.

Psychological

The development of depression and anxiety can be a cause for concern. You might experience continuing worry if your brain is always looking for danger. Or you can begin feeling hopeless because of the continuing dread. According to the National Library of Medicine, both feelings can cause issues with concentration, memory, and sleep because of an overload of worried thoughts.

Interpersonal

Have you ever noticed your patience runs thin whenever you are nearing a crucial deadline? 

Your brain works to keep you safe from stressors, but not always to be kind. 

You might notice increased anger or irritability. Depending on your temperament, you might also become more reliant on individuals, seek reassurance, or even push others away unwittingly.

Healthy ways you can relieve stress

Although stressors can have several physical and emotional effects on your body, there are healthy ways to relieve negative feelings.

It’s critical to note your brain may fight with you on relaxing. When it believes in protecting you from danger, your body might recognize slowing down as another threat. Notice the hesitation and remind yourself there isn’t an imminent threat, giving a few stress relievers a try.

Buy yourself space and time

Allowing your brain enough time to “come down” and adjust to stressful activities helps your system healthily regulate. If you are jumping rapidly between virtual work meetings to preparing for lunch and then onto a stressful phone call, it can be easy to become anxious.

Remember to add some space. Pause before you answer your phone, give yourself five minutes to practice deep breathing between family time and work, set an alarm to remind you to stretch during the day, and find ways to delegate some of your tasks. Every little bit can help to alleviate stress.

Experiment with options to soothe your mind and thoughts

It may take some trial and error, but finding ways to reduce stress can be helpful if you have chronic stress. You may try to exercise (high—energy workouts can increase your heart rate and aggravate your body’s “fight, flight, or freeze” response), deep breathing exercises, guided meditations, and Epsom salt baths. Mindless activities like crafts or coloring can help distract your brain from worrisome thoughts.

While you try different activities, remember to track what doesn’t work and what does. You can keep a list of helpful stress relievers and access them whenever necessary.

Reduce things that overwhelm your system and increase your stress

Consuming high-sugar foods, alcohol, and caffeine and scrolling through social media might be tempting when stress is exceptionally high. Those activities might offer short-term enjoyment and diversion. But, according to the CDC, the long-term consequences are frequently poor quality sleep and increased anxiety.

To summarize

Getting professional assistance if you are feeling overwhelmed is always a good plan. Suppose stress continues affecting your ability to concentrate on and finish everyday activities after you try healthy stress relievers. In that case, you might want to consider virtual therapy or contact a healthcare provider for more support.

Seek help immediately if you have any self-harm thoughts. The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is available at 1-800-273-8255.4