Anxiety And Stress

We have all heard the words anxiety and stress but do we truly understand what they are
and how it affects us. Anxiety is a fear that can be mild or severe that can leave a person is in a
constant state of worry. Stress affects both a physical and mental demand on the body. We will
take a more in-depth look as to how both of these things affect us mentally and what type of
coping mechanisms we can use.

Anxiety is a state where a person is in constant worry. There are two circuits in the brain
that are active when we are approaching danger which is the cerebral cortex and the amygdala.
The cerebral cortex is responsible for the thinking and decision making in our brain. The
amygdala is the part of the brain that is responsible for emotions and processes fear. Within the
brain, the amygdala communicates with the hypothalamus located at the base of the brain which
releases hormones that triggers our fight or flight response. Individuals who struggle with
anxiety have a sensitive amygdala, meaning that in the future, their brain will start to relate the
danger to memories they had. Medicinal solutions to dealing with anxiety include
antidepressants. Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), duel serotonin, and norepinephrine
reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs), buspirone, and benzodiazepines. These medications act on
neurotransmitters that affect and create anxiety. Buspirone is not as effective as other
medications, and it can have physical side effects. Tricyclic antidepressants have side effects like
dizziness, constipation, blurred vision, and people may have trouble urinating. Side effects of
other medications include sexual problems, weight gain, and insomnia. Anxiety can also be
treated through psychotherapy, such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT). This form of
therapy helps patients recognize and correct their misperceptions that contribute to their anxiety.
Therapists recommend patients keep a diary to keep their thoughts as the therapist helps the
patients become aware of their thoughts and how they cause anxiety. Although there are many
ways anxiety can be treated with medicine and a therapist, we can also make lifestyle changes.
We can exercise, do yoga, change our diet, spend more time with our family, and reduce our
caffeine intake. Exercise can improve sleep that can be affected by anxiety, and yoga allows you
to calm down and let your mind wander to a state of peace. Changing your diet and eating
healthy and balanced meals will benefit you both physically and mentally. Omega-3 fatty acids
have been shown to reduce anxiety by 30% and, reducing caffeine intake is also going to help.
Valerian roots contain valerenic acid that alters gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptors,
thus resulting in less anxiety.

Stress is both a physical and mental demand on the body. The amygdala sends a signal to
the hypothalamus giving us the fight or flight response and, there is a lot of adrenaline that is
released when we are stressed. Cortisol is present in the hippocampus and is released, which
helps gain back energy and balance blood sugar levels but, if it is too much, it can cause health
problems like slowing down brain function. Stress can disrupt the synapse regulation, meaning it
makes you want to be less social, causes shrinkage of the brain, kills brain cells, increases
chances of other mental illnesses, and can affect your memory. A study published by Molecular
Psychiatry found that chronic stress can cause long-term changes within the brain and those who
have chronic stress are more likely to have mood and anxiety disorders later in life. Stress can
play a role in mental disorders such as depression. Researchers from UC Berkeley conducted
experiments trying to find the impact that chronic stress has on the brain. As they did these
experiments, they saw that stress creates more myelin-producing cells but, fewer neurons and
extra myelin means that it will affect communication. The researchers at UC Berkeley concluded
that chronic stress can cause long-term changes to the structure of the brain itself and how it
functions. The brain is made up of grey matter which is the decision-making and
problem-solving part of the brain, and white matter is made up of axons that help communicate
information around the brain acting as a highway. The axon is covered with myelin (a fat white
sheath) that surrounds the axons to make the electrical signals pass through faster. Stress also
changes the structure of the brain. Stress increases the production of myelin resulting in more
white matter than grey matter in the brain. As psychologist Daniela Kaufer said, "You’re
creating a brain that’s either resilient or very vulnerable to mental disease, based on the
patterning of white matter you get early in life,". Stress can kill your brain cells as a study at the
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science found that stress could kill new neurons
in the hippocampus. The hippocampus stores memories, emotion, and learning and are one of the
two places where new brain cells form. Although stress does not directly affect the formation of
new brain cells, it can affect whether or not they survive. The brain may also shrink due to stress,
and those areas are usually connected to the regulation of emotions, metabolism, and memory.
Researchers say that the stress that we face on the daily basis can lead to many other types of
mental disorders. At Yale University, they asked 100 healthy people about a time in their life that
was stressful. Researchers concluded that a little bit of stress causes a smaller amount of grey
matter in the prefrontal cortex that is responsible for things like control and emotions. Stress that
can be from losing a job can affect your emotional awareness or, if you experience something
traumatic, there will be an effect on your mood centers. A study from 2012 found that chronic
stress can negatively affect your spatial memory, which is the ability to recall information or,
location A2014 study showed that high levels of cortisol may lead to short-term memory loss.

Overall we all will have times where we experience some form of stress and anxiety. We
need to find ways of preventing these thoughts and situations from affecting us as they do not
benefit us mentally and physically. The best advice I received that helps me is that if what you
are stressing about doesn’t affect you in five years then don’t spend five minutes of your time
worrying about it.

LINKS

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/16-ways-relieve-stress-anxiety#2.-Consider-supplements
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/how-to-cope-with-anxiety#long-term-strategies
https://www.healthline.com/health/stress-and-anxiety#:~:text=Stress%20is%20any%20demand
%20placed,fear%2C%20worry%2C%20or%20unease​.
https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/generalized-anxiety-disorder
https://www.tuw.edu/health/how-stress-affects-the-brain/