The iconic American author William James famously said, “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another.” This is vital advice for individuals looking to combat stress, especially for those of us who are doing so in recovery. It is also very important to know how our brains respond to stress in order to best be able to manage and mitigate it. The good news is that there are many effective methods that can help us manage stress in recovery and beyond.
How Does Your Brain Respond to Stress?
First, it is important to understand that stress happens to everyone; it just so happens that some people are able to manage it better than others. Yes, the brain responds to stress in many different ways. Unfortunately, for some of us, our brain struggles with excessive amounts of stress, and we end up using or drinking over it.
So what exactly is the stress response? According to the peer-reviewed thesis Physiology, Stress Reaction, by Doctors Chu, Marwaha, Sanvictores, Awosika, and Ayers, “The stress response is adaptive to prepare the body to handle the challenges presented by an internal or external environmental challenge, such as stressors. For example, the body’s physiological responses to trauma and invasive surgery serve to attenuate further tissue damage…. Exposure to chronic stressors can cause maladaptive reactions, including depression, anxiety, cognitive impairment, and heart disease.”
However, it is also important to understand that not all stress is bad stress. Some stress can be motivating, but that is only once we learn to manage it effectively. This effective management cannot happen if we are actively struggling with addiction or an untreated mental illness. This is why it is important to connect with addiction and mental health professionals who can begin to break down the underlying issues regarding our stress and how we can best begin to work on it.
Better Understanding Stress
Before managing stress, it can be highly beneficial to get a better understanding of what exactly stress is. The reality is that stress is a built-in mammalian certainty. It is inherent in us. According to the Annual Review of Clinical Psychology, “Based on the appraisal of perceived threat, humans and other animals invoke coping responses. Our central nervous system (CNS) tends to produce integrated coping responses rather than single, isolated response changes. Thus, when immediate fight-or-flight appears feasible, mammals tend to show increased autonomic and hormonal activities that maximize the possibilities for muscular exertion.”
So, ultimately, even with “simple” stress, our body can react as if our life is in danger. Over time, this breaks down our bodies and negatively affects us mentally and emotionally.
Stress can also come at us from all areas of life. There can be stress at home, at work, or at school. There can be underlying societal stressors, as well as stress that comes from internal conflicts. Yes, we can make up our own stress just by ruminating on something. For those of us struggling with addiction, we often end up in a stress cycle due to our wanting to stop using and drinking, but not being able to on our own. This can cause some serious side effects of stress.
The Effects of Stress
The reality is that stress can affect everyone differently, but there are some more universal signs of stress. The following are just a few of the negative effects of stress:
- Becoming overly irritable
- Experiencing excessive mood swings
- Having trouble sleeping
- Using excessive amounts of alcohol and/or illicit substances
- Sleeping too much
- Struggling at school and/or work
- Feeling physically ill
- Headaches
- Feeling overly anxious or depressed
- Becoming jittery or having shaking hands
- Feeling fearful at inopportune times
- Isolating away from loved ones
- In extreme cases, having suicidal ideations
As one can see, stress is not something to scoff at. It can be wholly debilitating and disruptive. That is why seeking professional help when stress becomes overwhelming can be crucial. This is especially true because stress can easily lead to alcohol use disorder (AUD) and substance use disorder (SUD).
Stress and Addiction
It is well documented that stress and addiction go hand in hand. According to the Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, “Stress has long been known to increase vulnerability to addiction. The last decade has led to a dramatic increase in understanding the underlying mechanisms for this association…. Human studies have benefited from the emergence of sophisticated brain-imaging tools and the cross-examination of laboratory-induced methods of stress and craving and their association with specific brain regions associated with reward and addiction risk.”
Quite frankly, many people don’t realize how stressful addiction actually is. It is not some type of choice that people want to make. It is a brain disease that keeps people sick. It can be extremely stressful to struggle with a chronic disease that is out of our control. Addiction can even be stressful in recovery. This is because many people, without the right tools, live in a stressful stage of worrying about a potential relapse.
People don’t realize just how prevalent relapses are in the U.S. According to the peer-reviewed journal Current Psychiatry Reports, “It has long been known that addictive disorders are chronic and relapsing in nature. Recent estimates from clinical treatment studies suggest that more than two-thirds of individuals relapse within weeks to months of initiating treatment.” Also, “For 1-year outcomes across alcohol, nicotine, weight, and illicit drug abuse, studies show that more than 85% of individuals relapse and return to drug use within 1 year of treatment.” It is also true that many people who struggle with excessive stress also struggle with mental illness.
Stress and Mental Illness
Like addiction, stress, and mental illness often go together. According to the peer-reviewed journal PLOS ONE, “Mental wellbeing is more than just the absence of mental illness, but also includes psychological functioning, life satisfaction, and ability to develop and maintain mutually beneficial relationships. Increased stress is considered an important cause for lowered mental wellbeing, as persistent stress is associated with an increased risk of mental disorders, a deteriorated quality of life, and a decrease in study success.”
Many people who struggle with stress and mental illness also struggle with many other underlying issues. For example, many people who struggle to manage stress are dealing with untreated trauma and/or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). These may be issues of past abuse or a traumatic life event that has not been properly addressed.
It is important to address excessive stress as soon as it arises because it can ultimately lead to mental illness. For example, many people with untreated stress end up developing more serious issues of anxiety and depression. It is also possible that excessive stress can lead to issues like bipolar disorder and certain phobias. Stress can also be extremely taxing on the body.
How Does Your Body Respond to Stress?
The reality is that untreated stress can ultimately lead to an untimely death. According to the EXCLI Journal, “Based on the type, timing, and severity of the applied stimulus, stress can exert various actions on the body ranging from alterations in homeostasis to life-threatening effects and death. In many cases, the pathophysiological complications of disease arise from stress, and the subjects exposed to stress, e.g. those that work or live in stressful environments, have a higher likelihood of many disorders. Stress can be either a triggering or aggravating factor for many diseases and pathological conditions. In this study, we have reviewed some of the major effects of stress on the primary physiological systems of humans.”
Stress also affects the body in very visible and physical ways. It can literally “age” a person a number of years. It can make the body ache and lead to feeling excessively tired and lackadaisical. Stress can also affect one’s libido and make intimacy much more difficult. Lastly, stress can literally make one’s hair fall out and cause one’s skin to become pale, dry, and excessively wrinkled. Combined with excessive drinking and using, this can be a very unhealthy situation. The good news is that there are many effective means, methods, and modalities that can help one recover from excessive stress.
Healing From Stress at the Cellular Level
Yes, with the right support and treatment, stress can be quite manageable. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), “Learning to cope in a healthy way can help reduce your stress. Taking small steps in your daily life to manage stress can have a big impact. Everyone manages stress differently. You can find and manage what triggers your stress and the right combination of healthy techniques that work for you.”
Yes, learning what works best on an individual basis is key to combating stress at the cellular level. This includes finding the right recovery professionals to work with, the right therapies to utilize, and the right lifestyle choices to make. Now, this includes a focus on diet and nutrition.
Utilizing Nutrition and Diet to Combat Stress
A poor diet has been directly linked with excess stress. According to the peer-reviewed journal Nutrients, “The relationship between diet and behavior has long been a topic of interest. This includes the effects of diet on both mental and physical health, as well as related topics of the role of stress and obesity in these processes. Dietary modification can prevent the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes, and stress-related mental disorders, including major depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are associated with an increased risk for CVD, although the mechanisms of these interactions are not well understood.”
This is why a focus on improved nutrition and diet is so important. At Exclusive Hawaii Rehab™, we believe that “food is medicine.” This is why we have licensed dietitians and professional nutritionists on staff. We are also one of the few recovery centers that has a licensed naturopath doctor on staff as well. We also have world-class chefs prepare all of our meals with local and organic foods because we believe that quality and taste are just as important as vitamins and nutrients. We also know that exercise is critical in combating stress.
The fact is that exercise lowers stress and increases mood. According to the peer-reviewed journal Frontiers in Physiology, “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommend that American adults exercise for at least 30 min on most days to improve their health and quality of life. Indeed, clinical trials have shown that regular exercise is an effective treatment for disease, including physical ailments e.g., cardiovascular disease, and psychiatric disorders e.g., depression. Further, regular exercise is frequently associated with general well-being and lower rates of mood and anxiety disorders in cross-sectional studies and with improved longevity and decreased mortality in prospective studies.”
Evidence-Based Modalities to Combat Stress
There are also many effective evidence-based modalities that can help with stress. Perhaps the most effective is the use of psychotherapies like cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). This is because these therapies can get to the underlying issues associated with stress (and the resulting addiction and mental illness) and help the individual begin to adjust the negative behaviors associated with them.
It is also true that CBT and DBT offer many other benefits. For example, DBT offers the option for improved acceptance and mindfulness. According to the peer-reviewed journal Psychiatry (Edgmont), “In DBT, mindfulness skills help patients attend to what is happening in the present. Some of the mindfulness skills involve attending to and nonjudgmentally observing the current experience, describing the facts of the current experience or situation, and fully participating in the activity/experience of the present, while attending to one thing at a time (‘one-mindfully’) and focusing on effective, skillful behavior. Therapists teach patients mindfulness skills in skills training, encourage mindfulness in individual therapy, and often practice mindfulness themselves.”
How Creativity Can Help With Stress
There are other types of therapists who can help with stress via other methods. For example, there are experiential therapists who utilize nature-based techniques to help people recover from their stress by connecting with the world around them. There are also other experiential therapists who help individuals recover by helping them connect to their creative sides. These are therapists who engage in art therapy.
Art therapy can be highly beneficial, especially for individuals struggling with issues of stress and their mental health. According to the peer-reviewed journal, Cureus, “Art therapy is used most commonly to treat mental illnesses and can aid in controlling manifestations correlated with psychosocially challenging behaviours, slowing cognitive decline, and enhancing the quality of life. Art therapy can help people express themselves more freely, improve their mental health, and improve interpersonal relationships. The basis of art therapy is established on the idea that people can recover and feel better via artistic expression.”
A Focus on Meditation
Another highly effective way to manage stress is via holistic healing methods like yoga and meditation. Meditation can be particularly helpful because it can help to slow down racing thoughts and bring a sense of serenity and balance to one’s life.
There are many types of meditation that can be helpful in mitigating stress. According to the peer-reviewed journal JAMA Internal Medicine, “Many people use meditation to treat stress and stress-related conditions, as well as to promote general health… Meditation training programs vary in several ways, including the type of mental activity promoted, amount of training, the use and qualifications of an instructor, and emphasis on religion or spirituality.” The key is to find the right meditation that works for you and stick to it. Also, making sure that it is part of a recovery plan and not the only recovery plan.
Healing at the Cellular Level With Exclusive Hawaii Rehab™
Here at Exclusive Hawaii Rehab™, we believe in long-term success over short-term “fixes.” This is why all of our recovery plans are individualized and comprehensive, with a focus on the future. That, we believe, is how you begin to heal at the cellular level.
If you are sick of being stressed out, the time to recover is now. You can do this! We can help.
Many people respond to stress poorly. This includes people who respond to stress with alcohol, substances, and toxic behaviors. The good news is that there are many effective tools for managing stress and maintaining a stress-free life. There are also many supplemental modalities that can help one work through the underlying causes of their stress. If you feel like you or a loved one is struggling with issues of addiction, mental illness, or co-occurring disorders, we can help get you on the positive path toward long-term recovery right away. You don’t have to go through this process alone. For more information about the dangers of stress and how to combat it, reach out to Exclusive Hawaii Rehab™ at (808) 775-0200.
