Hi, I am Darren Gray, Chiropractor and neurological rehabilitation therapist from Brainstorm Rehab. I switch brains on.
What is STRESS? How does stress affect the brain? Over the next short while I will chat to you on Brainstorm Bites our podcast on brain health, these questions and I suggest maybe more can be answered.
Before we begin our journey, I am going to ask a few things from you.
Can you now sit up! Take a deep breath and relax. Why I asked of you to complete these activities, you will soon clearly discover, is that stress can impede learning.
Stress is normal. In fact, stress is an adaptive process. If you feel cold, thermoregulation mechanism kicks into gear and aim to raise the core temperature; shivering, shunting blood supply and extreme situation altering energy supplies. This an example of a healthy stress response. However, to maintain this general adaptive response for a prolonged period will lead to exhaustion. A process will inevitably lead to disease.
A metaphor I often use involves scampering from a lion in the wild. It is quite reasonable – and somewhat expected- to run – very fast away from the threat to ones self – a lion. However, to keep routinely running away from this lion – or other threats – is a very unhealthy STRESS.
Many bodily organs and systems are affected by stress. The brain, despite having a unique circularly system and an encased separate boney chamber, the central nervous system is also susessable. Some effects stress on the brain includes; creates free radicals the kills brain cells, establishes a cycle of fear and anxiety, ceases brain growth, can lead to depression, disturbs brain chemistry, can shrink the brain and can contribute to inflammation. Therefore, stress is not at all suitable for brain health.
There are many simple measures you can employ routinely to limit brain stress. I have listed seven activities that can be implemented without much trouble to support your brain health.
First is to perform Meditation routinely. It is recommended at least a few minutes of daily mindfulness. There are many resourceful apps and training aids on the web.
Secondly, enhancing your social network. Importantly the physical network rather the virtual.
Music therapy. Study's have shown that slow, soothing music can reduce anxiety, lower blood pressure and reduce heart rate.
The fourth actively you can implement is to laugh more. Have fun and a good laugh!
Next activity is to be a cheerleader! Give yourself and others gratitude and praise.
The six suggestion is to unplug yourself from technology.
The final step is to aim toward reducing brain injury- limit falls, avoid injury and support your general health.
So to recap, through various damaging chemical and electrical means STRESS can harm the brain. The brain health can be impeded. Studies have demonstrated various methods and therapies can support and guard against the harmful effects from STRESS. Today we have listed seven simple tips, such as meditation to laughing more, that can be packed into your daily routines. Enjoy a healthy stress less brain function.
At Brainstorm Rehabilitation, we are dedicated to switching brains on. For references and resources jump onto the web at brainstormrehab.com.au or join the conversation on Facebook. Thanks for joining us today on our brainstorm bites podcast on STRESS.
More Reading
Bédard, M., Felteau, M., Marshall, S., Dubois, S., Gibbons, C., Klein, R., & Weaver, B. (2012). Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: benefits in reducing depression following a traumatic brain injury. Advances in Mind-Body Medicine, 26(1), 14–20. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22875545
Chamberlain, D. J. (2006). The experience of surviving traumatic brain injury. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 54(4), 407–417. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2648.2006.03840.x
De-Paula, V. J., Radanovic, M., Diniz, B. S., & Forlenza, O. V. (2012). Alzheimer’s disease. Sub-Cellular Biochemistry, 65, 329–352. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-5416-4_14
Langhorne, P., Bernhardt, J., & Kwakkel, G. (2011). Stroke rehabilitation. Lancet, 377(9778), 1693–1702. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(11)60325-5
Madan Kataria. (2015). benifits of laughter yoga. In laughter yoga news letter.
