We are how we are because “Clot” the caveman survived

Stress is a part of the human condition.  Way back when, natural selection favored the prehistoric person with the most powerful stress response, which was a big-time hormonal jolt in the face of danger.  We’ll call this guy Clot.  We’ll call him that because it was important for his blood to clot if he was physically injured in order to survive.

We’ll call the caveman who was mellow, Flow.  Flow was an imaginative easy going no-worries guy.  Unfortunately, he probably got eaten early in life because he didn’t react to danger fast enough.  Clot, on the other hand survived.

Zipping ahead to today, stresses still come, but they won’t be a T-Rex, a tiger, or a hostile tribe.  They are more likely to be a traffic jam, auto rage, fear over a loved one, or threat of job loss.

Fight or flight response
The catch is most of don’t descend from Flow, but from Clot, the fretful, alert, nervous, reactive, quick-to-react caveman.  When we’re stressed we still crave a good run for the safety of the jungle or the cave.  This is often called the “fight-or-flight” response.  If we don’t, our bodies remain a stew pot of stress chemicals.

If you don’t burn off the stress by revving your metabolism, it will leave you feeling tired at night. Isn’t that how many of us often feel after a stressful day at work?  Some would argue that it makes you sick.

You can’t fight nature.  You need to balance the sedentary part of your day with an active part.  It’s not because you should lose weight or to achieve a notion of fitness.  It’s to accomplish a basic biological need.

If you don’t get rid of your stress hormones on a regular basis you are likely to develop what is called metabolic syndrome X.  That’s a combination of risk factors that can lead to an early coronary.  They are typically insulin resistance, high blood pressure, high triglycerides, high LDL cholesterol, and low HDL cholesterol.  Any three of those combine to create “Syndrome X.”

So, a word to the wise, either lead a stressless life (which is a very very small percentage of us) or deal with your stress chemicals on a daily basis.  To do so, you’ve got to get active.

Other health tips will discuss how to deal with stress.  This one tells you why it’s life saving.

What is stress?
Stress usually means your personal world is definitely not doing what you want it to.  For example, if you’re stuck in traffic and you have an appointment for which you know you will be late, or if you are supposed to do three things at once and you don’t have time, you feel stressed.

Can you handle every day stresses or blood pressure-elevating events that can cause lasting harm?  It depends on how long you’re experiencing stress and how you perceive it.

It depends.  Stress is a positive experience if there is a feeling of control and satisfaction.  We need challenges.  Stress is okay if it’s short term so we can relax in between events.

Long term stress, the kind you can’t control or resolve, called chronic stress, can shorten our lives.  For examples mothers of chronically ill children have cells that age faster than moms with healthy kids.

What happens during a stressful event?

1. Your brain analyzes the situation.  Analyzing whether it is a threat or not. If we judge it to be threatening, we gear up to deal with it.Your body releases adrenaline from the adrenal glands which raises your blood pressure, makes your heart pump faster, thickens your blood ( to keep you from bleeding to death from a wound), and prepares your body for emergency action.  This was life saving for your ancestors, or a person at war now, but not for you and me.Next, the adrenal glands release cortisol, which rushes to your brain to keep that response going through the crisis and help lodge the event in your memory.
2. When cortisol is released, the cells become insensitive to insulin because the body is now prepared for fight-or-flight, not for eating.
3. During chronic stress the system remains in the “on” position too long, over exposing your body to cortisol, adrenaline, and other chemicals.  Also, your cells are desensitized to insulin, and that can lead to diabetes.

What is burnout?
Burnout is when your life situation (at work, at home, or socially) has become intolerably bad.  A burnout situation could be that you lost your job a year ago, you are behind on your mortgage, you can’t keep up on your bills, and your kids are all sick.  Often the first sign is exhaustion – physical, mental and emotional.

The hallmark of burnout is a shift to the negative.  You begin to detach and dislike your job.  You become cynical, critical, and hostile.  You blame other people. Rather than do your very best, you try to get by with the bare minimum.  Ultimately, the one-two punch of exhaustion and cynicism culminates in a sense of inadequacy that saps a person’s strength and spirit.

Our brains are designed to reflect and catch the state of the person we’re with, which works to our advantage in most situations by helping us understand each other better.  However, constant interaction with people who are anxious, angry, stressed or traumatized floods the brain with negative emotions and activates your stress centers.  As a protective mechanism, you shut down.

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