How repeated stress impairs memory
Understanding chronic stress
Stress is often described as a feeling of being overwhelmed, worried or run-down. Stress can affect people of all ages, genders and circumstances and can lead to both physical and psychological health issues. By definition, stress is any uncomfortable “emotional experience accompanied by predictable biochemical, physiological and behavioral changes.” Some stress can be beneficial at times, producing a boost that provides the drive and energy to help people get through situations like exams or work deadlines. However, an extreme amount of stress can have health consequences and adversely affect the immune, cardiovascular, neuroendocrine and central nervous systems.
In addition, an extreme amount of stress can take a severe emotional toll. While people can overcome minor episodes of stress by tapping into their body’s natural defenses to adapt to changing situations, excessive chronic stress, which is constant and persists over an extended period of time, can be psychologically and physically debilitating.
Unlike everyday stressors, which can be managed with healthy stress management behaviors, untreated chronic stress can result in serious health conditions including anxiety, insomnia, muscle pain, high blood pressure and a weakened immune system. Research shows that stress can contribute to the development of major illnesses, such as heart disease, depression and obesity. According to a 2010 survey by the American Psychological Association (APA), health care providers are more likely to advise adults to reduce their stress levels when they consider their health as fair or poor than if they rate their health as excellent or good. Some studies have even suggested that unhealthy chronic stress management, such as over-consuming “comfort” foods, has contributed to the growing obesity epidemic. The APA survey also found that obese adults were more than twice as likely as normal-weight adults to have been told by a health professional to reduce their stress levels.
The consequences of chronic stress are serious, particularly as it contributes to anxiety and depression. People who suffer from depression and anxiety are at a heightened risk for heart disease, with depression leading to a two-fold increased risk and anxiety a doubling of increased risk. Additionally, people exposed to chronic stress are at a heightened risk of developing drug addiction.
Stress Memory Loss
The memory loss from stress is not the same as memory loss from a physical Head injury.
Stress related memory has to do more with perception. Prolonged stress tends to ‘flatten’ the perceptive process, you notice only things related to the stressful situation that occupies your mind. The conscious mind tells the subconscious mind “These are the important things,” and the subconscious mind does it’s best to provide only relevant information and withhold the rest.
It’s not that memory loss causes things to be forgotten, but that they are deemed to be not important. When the same stressful state of mind is repeated day after day, the mind becomes conditioned to react to the pressures in specific ways, and that includes selective remembering.
The danger from stress is not simply memory loss, but the fact that the way you think about yourself, your loved ones and the world changes negatively.
Stress Fatigue
Fatigue is the first and most common symptom of stress, and it is also the most curable.
Fatigue is a direct outcome of stress. The mind shifts into a higher gear and consumes more energy, and the body assumes there is a physical threat and goes into a tense state of readiness. When this state is prolonged, the body starts burning the reserves and damaging the ‘infrastructure’.
Rest very efficiently cures fatigue. With the conscious mind out of the way, the body is able to restore itself quickly and fully. However, the conscious mind also has to learn to overcome its problems, because the body can go through only so many cycles of high damage and high healing before making a mistake somewhere.
For long term, deep, and healing rest confusion and conflict of the conscious mind have to be let go. Take a five minute rest, get a good night’s sleep, take a vacation - or change your daily routine if necessary.
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Yuen et al.: “Repeated Stress Causes Cognitive Impairment by Suppressing Glutamate Receptor Expression and Function in Prefrontal Cortex.”
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Elisabeth (Lisa) Lyons
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