The association between stress and anxiety has now been well established. And with the ever-increasing pace of modern-day life seemingly accelerating at an exponential rate, we need to ask the question…
Is stress in our genes, and is there anything that we can do to combat it? To answer this, we need to understand stress in slightly more detail. Simply put, there are 3 types of stress.
Acute Stress
Acute stress happens to the vast majority of people throughout the day, but it’s usually fleeting.
From running for the train and losing your temper at not getting a seat, to the occasional bungee jump. You can encounter the effects of acute stress from a variety of situations, but it usually results in no harm.
Short-term stress can be seen from a variety of tell-tale signs, such as:
- Headaches, neck and back pain
- Heart burn, digestion problems, constipation
- Increased anger, depression and anxiety
- Increased blood pressure, rapid heartbeat, problems relaxing/sleeping
Episodic Acute Stress
Episodic acute stress is when you continually have episodes of acute stress. You will find that people who are busy with both their work and family or cannot quite get the work life balance right will fall into the category fairly easily.
Episodic acute stress can be seen from a variety of tell-tale signs, such as:
- Muscle tension, tension in the shoulders, headaches and migraines
- Higher risk of colds and flu as your immune system will be affected
- Increased risk of anxiety, depression and a negative effect on mental fatigue
Chronic Stress
Chronic stress is by far the most serious type of stress, as a pronounced stress response over an extended time period will significantly damage both your physical and mental health. When your stress levels rise, you will release the hormone cortisol, which is responsible for a variety of metabolic functions, such as helping to regulate your thyroid hormone.
Stress and Your Thyroid
The thyroid regulates nearly every major metabolic function in your body and as such, a poor functioning thyroid can have a detrimental effect on nearly every area of your health. Several examples of poor thyroid function include weight gain, reduced metabolic rate, fatigue, feeling depressed or moody, as well as dry hair and skin.
Genetics and Stress
So how does genetics and your individual genes play into this? Well, your genes will actually predispose you to a variety of stress outcomes.
Below are the 6 main areas that Muhdo analyses within the “Stress Mode” and we can now go through in more detail to allow you to understand the different forms of stress. It is completely normal to have a certain action or reaction in a stressful situation.
Stress and Pressure
Pressure is the perception that one may have on the external factors affecting life. Many people often conclude that they are stressed due to the pressures placed upon them from finances, friends or family, perceived duty, work and a multitude of other factors. How one responds to the situation may differ due to their gene variations and so translating this result can lead to a superior understanding of oneself.
Stress and Memory
Acute stress may cause a sudden memory loss, which unfortunately could come at a time when you need it the most (think exams, tests, etc.). Chronic stress might also lead to an inability to form new memories, which – again – if you are revising, practising for an event, or meeting new people, could be highly detrimental. Our genes play a role in this response and understanding this may help you put into place certain pre-test rituals, methods of revising, etc. that may reduce stress levels and therefore benefit your memory.
Dealing with Stress
How we deal with stress is important. Methods to reduce stress include breathing exercises, meditation, eating certain foods, working out, etc. However, some people are more likely to keep themselves isolated when chronically stressed and research has shown that it is better to talk to someone than hiding away. There is also a correlation between people who are more likely to isolate themselves and certain genetic variants.
Stress Leading to Physical Symptoms
Stress can cause a magnitude of physical symptoms. Acute stress can cause tremors, muscle twitches, sweating, flushing, increased heart rate, skin itching, headaches, and more.
Chronic stress can cause increased blood pressure, muscle aches and a number of diseases such as diabetes, obesity and migraines. Genetic variants are linked to how we may respond to stress from a physical perspective.
Stress and the Heart
Stress can cause a host of physical issues as highlighted in the section above. A major part of stress is that the physical symptoms can affect the heart. Stress affects the heart in both a chronic and acute sense and these could have the same or different symptoms, with certain genetic variants being linked to how the heart may be affected by stress.
Caffeine and Stress
Caffeine is a stimulant which can help to “perk” you up if you are feeling tired. It is often used to help with focus before training or learning. Caffeine, like all drugs, affects people in different ways and it may or may not be a good choice in times of stress. In general, caffeine will increase heart rate and this may be negative for any stressful situation.
Energy drinks containing caffeine are often used in times of exams and tests. Understanding how you may respond in these stressful situations is vital for making the correct choice. You can easily see from the examples above of how stress can manifest itself in different forms.
Combatting Stress
One of the keys to combating this is firstly knowing that you may be genetically predisposed to having a specific outcome, hopefully it can give you some reassurance in knowing that you are in fact “hardwired” to feeling this way.
Once you have come to the realisation that your genes are encoded for a specific outcome, you can mitigate their effect with certain tweaks to your diet, exercise and lifestyle.
Changing your lifestyle can include exercise as it increases the expression of the gene BDNF, which will improve cognitive performance, memory as well as alleviating anxiety and the physical symptoms of stress. 15 minutes a day may be all you need. You can also include more Vitamin C as studies have shown that it can curb the levels of stress hormones while strengthening the immune system.
Top 5 Foods Rich in Vitamin C
- Papaya 1 medium 168.08mg
- Bell Peppers 1 cup 117.48mg
- Broccoli 1 cup 101.24mg
- Brussels Sprouts 1 cup 96.72mg
- Strawberries 1 cup 84.67mg
There are also a handful of other nutrients such as magnesium, zinc and calcium that can dramatically decrease psychological distress and reduce your overall stress levels as well.