4 Ways Chronic Stress Can Impact Your Brain Health – Everyone is aware that stress is a major part of life. But, did you know about the range of impacts it can have?
While some stress is a normal part of life, chronic or ongoing stress can lead to serious issues. Thus, stress is not an illness, but ongoing and unmanaged stress can lead to a host of negative outcomes. Imagine what one stressful thought after another feels like in your body. If you take the time to pause and notice, you will notice that you feel tired and drained. However, very few people realize you are also destroying your health and brain with chronic stress. Many people remain unaware of the damaging impact of stress on the mind, body and overall wellbeing.
4 WAYS STRESS CAN MAJORLY IMPACT YOUR HEALTH
Know what stress can do to you.
Stress Can Shrink Your Brain
Chronic stress results in higher cortisol levels. Studies found high cortisol lower brain volumes and reduced gray matter in the prefrontal cortex, (the part of the brain that helps with self-control, attention, etc. And shrinks grey matter in the occipital lobe, which is the visual processing center. Grey matter is important as it helps process information in your brain.
Level Of Stress Can Change How Your Process Information
Normally, an alert person’s brain has moderate amounts of chemical messengers that lead the prefrontal cortex to take charge and perform high-level thinking. Weaker control of thoughts, emotions and actions. But with stress, those chemical signals can flood the brain. So instead of information processing and flowing, the threat system of the brain is activated.
Risks Of Developing Mental Illness
Ongoing stress can lead to depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Stress impacts one’s hormones, heart, and metabolism and unmanaged chronic stress lead to long-term changes in brain structure and function, which may lead to different mental illnesses.
Excess Stress Can Kill Brain Cells
Researchers found stressful events can kill the new neurons in your brain’s hippocampus which is the part of your brain that is responsible for memory, emotion and learning.
4 Ways Chronic Stress Can Impact Your Brain Health
