Stress

The Stress-Response Cycle

From Burnout: the body releases stress hormones when stimulated by “dangerous” situations in preparation for physical exertion. These hormones provide support to the muscles by increasing blood pressure, while suppressing the digestive, immune, and reproductive systems (since those are of more distant concern to an organism running for its life). The problem is, while this stress response served us millennia ago living in the savannah when fight and flight was a daily reality, they’re less helpful now when it isn’t socially appropriate to fight or flee out way out of stressful situations like public speaking or talking to an annoying colleague. The body waits for cues like physical exertion, after which it assumes you’ve survived the threat and it stops producing stress hormones. But if it never gets those cues, you stay in “stressed” mode, and long-term exposure to stress hormones can lead to heart disease and a number of other health issues.

The key is to complete the stress response cycle after a period of stress, so the body will stop producing stress hormones. Burnout provides a number of evidence-based ways to do that:

1. Exercise
2. Deep, slow breathing, especially when the exhale is long and slow. (e.g. 4-7-8 breathing)
3. Positive social interaction (“the first external sign that the world is a safe place”)
4. Deep laughter, especially in social situations
5. Deep connection with a loving presence (e.g. a six-second kiss with a partner or 20-second hug with a friend)
6. Crying, which signals to the body that the threat is over
7. Creative expression: “engaging in creative activities today leads to more energy, excitement, and enthusiasm tomorrow”

Reducing Stress

• As the stocks and flows modeler knows, reducing the effects (outflow) of stress is a losing game unless you also reduce the causes (inflow) of stress.
• Drink enough water: “Studies have shown that being just half a liter dehydrated can increase your cortisol [stress hormone] levels”
• A 2000 study found that cold water immersion for an hour reduced plasma cortisol levels by 34%. Presumably a cold shower could have a similar effect.
• get out in nature

A Tragic Feedback Loop

As described in Behave by Dr. Robert Sapolsky, tragically, one of the most reliable ways to reduce one’s own stress is to take it out on others. This can lead to a reinforcing feedback loop in which lots of people in a group are stressing each other out.

Not all Stress is Bad

Peak Performance introduces the equation “Stress + Rest = Growth”. This is true of all Antifragile systems, which get more resilient in the wake of moderate, temporary stress. The psychological theory of post-traumatic growth suggests that such growth can result from even major stresses under the right conditions.