How The Brain Responds To Stress

Stress is a force coming from inside or outside of the body which affects a person. This activates the brain to respond to the stressor. A new discovery by the research team from the University of Leicester has discovered the nerve cells which are responsible for coping mechanism to stress.
In general, stress is related to both external and internal factors. External factors include the physical environment, including job, relationships with others, and all the situations, challenges, difficulties, and expectations a person is confronted with on a daily basis. Internal factors determine the body’s ability of a person to respond to, and deal with, the external stress-inducing factors. Some of these internal factors which can influence a person’s ability to handle stress include his nutritional status, overall health and fitness levels, emotional well-being, and the amount of sleep and rest you get.
The researchers have discovered a deeper understanding of the brain’s function in limiting the impact of stress to a person. They have discovered nerve cells located in the brain which is described to be thin and mushroom-like responsible for a person’s recall and cognition or learning. These nerve cells also functions by changing a person’s recall of painful or any traumatic events which can put a great deal of stress to a person. Thus, lessening stress and making a person feel better.
“Every day stress “reshapes” the brain – nerve cells change their morphology, the number of connections with other cells and the way they communicate with other neurons. In most cases these responses are adaptive and beneficial – “they help the brain to cope with stress and shape adequate behavioral reaction. However, upon severe stress things can get out of control, the brain “buffering” capacity is exhausted and the nerve cells in the hippocampus – ” an area of the brain responsible for learning and memory – start to withdraw their processes, don’t effectively communicate with other cells and show signs of disease.” Dr Pawlak of the University Department of Cell Physiology and Pharmacology explained.
“One strategy that brain cells particularly like to use to cope with stress is changing the shape of tiny processes they normally employ to exchange information with other neurons, called dendritic spines.” He added.
The research was published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and can be used to understand and formulate new treatment modality for psychiatric disorders which are related to stress.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services in the US:

• 75% of the general population experiences at least “some stress” every two weeks (National Health Interview Survey).
• Half of those experience moderate or high levels of stress during the same two-week period.
• Millions of Americans suffer from unhealthy levels of stress at work. (A study several years ago estimated the number to be 11 million–given events since that time, this number has certainly more than tripled–studies in Sweden, Canada, and other Westernized countries show similar trends.)
• Worker’s compensation claims for “mental stress” in California rose 200-700% in the 1980s (whereas all other causes remained stable or declined!)
• Stress contributes to heart disease, high blood pressure, strokes, and other illnesses in many individuals.
• Stress also affects the immune system, which protects us from many serious diseases.
• Tranquilizers, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety medications account for one fourth of all prescriptions written in the U.S. each year.
• Stress also contributes to the development of alcoholism, obesity, suicide, drug addiction, cigarette addiction, and other harmful behaviors.
• The U.S. Public Health Service has made reducing stress by the year 2000 one of its major health promotion goals.