Toxic Stress
Now more than ever, families are struggling with stress. Whether or not we realize it, those stressors are taking a toll on our mental health.
It strains our relationships.
It affects the way we react to others in our world.
It becomes toxic.
Stress vs. Toxic Stress
Stress describes the response our body has to the daily demands in our lives. Stress responses occur as a result of both positive or negative experiences. When our bodies have a stress response, our nervous system is stimulated resulting in a waterfall of neuro-endocrine immune responses that have measurable effects on the body. This is also called our “fight or flight” response. Symptoms include an increase in breathing, heart rate, and blood pressure.
The key difference between normal stress is that our bodies return to their normal “baseline” after the experience is over. When we are experiencing severe, prolonged, or repeated stressors that leave our bodies stimulated and in their “fight or flight” mode, our bodies do not return to their natural baseline and this is what we call toxic stress.
Symptoms of Toxic Stress
Normal stress impacts us at a cellular level and causes our body to do things that impact our physical health such as raising our blood pressure, causing our heart to beat erratically, makes our breathing shallow and rapid, and releasing high levels of cortisol.
When these symptoms remain for long periods of time, those high levels of cortisol do real damage to our bodies, even after the stressor is removed. These include mental and physical illness, chronic inflammation of body systems, and poor stress management and coping skills.
Who is affected by toxic stress?
Anyone can be affected by toxic stress. For example, those suffering from neglect, mental or physical abuse, extreme poverty, food scarcity, and those continually in high-stress environments can be victims of toxic stress.
What can be done to combat toxic stress?
Depending on the type of toxic stress a person is experiencing, a variety of factors can help reduce negative effects.
Removing the stressor (the agent that produce stress) is the most obvious strategy, but is often impossible.
In those cases, however, other responses can help reduce the effects of toxic stress. For example, studies have shown caregiver warmth and affection can mitigate the effects of living in extreme poverty.
Resilience factors that a person is born with or develops play a positive role as well. These include positive self concept, having a sense of control, empathy, and problem solving skills.
Positive relationships, it’s no surprise, are hugely impactful in mitigating symptoms of toxic stress. If you’re a caregiver, teacher, or mentor of the afflicted, you’ve likely seen first-hand what a positive influence you have.