Q: When I feel stressed, the symptoms I experience are not always the same. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed, driven and generally ‘hyper’, sometimes I can’t stop worrying, and at other times I just feel exhausted, or ‘down’ and lacking in motivation.
A: DR KEVIN LENTIN REPLIES:
This is a very interesting and relevant question, and the answer is definitely YES! As you move through the various phases of stress, the symptom pattern and profile will be different.
My years of clinical experience have taught me that life is about managing stress – it’s everywhere, and there’s no escaping it. For this reason we humans have developed very effective ‘stress management systems’ that can react instantaneously to the demands we place upon our bodies.
If stress is such a big issue, why doesn’t everyone feel its effects, or manifest with ‘stress symptoms’? Well, ask yourself a similar question – if we are all bombarded by the same bugs and viruses, why aren’t we all overcome by colds, flu and other infections? Whether or not we fall ill depends on many variables, including the state of our immune system, the chronicity of the exposure, previous exposure, and of course our genetic predisposition.
What we do know is that over-exposure to stress hormones accounts for 75 to 90% of all primary care visits to doctors in the USA (American Institute of Stress). The figure for women is twice as high as that for men – depression affects 12.4 million women and 6 million men in the USA each year (National Institute of Mental Health – www.nimh.gov), and 40 million American adults age 18 and older suffer from anxiety disorders. The prevalence here in South Africa is probably much the same.
There’s a good chance that each and every one of us is going to be affected by stress during our lives, in some way or another. What to do about it? Managing stress is not something that ‘just happens’. Like everything else that affects our bodies, the processes all take place biochemically. The primary system that is activated in response to stress is the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, which is part of the complex endocrine management system.
One can be affected by stress in the short term or over long and extended periods, often years. While our bodies have amazing compensatory mechanisms to help manage the stress onslaught, the body can only take so much before it begins to feel the strain and becomes less able to keep us going.
Short periods of stress are usually easily managed and coped with by the HPA system. However, when the stress is prolonged, and especially if it’s of moderate to high intensity, the HPA system, initially anyway, goes into ‘overdrive’.
With time and continual bombardment by the stressors, the HPA system becomes exhausted and begins to ‘under-respond’ to the ongoing demands. Now the symptom pattern changes and one feels tired, lethargic and demotivated, wanting to sleep all the time, and experiencing chronic pain affecting multiple areas of the body, depressed immune function resulting in recurring infections requiring repeated courses of antibiotics, and the onset of auto-immune disorders. One’s presenting symptoms may therefore vary considerably depending on whether the HPA system is over-stimulated or has become under-responsive.
Of course, not all of these symptoms develop together or are experienced at the same time. Everyone’s biochemistry reacts differently, depending on many variables including one’s threshold of stress resilience and tolerance, learned and biological programming, genetic predisposition to stress, exposure to stress chemistry in the womb, and nutritional status and lifestyle.
The astute clinician trained in the principles and concepts of Functional Medicine will have the tools at his or her disposal to carefully evaluate the status of the HPA system in order to determine the appropriate treatment. Managing stress effectively is not a ‘one- size-fits-all’ affair. Simply prescribing an antidepressant for every patient who complains of stress is not only inappropriate but may in the long run actually make the patient worse.
Functional Medicine specialists practise ‘targeted nutrition’, carefully aligning the prescription of supplements to the specific system, organ or gland that requires support in order to achieve optimal results.
Editor's note: This article will give you an idea on how Stress & Anxiety Accelerate Ageing. You may find this article just as helpful: Manage Your Time to Fight Stress.
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