Whether it’s financial hardship, worry or grief for loved ones, relationship problems, a lack of joie de vivre or even stress at work – these days are tough!
Corona has left its mark on all of us, in whatever form, and the younger generation is jokingly referred to as Generation Internet, Generation Y or Generation Stress.

According to an American study, this generation (born between 1980/90) spends an average of four hours a day worrying. If we extrapolate that to a year, that’s a whopping 63 days! The biggest stress factor is their own financial situation, followed by tiredness and health concerns. More than half of those surveyed stated that they typically start the day with a lack of sleep. And too little sleep in turn triggers additional stress – a vicious circle!

But young employees are not only increasingly stressed in their private lives, but also at work. Of course, we are all familiar with stress at work. But Generation Y associates their job more strongly with psychological stress than any other age group. Too many tasks, too few staff, trouble with colleagues and the need to be available outside of working hours are the main causes of resentment. Added to this are external circumstances such as a poor childcare infrastructure, less flexible working hours and high expectations from those around them – not to mention their own success.

So we can already see the trend here – what is our society moving towards? Certainly not towards deceleration!

On the contrary, the world is getting faster and faster. Stress has become our daily bread.

But what is stress anyway?

There are different types of stress, such as acute stress, episodic acute stress and chronic stress. It is initially just a physical and mental reaction to a demand or burden that is perceived as a threat, challenge or opportunity, i.e. completely non-judgmental. However, depending on the type of stress, it can lead to physical and emotional reactions that can have an impact on health and well-being. This can even lead to “silent burnout”. This malady is often the immediate precursor to a “real” burnout.

How does the body react to stress?

It all starts in a tiny area in our body, an area no bigger than an amygdala. It is the fear center, the amygdala. It is located in the limbic system of our brain and is responsible for all kinds of functions: It processes our emotions, controls our psychological and also physical reactions to stress and is responsible for our experience of fear.

If we exceed a certain threshold of stress signals, for example when something is new or dangerous, our nerve cells fire and the so-called stress axis goes into action:

The amygdala passes the stimulus on to the hypothalamus, which releases the hormone CRH (corticotropin-releasing hormone). The CRH signal is passed on from the hypothalamus to the pituitary gland, which now produces the hormone ACTH (adrenocorticotropic hormone).

And we are at the end of the line: when ACTH is released by the pituitary gland, it stimulates the adrenal glands to release the hormones adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol.

The adrenal glands are small hormonal glands that sit on top of the kidneys.

Now we are awake and alert, ready to act quickly.

All the organ functions we need to survive are activated at lightning speed:

• The breath accelerates
• Pulse and blood pressure rise
• The liver produces more blood sugar
• The spleen flushes out more red blood cells, which transport oxygen to the muscles
• The veins in the muscles dilate. This improves the blood supply to the muscles
• Muscle tone increases. This often leads to tension. Trembling, foot tapping and teeth grinding are also related to this
• The blood coagulates faster. This protects the body from blood loss
• The cells produce messenger substances that are important for immune defense
• Digestion and sexual functions decline. This saves energy!

The bronchial tubes dilate to provide more oxygen for the muscles and the liver releases more glucose into the blood to increase blood sugar levels. Our ability to think is reduced during this phase, while our reflex actions, such as flight and attack, are activated. Adrenaline also provides energy quickly by breaking down fat. Our thought processes give way to pre-programmed reflex actions (flight and attack).

The trap!

If we read it like that, then it makes an incredible amount of sense – from an evolutionary point of view, of course, a stimulus from the environment that is strong enough to put us in a state of heightened alertness and performance sounds very sensible, according to the motto: Run for your life!

The trap

The stupid thing is that our body cannot distinguish between a race-for-your-life signal and a situation in which we simply have financial worries or pressure to perform. The signal doesn’t even have to come from outside, we keep triggering stress reactions within ourselves with our own thoughts, the fear center works at full speed from time to time.

The short-term effect of stress may not even sound very unpleasant to us, nor does it make us ill. Things get dicey with chronic long-term stress without recovery. In this case, the effects of cortisol predominate. And this has very far-reaching consequences. The different stress phases are a good way of illustrating exactly how this happens.

The stress phases

There are three different phases of the stress response:

1. the alarm phase
2. the resistance phase and
3. the exhaustion phase
4. at best: the regeneration phase

The alarm phase is a pure reaction. The stress hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are released. The heartbeat and breathing accelerate, blood pressure and blood sugar rise. So far so good.

If we do not stop giving our body stress signals, we are in the resistance phase. Our body resigns itself to its fate and adapts to a prolonged stress situation. We now start to produce more of the hormone cortisol. Cortisol acts more slowly than the fast hormones nor-/adrenaline and its effect is also delayed.

If the stress reaction continues for a long time, an exhaustion phase occurs. The body is simply overstretched and the stress hormones can no longer simply be buffered, more and more cortisol is produced. At this point, we get the receipt from our body and serious illnesses creep in – the silent burn-out has begun.

After each phase, the regeneration phase can or should ideally begin immediately. This is where our parasympathetic nervous system comes into action and ensures that our body relaxes and comes to rest again.

But what if the regeneration phase never occurs?

The consequences of constant stress

Anyone who is constantly stressed – in whatever form – will sooner or later develop hormonal disorders.

As we have seen, the body’s reaction, starting during the resistance phase, is a permanent release of cortisol. This initially puts a strain on the adrenal glands and influences all kinds of processes in the body! Some processes are only possible with a low cortisol level. For example, the production of hormones, the burning of fat, digestion and the production of T3 thyroid hormones. Instead of the highly metabolically active T3 form, a less effective rT3 thyroid hormone is produced, which leads to tiredness, low mood and weight gain.

Cortisol causes the liver to provide more glucose in order to have sufficient energy in stressful situations, causing blood sugar levels to rise. If more cortisol is initially released during prolonged stress, more insulin must also be produced in the pancreas in order to regulate and lower the increased blood sugar levels.

If the pancreas now has to constantly fight against the increased blood sugar levels and release insulin, the insulin receptors on the target cells react less and less sensitively to this. This can lead to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

(Go through the list again – what happens under stress? All reactions become permanent! )

Stress and hormones

First of all, stress affects other hormonal control circuits in the body. For example, high stress hormone levels inhibit the production of the male and female sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen. In women, it affects the menstrual cycle: menstrual cycle disorders occur (too long/too short) and men may develop erectile dysfunction or impotence. As a result, both men and women may already experience a loss of sexual desire.

Stress and memory

We come back to the starting point, the center of fear! Our amygdala. After all, it was responsible for triggering the stress response in the first place and protecting us from potential dangers. But that’s not all.

It also ensures that an important memory region, the hippocampus, remembers precisely this stress-inducing situation and prepares itself so that it can react even more quickly to the stimulus the next time. In this way, we can better protect ourselves from similar stressors in the future.
Yes… In theory at least. Chronic stress can easily ruin this positive effect!

Research has shown that chronic stress can damage the cell processes in the hippocampus, which has a negative impact on our memory.

Our thinking is also closely connected to the amygdala, especially the frontal lobe or prefrontal cortex. It helps us to control our emotions and make sensible decisions. However, chronic stress can also alter the prefrontal cortex, making it difficult for us to make decisions and changing our relationship with our own emotions and fears.

The consequences are far-reaching

As the disease progresses, the production of cortisol and the sex hormone DHEA decreases, as well as other steroid hormones such as progesterone, because the adrenal glands become increasingly fatigued due to the constant overload. Progesterone deficiency is a frequent co-factor in the development of autoimmune thyroid diseases such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis.

Our body reacts in a way that was beneficial to it in prehistoric times to ensure survival. However, as practical as this mechanism is, it becomes disastrous when our lives are not only temporarily disrupted like those of our ancestors, but are determined by constant stress.

Sooner or later, the adrenal glands are exhausted. Cortisol levels fall and we notice the problem by feeling less and less able to cope with the challenges of everyday life.

The adrenal gland

The adrenal gland is our most important “stress organ”, as it is here that the stress hormones necessary for stress are produced. It is therefore logical that permanent stress makes itself felt here first. Exhaustion of cortisol production can lead to burnout if we overdo it with stress. This means that the adrenal glands have produced so many hormones that they are completely exhausted and no longer function properly. The Turkish thing is that we can’t put a finger on the symptoms at first. We are exhausted and talk about fatigue and ignore these feelings rather than paying attention to them. The stress reaction is no longer followed by a response from the body, we are empty and burnt out.

This is known as adrenal insufficiency, which is one of the typical civilization diseases of our time but is strangely little known.

How can I tell if I have adrenal insufficiency?

If you answer “yes” to more than half of the following statements, an adrenal insufficiency is at least obvious:

I’m tired all the time and even getting enough sleep doesn’t really change that. I often wake up at night, usually between 2 and 4 am. I don’t really get going in the morning and only become more active again in the evening. When I do get up to do something, I am quickly exhausted (mentally) and feel listless. Many things that I used to enjoy no longer give me any pleasure or are even a burden. I rarely feel like having sex, my libido has become low.

I am easily irritable and can no longer cope with stress, it feels like I am allergic to it. I often feel foggy and can’t concentrate. It feels like I’m living my life passively, I can no longer actively participate, I just function. I also get dizzy quickly after getting up.

I have increased cravings for snacks, coffee, (caffeinated) sweet drinks and am prone to compulsive eating, media consumption, alcohol, nicotine or drug use. For women: My PMS has worsened.

The phases of adrenal insufficiency

There are four phases of adrenal insufficiency. In the first phase, the initial stage, the cortisol level is particularly high in the morning. If the stress continues, it can move into the second phase, in which the cortisol level remains constantly high throughout the day. Up to this point, we don’t notice anything. In the third phase, the actual exhaustion phase of the adrenal glands begins, the morning cortisol level drops and remains low for the rest of the day. In the last phase, both cortisol levels and DHEA are constantly low, you feel drained and all energy is gone.

How can you reduce stress and reduce/compensate for physical damage?

Unfortunately, stress is sometimes unavoidable, but we can reduce it by paying attention to our thoughts and establishing various rituals and habits. Above all, however, we should treat ourselves with a lot of love and take our well-being seriously, putting it first or at least second if there is no other way. In any case, the topic of stress management is very extensive and you can read all about it in my next blog entry! 🙂

A