How to protect yourself from the damaging effects of stress

Over the past 10-15 years, humanity has plunged into the world of information technology and gadgets. As soon as we wake up, we pick up our smartphones to check the news. On the way to work or school, we browse social networks, respond to messages in e-mail and instant messengers. And so on until the evening.

15 years is too short a time for the human brain to have time to adapt to such loads. After all, adaptation processes take centuries, and some functions of the body even took millennia to adapt to unfamiliar tasks. Therefore, rapid technological progress increases the level of stress and thus threatens our health.

The same progress “rejuvenates” stress: at risk are young people and middle-aged people, who are more susceptible to the influence of technology, gadgets and “information noise” in general. As a result, the body of people who are now 25-30 years old may be more depleted than the bodies of those who are 50-60 years old.

Good and bad stress

The scientist Hans Selye not only introduced the term “stress” into the science of physiology, but also developed a biological explanation for how the body reacts and adapts to stress.

According to Selye, stress is a normal state of the body, since it is associated with the improvement of adaptive mechanisms. Thus, stress reactions help a person cope with difficulties. Stress begins to cause direct harm to health if it is chronic.

Hans Selye spoke of three stages of stress:

1. Stage of anxiety

It is in this phase that stress contributes to the activation of the body’s adaptive resources. An alarm signal is sent to the hypothalamus, then to the pituitary gland, and then to the adrenal glands, which release the hormones adrenaline and cortisol. Adrenaline gives a person a boost of energy, increases heart rate and raises blood pressure, while cortisol raises blood sugar levels.

2. Stage of resistance

If the factor that creates stress persists, then the body begins to fight its manifestations in order to use adaptive resources in a balanced way.

3. Stage of exhaustion

The adaptive abilities of the body are depleted, so it gradually loses the ability to deal with the stressor and reduce its harmful effects. It is at this stage that we can begin to experience health problems.

With constant “digital noise”, the brain spends all its resource on the thought process in order to effectively navigate in the digital space. In such a situation, he does not have resources for physiological regulation. And then exhaustion sets in.

How to avoid nervous exhaustion

In order not to reach the third stage of stress, when medications and outside help are needed, simple rules should be followed:

1. Have a digital detox throughout the day – you need to rest about as much as you worked.

2. Align your sleep patterns. From 22 pm to 3 am, melatonin is produced, which is responsible for the balance of cortisol, the “stress hormone”. If we sleep the required number of hours and go to bed at the right time, then the cells regenerate, the body rests. And our immune defenses are able to cope with viruses and stress.

3. Avoid the abuse of simple carbohydrates – sugar, pastries and sweets. An excess of carbohydrates leads to acidification around the cells, they become “sluggish and incapacitated.” Because of this, the immune defense of the whole organism decreases, and you begin to age prematurely.

4. Provide yourself with moderate exercise in the fresh air. Every day you need to at least walk! Mitochondria (a component of the cell, its “energy station.” – Approx. ed.) are responsible for the production of energy, without which the body cannot function normally. And for mitochondria to work, they must receive oxygen. That’s what you will supply, playing sports.

5. Develop the body’s adaptive resources. Some particularly effective treatments are only possible under medical conditions. A cryocapsule with short-term exposure to ultra-low temperatures (from -130 to -160°C), saturation of the body and brain with oxygen in a pressure chamber, interval hypoxic therapy (inhalation of air similar in composition to mountain air. – Note ed.) – all these procedures normalize metabolic processes and trigger healing mechanisms by the forces of the body itself, their effectiveness is based on a short-term effect of a stress factor on the body. Before deciding on them, you need to consult a doctor.