How does our body react to stress?

Stress is a word that most people know and use or have heard frequently when talking about those situations that make us feel bad. However, this concept is normally related to the subjective experience of feeling stressed, that is, what makes us feel uncomfortable or even generally unwell; it is less common to know the true scope of stress in the human body, beyond the mind and consciousness of the person, when this reaction appears.

Therefore, in this article we will talk about how the human body reacts to stress. But first of all, let's see what this phenomenon consists of.

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What is stress?

Stress is a psychological and physiological mechanism that takes place in the body when we are faced with situations that we perceive as dangerous or risky, and puts us in a state in which our nervous system is activated more than normal and our muscles remain tense and ready to make rapid movements. In other words, it is a coordinated response of various parts of the body to a circumstance that we interpret as a challenge to which we must be alert, a consequence of millions of years of natural selection, favoring those capable of reacting quickly to fleeting dangers and opportunities. they present.

From what we have seen so far, it follows that stress is not a physical or mental health problem. It is true that we associate this word with the fact of feeling discomfort, but all things considered, it is normal for this to be the case; when we feel stressed, that experience It is part of what motivates us to address as soon as possible what we see as a problem or a challenge. to make our body calm down and return to normal as soon as possible. Thus, in many cases, stress helps us to detect what must be attended to urgently and to keep it in our minds until the reason to worry about it disappears. And at the same time, it keeps our body ready to move quickly and to reduce the damage caused by potential dangers.

Thus, stress is not a problem that threatens our quality of life, far from it. In any case, it is a mechanism that allows us to adjust to problems. In fact, if a person never experiences stress, that can be considered a sign that something is wrong with their brain or their neuroendocrine system in general.

Now, there are always exceptions; As we will see, there are some circumstances in which, if we do not manage our emotions and behavior patterns correctly, stress becomes part of the problem and begins to wear us down physically and mentally.

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How does the human body react to stressful situations?

With what we have seen so far, we already know that stress is a transitory adaptation to situations that require us to focus on the here and now to seek quick solutions to problems that we perceive as immediate. Evolutionarily, it can be explained as a readjustment of the functioning of our nervous system and certain organs of the body to prepare us for two types of responses: fight or flight. Both involve speed of movement and thought, although channeling our efforts towards different actions. Therefore, the changes that the human body undergoes when we experience stress are in line with these two types of behavior, and are as follows.

1. Increased sensitivity to stimuli

When a person is stressed, he becomes more sensitive to stimuli, since that way he will be able to react faster at the slightest sign of imminent danger.

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2. Increased muscle tension

By keeping the muscles of the body more tense than normal "automatically" (that is, without having to do it deliberately), we are able to take advantage of our strength, we move faster, and by hardening the muscles we protect the vulnerable parts of the body more in the event of injury.

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3. Increased heart rate and blood pressure

As in a stressful situation you have to stay alert and know how to react quickly, the body gives the order for the circulatory system to work with greater intensity, so that the blood can transport oxygen and other resources to the muscles more quickly

4. Reduction of the volume of the capillaries

As the blood circulates faster, the capillaries reduce in size to limit potential blood loss in the event of injury.

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5. sweating

Sweating is one of the consequences of the body temperature increasing due to the acceleration of its activity, since the need arises to dissipate the heat generated more quickly.

6. Recycling of glucose and other resources

On the other hand, stress causes the resources that under normal circumstances would be allocated to all types of cells distributed by the body are redirected to those most involved in the fight and flight response, mainly those of the fibers muscular. In addition, also a process of cell destruction begins to capture their proteins and redirect them to the muscles, a process that is especially noticeable if the level of high stress is maintained for a long time and that contributes to certain disorders giving rise to health problems linked to stress.

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Do you want to have professional psychological assistance in the face of stress?

If you are looking for psychotherapy services to learn how to manage stress and anxiety, we invite you to contact our team.

In psychotools We have been treating patients with emotional, behavioral and lifestyle problems for many years, and We currently work both in face-to-face psychology sessions and through the online modality by video call. In addition, you may also be interested in our Mindfulness courses and workshops designed so that people learn simple mindfulness exercises that can be applied on a daily basis to keep excess at bay of stress.