Do you feel a little foggy and your brain seems to act strange and not the way it should work? Did you ever consider to ask a question: Does Stress cause brain damage? You should. Let’s find the answer to this question together!
So Does Stress Cause Brain Damage Or It Isn’t Possible?
I know you all want to hear the answer, and I am sure it is not so easy to answer. Because, firstly, you all are unique in your way and stress impacts each of you differently. Secondly, not everything is black and white, and sometimes stress is needed if you want to succeed or avoid more danger.
In the distant past, stress was the thing that caused people run from danger or defend themselves. But nowadays stress usually cause more bad than good and I believe you have too much stress in your life. We all have.
And, yes, too much stress can cause brain damage, and you want to know how. Right? Let’s explore this topic a little bit further!
How Stress Affects Your Brain?
You all know (I believe) stress increases the stress hormone, but maybe you don’t know, that high levels of cortisol create long-lasting changes in the brain structure and function. This study was made by Neuroscientists at the University of California, and these finding might explain why people who suffer from chronic stress are prone to mental problems like anxiety later in life.
People with stress-related illnesses like post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have abnormalities in the brain, such as differences in the amount of white matter versus gray matter. Gray matter consists of neurons and is responsible for storing and processing information, but the white matter is a network of fibers that interconnect neurons.
There are other studies about this subject, for example, a research made by J. Douglas Bremner. People who suffer from PTSD have a smaller hippocampus, and this is a part of the brain that stores memories and counteracts the effects of stress. 
The thing is that how stress creates long-term changes in brain structure is a mystery which needs to be revealed and understood.
Chronic Stress Shrinks Your Brain
Cortisol can shrink or kill new neurons in the hippocampus. Yale team discover that stress can cause the loss of brain mass.
Stress Halts the Production of New Brain Cells
Cortisol halts the production of the Brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) that is responsible for stimulating new brain cell formation, and because of that fewer brain cells are formed.
Stress Creates Free Radicals that Kill Brain Cells
The stress hormone cortisol creates a surplus of the neurotransmitter glutamate that Glutamate produce free radicals. These radicals attack brain cells by punching holes in the brain cell walls, and in this way, they die.
Stress causes a lot of damage to your body and mind. Your brain isn’t protected, when you are stressing too much about sometimes silly things. It even causes long-lasting damage to one of your greatest organs. Do you want to avoid it and do something to stop this abuse that stress cause? Of course, you do. I believe we all want to be happy, healthy and always smiling.
Four Tips How To Help Chronically Stressed Brain
You need to do everything in your power to protect the brain from chronic stress. Here are some tips on how to do it. How to help you chronically stressed brain? If you think that these tips aren’t enough to reduce stress, you can find much more stress relief tips on this site. Happy reducing! 🙂
1. Diet.It is important what you eat. You can do damage to your body or heal it. If you want to stop free radical damage, you need to eat high in antioxidant-rich foods like fruits and vegetables.
2. Daily meditation practice can help you reduce stress and master your thoughts. Stress usually comes from your negative thoughts and not stressful events in your life. Meditation impacts your genes and staves off health conditions that stress can cause.
3. Getting a daily physical activity can increase BDNF. Do you know that something so easy like walking is a great way to decrease cortisol, reduce stress and get new energy? It is like meditation in more ways than one. I love it, and sometimes during my daily walk, I find new ideas and perspectives. It’s is incredible how something so easy can be so powerful.
Yesterday, during my walk, I understood any problems I have, aren’t important, and there isn’t anything that can’t be solved. Could you guess how peaceful and full of joy I felt? Try it, my friend, and you will see how wonderful it is! I felt a connection with everything and everyone around me. Beautiful trees, colorful leaves, ground, sky, and people were connected in a strong bond. We all are in this together. Do you want to be beaten by stress? Really? Do you want your amazing brain to be damaged? Of course, not. Please, don’t let yourself to be conquered by stress!
There are other physical activities that you can enjoy. I am sure that some of you like to run or you are interested in something like yoga, tai chi. If not, try it! You will never be disappointed.
4. Sleeping is necessary for stress relief. Sleep helps repair and reorganize the brain and grow new cells.
These four tips can help, and you will avoid any chronic stress-related brain damage.
Conclusion
Now you don’t need to ask the question: Does stress cause brain damage. It is clear to you that it does and you need to do everything in your power to minimize chronic stress and live happier and more healthy life.
I hope you enjoyed this article and got to know something interesting and useful.
Let me know what do you think about this article! Do you believe that stress cause brain damage or you are little skeptical about it? What kind of methods are you using to reduce stress and in that way, protect your brain?
Two of my friends also wrote articles about how stress can cause brain damage. Do you want to check them?
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Thanks for visiting and reading! Farewell, my friend! We will keep in touch. Right?
Until next time!
Linda Mo
Founder of How To Reduce Stress Naturally
Great detailed article. It is amazing how something intended to help you can cause so much damage. There are so many reasons to stress nowadays and there are so many of us with so many health issues. I think we are getting away from the things that have always been good for us like a good diet and regular exercise. Stimulating our brain and giving ourselves another escape from stress like a hobby is a great way to reduce stress and usually helps me. Thank you so much for sharing this important information!
It is indeed interesting because the stress wasn’t meant to hurt us, but it does. If we want to protect ourselves and be healthy and happy, we need to think about how we can reduce stress and be less stressed. That is why we need to use stress relief methods. Of course, we need to remember to eat healthy and engage in physical activities. I think that everyone has different methods that help them to reduce stress.
Thanks for your comment, Melissa!