Chronic stress can impact our physical and mental health. Inflammation has become a buzz word for nearly any ailment people are suffering in the USA, but it’s also true that chronic stress leads to inflammation in our body and contributes to physical illnesses from heart disease to Alzheimers.
Our culture is contributing to chronic stress more than ever with the development of social media, high demand jobs, financial disparity in a capitalist society, systemic racism and white supremacy, white ambivalence after the summer of 2020, and educational, political, and justice systems that actively cause harm to people identifying as LGBTQ+ and/or racial or ethnic identities of the global majority.
Physiological stress responses:
- Amygdala activation (the stress center of the brain)
- Cortisol release (sometimes thought of as the “stress hormone”)
- Physical sensations (racing heart, stomach clenching, sweaty palms)
- Fight, flight, freeze, fawn response
Chronic stress might look like:
- Zoning out or trouble staying focused
- Feeling disconnected from your body
- Trouble falling or staying asleep
- Perfectionism
- An all or nothing approach to your time, job, friends, family, and/or physical health
- Irritability
- Using substances, sex, smart phone, and/or food to dissociate
This seems like a lot. How can therapy help?
In therapy, we will explore the messages you’ve learned about yourself and the world around you and identify coping strategies. Individual therapy is not going to change the reality of your lived experience, but we can explore the impacts of your experiences to chart a new path forward. It might look like changing the way you speak to or about yourself, identifying new coping skills, setting different boundaries, or identifying how to change your behavior or reactions when faced with something outside of your control.
Contact me to schedule a free 15-minute consultation to discuss your therapy goals.