Stressing Out

How do you relieve stress? Many assume that people are more likely to engage in destructive behaviors such as overeating, vegging in front of the TV, and not sleeping. There's good news! Scientists found that the same thing happens to good habits that happen to bad ones: you are more likely to revert to them.

^{Image Credit: fitday.com}

Wendy Wood and David Neal put people through a series of five experiments and found that when people are stressed out and tired, they return to their fundamental routines - whether those are good or bad. This pattern was noticed in students during the exam week. Most students stuck with their usual behaviors.

Under stress, our brain's limbic system - the areas responsible for emotion, motivation, breathing, heart rate, and hormone production - triggers an alarm that activates the fight or flight response. This response increases the production of adrenaline and cortisol, which work together to speed heart rate, increase metabolism and blood pressure; enhance memory, the immune system and anti-inflammatory responses, and lower pain sensitivity. These are all great responses when your survival is on the line, but when you're under constant stress your body is not able to reset back to normal. A high level of adrenaline and cortisol in your system consistently causes blood sugar imbalances and blood pressure problems. Other problems include reduction in muscle tissue, bone density, immunity and inflammatory responses, as well as hindering the formation of new memories.

^{Image Credit: dopadoc.com}

We default to habits because we aren't thinking about what we're eating or how much we're exercising. We're thinking about whatever is stressing us out and defaulting to habits so we don't have to think about anything else. "When your willpower is low and you have little motivational energy, you are likely to fall back into old, bad habits of eating too much and not exercising - but only if those are, in fact, your habits," says Wood.

Since stress depletes willpower and our ability to make decisions, you tend to just repeat what you usually do and engage in habitual behavior. When under stress, your brain relies on faster, more primitive regions whose behavior is largely automatic when faced with a threat. Automatic doesn't mean instinctive, however: many of our automatic behaviors, like exercising or eating healthy when feeling anxious, become automatic through repetition.

Stress Habits to Make

Exercise - Aerobic exercise helps build new neurons and connections in the brain to counteract the effects of stress. Regular exercise promotes good sleep, and boots the production of the feel-good hormones (endorphins).

Relax - Don't just say you're going to relax. Use meditation, tai chi, yoga, a long walk, whatever helps you feel more at ease so that you decrease your blood pressure, respiration rate, metabolism, and muscle tension.

Socialize - It's easy to let relationships go and prioritize whatever is causing the stress, but maintaining personal connections is critical for both mental and physical health. Starts making it a habit to call or grab coffee with a friend now, that way when your level of stress increases you're still in the habit of socializing with that person. ­

Think positive and laugh - It seems obvious, but laughing and finding the silver lining can make a difference in your stress level. It can be in a group or even by yourself watching a funny movie, but laughter is shown to lower the levels of cortisol and adrenaline levels that are associated with stress.

"Getting enough exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep, not smoking - all of these should become an unthinking, automatic part of your day," Wood says. "If they are, then you will continue to perform them even when your willpower is low and you can't muster the energy to 'do the right thing' for your health." The fact that habits are hard to break can work for you or against you.