Module 22: Chronic Stress

Stress is universal in the modern world and managing chronic stress – and understanding stress – is key to healing from anxiety and depression. Stress can be thought of as the body and brain’s response to perceived danger or challenging situations.

Stress puts your brain in high alert mode to deal with an acute problem. We often experience extreme stress via the fight or flight response.

We all encounter stress in our lives but for many stress can be intrusive, lingering and constant, therefore taking a toll on the brain.

This “chronic stress” is a very real issue for so many and it strongly contributes to feelings of anxiety and depression.

Chronic stress often has a cascading effect by impacting diet, sleep, and levels of inflammation, leaving you trapped in a vicious cycle. This is why learning to manage stress is so critical to mental fitness.

Understanding and identifying the triggers of stress in our everyday lives is a key first step. Start with a clear list of factors that contribute to both your chronic and acute stress, things like work, finances, current events, and relationships.

Along with creating this map of your stress, honing a set of habits and activities that reduce stressors is essential to ongoing mental fitness.

This course relies on you adding in more self-care in the form of stress reduction:  mindfulness, breathing, support, Yoga, and other stress reducing activities.

That’s why I want you to check out the resources accompanying this module and develop a strong set of great stress reduction tools.