It's Just Stress
Emotional strain, tension, pressure... to put it simply: stress. Every human being and creature knows some form of stress, on all different levels. An infant gets stressed out when they are hungry, so they begin to cry. A teenager gets stressed out with trying to fit in, so they argue with their parents. Adults get stressed out so they possibly drink a glass of wine or opens a beer to go with their dinner. Every human being feels stress, but some individual's life with a form of a stress disorder such as post-traumatic stress disorder – often abbreviated as PTSD - or a lesser condition from the same family: acute stress disorder.
What is Acute Stress Disorder?
Acute stress disorder is often diagnosed in an individual after that person has experienced or has even witnessed a terrifying or traumatic event, such as assault, a car accident, fires, floods, or even being diagnosed with a different life threatening diagnosis, such as terminal cancer. While many people may live through these traumatic events or news, anywhere from 5 to 20 percent of people end up diagnosed with acute stress disorder after having experienced the trauma. The diagnosis of acute stress disorder usually includes a diagnosis of anxiety and depression, as well. It is possible to diagnose an individual with acute stress disorder as quickly as three days after the individual began experiencing any of the symptoms that are caused by stress hormones – such as epinephrine - that was triggered by the trauma experienced.
When looking at acute stress disorder, it is common to see similarities to post-traumatic stress disorder as they are in the same trauma stress disorder family for diagnosis and it is theorized that if acute stress disorder continues to affect the life of the individual, it will progress into PTSD. This does not always happen, but is not impossible as both are trauma based conditions and takes a DSM 5 diagnostic. This is where paying attention to some of the symptoms is important so that the acute stress disorder can be diagnosed early on before it possibly progresses into PTSD. Some of these symptoms could be chest pain, stomach pain, palpitations, experiencing difficulty breathing, unusual sweating, consistent headaches, and nausea – though some individual's will experience different symptoms, it is usual for symptoms to begin as quickly as minutes after the trauma occurred to a few days or weeks after the adrenaline has calmed down. It is also possible for individuals to experience more internal and psychological symptoms such as arousal, over arousal, avoidance, displacement or dissociation, intrusion -commonly as nightmares or flashbacks- and an overall negative or pessimistic mood.
To treat acute stress disorder or at minimum, stop it from progressing into PTSD, a doctor will usually recommend one of three treatments: cognitive behavioral therapy, mindfulness or medications. The first recommendation is usually going to be cognitive behavioral therapy – or CBT – which would involve the individual working with a mental health professional with the goal of creating and practicing coping mechanisms for the individual to use in times of high stress or while experiencing a flashback. This is often seen as the individual seeing a psychologist or counselor. Mindfulness may be the second recommendation if the individual feels like meditation and breathing exercises would be enough to help them feel better. These are all intervention techniques to help the individual manage their stress and anxiety. Medications would be the third recommendation, which would include the individual talking to their doctor about the different antidepressants or anticonvulsants the doctor recommends and what the individual feels comfortable taking. The medication route would be more trial and error as it takes time to find the right medication and get the right dosage – if more than one is offered, such as with Lexapro - for the individual.
What in the Neuroscience
With acute stress disorder being a stress disorder, it is easy to say that it causes changes in the neurochemical system as well as changes in different regions of the individual's brain. It is easy to say this, because these effects are seen when an individual is living with chronic stress, so it is likely to see the same response when the individual lives with a stress disorder. These changes can become long term and affect how the brain responds during times of high stress. The primarily important and more affected regions of the brain are the hippocampus, the amygdala and the medial prefrontal cortex . In these changes, it is theorized that either too much or not enough cortisol and norepinephprine are being transmitted through the brain and body of the individual. These are the two neurochemical systems that play very important roles in an individual's stress response during heightened times.
Cortisol is a steroid type hormone that is primarily responsible for regulating a mass majority of the processes that happen throughout an individual's body – such as the immune response and the body's metabolism. Cortisol also plays a huge helping hand in how the body responds to stress and trauma and is created in the body's adrenal glands. Norepinephrine – sometimes referred to as noradrenaline – is also created in the adrenal glands but is a neurotransmitter that helps the body send messages and signals across the nerve endings throughout the body. Norepinephrine is responsible for an increase in the individual's heart rate and for the blood pumping from the heart when the individual is experiencing stress or adrenaline.
Stress, What is it Good For?
While every person experiences stress, it does not make it more fun, just relate-able and easier for other individual's to empathize. Add an imbalance of cortisol and norepinephrine, and it becomes less likely for other individual's to really understand the extremity of the individual's experience and what they go through in their day to day lives while living with a stress disorder that has caused actual changes in their brain. The first step to living with acute stress disorder is noticing the signs and getting help. This can be the hardest for people who have lived through different traumas, but as with anything that involves the brain, we have to face it head on.
Acute Stress Disorder. (2019, October 11). Retrieved August 10, 2020, from https://www.stress.org/acute-stress-disorder
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