Mental Health Care

The train of events begins when a person feels ’stressed’. Chemical messages are carried along the fibres of the netve cells to the hypothalamus, a major supervisory centre in the brain, which immediately sets off into action rapid-fire messengers to prepare the body for the fight-or-flee response.

The first signals reach the brain stem and spinal cord, arousing the sympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system. The sympathetic division holds a sway over the internal organs of the body. It galvanizes the core of the adrenal glands to release epinephrine (adrenaline) and norepinephrine (noradrenaline). These hormones prepare the body for action. Under their effect, the heart begins to beat more rapidly, blood pressure rises, muscle tension increases, and blood flow is diverted from the internal organs and skin to the brain and muscles. Breathing speeds up, the pupils dilate, and perspiration increases. This reaction is called the fight-or-flight response because it energizes the body to either confront or flee from a threat.

The hypothalamus also releases another hormonal messenger, the corticotrophin releasing factor, which quickly goes through to the pituitary gland, and directs it to secrete the adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). ACTH travels down the circulation. Reaching the abdomen, it finds its way to the adrenal glands, which sit atop both kidneys. It stimulates the outer layer, or cortex, of the adrenal glands to release the stress hormone cortisol, which speeds up the body metabolism and increases the blood sugar to fuel the fight­or-flight response.

This primitive stress mechanism, which came to the aid of our ancestors, pushes our body machine into top gear ready for action. Yet, this heightened physiological and emotional arousal serves no good purpose in most modern day stressful sitUations. We can neither fight, nor flee from a threat. Unless we learn to flow with stress, it exhausts the body and mind, leaving us vulnerable to disease.

Signals of Stress

When the body is under too much stress it sends out clear distress signals. The effect is reflected through changes in mental, physical, and emotional behaviour and is visible in several forms.

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