STRESS [ back to Glossary Index ]
Stress is excessive psychological, physiological or mechanical wear and tear on an organism due to factors such as prolonged depression, anxiety, hunger, thirst, sleeplessness, pain or exposure to extreme heat, cold or violence. When a person is "stressed," her adrenal glands pump out stress hormones such as cortisol which ready her "flight or fight" response. This involves shutting down digestion of food in the stomach, constricting blood vessels and raising blood pressure, increasing the body's metabolic rate, converting stored sugar and fat into energy for muscles used in running and fighting, concentrating blood clotting factors to stop bleeding from wounds, and the like. A person who is under chronic stress (such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from a near death car crash) will have elevated levels of cortisol in his bloodstream most of the time. This will not only damage her organs and precipitate or aggravate coronary artery disease; but will actually shrink the volume of her hippocampus, the portion of the brain which encodes short term memory. The same is true of a person suffering stress from the consequences of a traumatic brain injury. Therefore, it is imperative that all persons who suffer a TBI get rapid, appropriate and comprehensive treatment to lessen their stressors and help them manage the many stresses in their lives.