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What Is Stress and Why Do We Experience It?

Interviewer: Not all stress is harmful. In fact, some types of stress can motivate us, help us focus, and even make us better at what we do. But when stress goes unmanaged or piles up without recovery, it can start to seriously affect not only our mental health, but our physical health as well.

So today, to help us understand the difference between helpful and harmful stress, we're joined by division chief of adult psychiatry at Huntsman Mental Health, Dr. Jason Hunziker.

Now, Dr. Hunziker, let's start just kind of with the absolute basics. What is stress, and why do human beings experience it?

Dr. Hunziker: Stress is something that we are born with. It's evolutionary. It is a normal built-in response that our body has to challenges, whether they're big life events or sitting here on a podcast, getting ready to talk to people. Stress is there to help us recognize when our environment is changing so that we pay attention.

Interviewer: I guess that's the reason why it can maybe help us with certain tasks or certain aspects of life?

Dr. Hunziker: That's correct. They actually have a term for good stress. It's called eustress. That stress is the one that keeps us moving, it keeps us sharp, it keeps us focused, it gets us ready to do whatever task or event that we are preparing for. And if done correctly, it can actually help us grow and be more resilient.

But then there's the bad kind of stress, the distress, the kind that's overwhelming and chronic and begins to kind of tear us down and eat at all aspects of our lives. And it is so important to understand the two different types of stress and how they relate to our physical and mental well-being and our long-term performance.

When Stress Helps: The Role of Eustress in Growth and Resilience

Interviewer: So let's go into good stress for a moment. You had mentioned that, if managed correctly, it can really cause us to grow. It can help us to become more resilient. What is it about good stress that can lead to those types of outcomes? And how do we manage that?

Dr. Hunziker: Great question. I think good stress is something that is short-term, there is a purpose behind the stress, and we can recover from the stress.

And so if we think about things that we've all done in our life, like preparing for an exam or preparing for a job interview or a big presentation, those things help us get really focused on what it is we are about to do and it pushes us to solve problems and to adapt to the situation and to do things maybe that we are a little uncomfortable with, all of which helps us grow.

This kind of stress, though, is short-term, and it has to be tied to some kind of purpose. But most importantly, the way we grow from it is that we have a chance to recover after the stress is over.

The Importance of Recovery in Managing Healthy Stress

Interviewer: Now, I notice you keep talking about recovery and time. Can too much good stress for too long become bad stress?

Dr. Hunziker: Exactly. That's exactly how this works, and then that leads to all kinds of problems. I think what we see is a concept called allostatic load, which essentially is this constant stress that is pounding at you and the wear and tear on your body when you don't allow time for recovery.

It's kind of like if you use your cell phone for five days, you're going to run out of battery, and it's just not going to work anymore. So we need to plug that thing in and give it time to catch up, even if it's just a short little bit of time, so we can get a little battery back so we can get back in there and do what we need to do.

How Good Stress Becomes Harmful Without Recovery

Interviewer: So, what are some of the signs that some good stress is no longer helpful? I mean, where does bad stress come from?

Dr. Hunziker: I tell people all the time, chronic stress is this situation where you are under pressure from multiple different sources, and there are chemical changes in your body that occur, specifically cortisol levels increasing, that start to disrupt sleep, disrupt appetite. Even your immune system takes a hit when you are chronically stressed.

The Physical and Emotional Signs of Chronic Stress

And these stressors can be multifactorial. They're not just, "Oh, I have relationship problems right now. This is happening to me, and so I'm under stress."

Generally, what we see is that there are lots of things in our environment that create these chemical changes that, over time, start to be noticed in things like you're tired all the time. You just can't seem to get up, no matter how much sleep you think you're getting. You're irritable, or angry and upset, or panicky. You start to lose weight, or some people gain weight. You have headaches.

All of these different things are signs that you are starting to become overloaded with stress, and your body is stuck in this kind of overdrive or fight-or-flight mode all of the time.

Interviewer: And I would imagine that being in those... Because I think about when I am underslept or I think about when I am stressed, it can also lead to maybe some not-so-healthy behaviors, right?

Dr. Hunziker: Definitely. And then that gets us into even more trouble because then we just compound what is already happening and the chemical process that's going on in our bodies, and further create internal stress and turmoil that just makes this even worse.

How Modern Life and Technology Fuel Our Stress Load

Interviewer: Now, are there any, I guess, new or modern things? I think about stress, and I think about how it used to help us forever ago be stronger, be more aware of our surroundings, but is there anything in modern technology or society that might actually be contributing to our stress and maybe even distress?

Dr. Hunziker: That is a fantastic question because it is an interesting balance with technology, as we've seen this explosion of things that actually benefit us in our mental health, while at the same time, those same instruments can cause a significant amount of stress for us.

We get on social media, and we start the doom scrolling thing, where we're looking at everybody and how great everybody's doing, and how we perceive ourselves to not be keeping up. That is terrible.

Or we're just spending all of our time isolated in front of our screens, and we're not interacting with people around us. That changes those levels of stress that we are experiencing and creates these problems.

I tell patients all the time that if we are under a tremendous amount of stress and we are sitting alone in a room, we are in the worst company possible. We need to get up, we need to get out, we need to put that stuff down, and we need to take that time to recover so that we can then get back in the game and feel stronger, healthier, and be able to function better.

Healthy, Evidence-Based Strategies for Stress Recovery

Interviewer: All right. So now we know a little bit more about stress, what causes it, and the difference between good and bad. What are some of the kinds of healthy ways that we can manage our stress levels to keep them from getting to that bad stress type of level?

Dr. Hunziker: I think it's maybe a little important, too, to understand why we keep... I've said recovery, I think, five times, and I want to make sure people understand what it is we're really saying when I say that.

We're not just talking about, "Okay, this one day I'm going to take it easy," or, "Hey, I'm going to go on my vacation for two weeks and everything's going to be fine." I mean, I'm not going to argue. If you want to go for two weeks on a vacation, great. But it's the intentional daily activities that we do that we build into the day that actually help us recover.

Daily Recovery Practices That Support the Nervous System

So a short walk, going outside and standing in the sun, taking deep breaths, talking with someone, causing your body to vibrate, so humming and singing and laughing. All of those things are these micro or small recoveries that help us reset the braking system of our body, or the parasympathetic system, which slows everything down.

Interviewer: I would also assume that if there is a mind-body connection, maybe some good nutrition, some good sleep, and some good physical elements might also be helpful.

Dr. Hunziker: Exactly. Part of this parasympathetic system is the vagus nerve, and the vagus nerve connects these different aspects of our system. And so doing things like breathwork or cold exposure or singing or aerobic exercise, all of those things help your vagus nerve, which calms the system down to calm the system down. It turns the switch and helps things calm down.

But it can't be done just once, and you can't expect, "Oh, I'm better." This is something we have to practice so it's there when we need it.

Interviewer: I mean, how much time a week, a day should people be focusing on their stress recovery?

Dr. Hunziker: Every day. This should be a part of every day that we have moments that we set aside for ourselves.

I'll share something with you when I take my moment. I love my showers in the morning. I don't know, there's something about getting in there, getting the hot water on me, which is interesting because cold water is generally the thing that works. But getting in the hot water, it covers over me, things start kind of washing away, and I start to prepare for the day in a calmer fashion.

I know when I don't do my shower the right way in the morning, because I feel better when I do it right, and it helps me be prepared for the day.

But there are so many things that people do to help them get ready and deal with their stressors.

Mindfulness as a Tool for Stress Awareness and Regulation

Interviewer: Now, one of the things I see a lot of on, say, social media, is mindfulness. What does mindfulness mean when we're talking about recovery and keeping that stress level under control?

Dr. Hunziker: I mean, mindfulness is really about being self-aware and giving yourself the opportunity and the grace to be okay with where you are and the stress that you're dealing with.

We don't want to pathologize everything. We want to spend time recognizing that what we experience is part of the human condition, and to prevent it from getting out of control, we use different strategies, such as meditation or breathing or showers, or other things, walking, that we've already talked about, to help us feel better.

Building a Resilient Relationship With Stress

Interviewer: So, I guess to kind of wrap up, Dr. Hunziker, what would you say to someone who feels overwhelmed or is maybe unsure about how to get their stress under control?

Dr. Hunziker: That's a great question because I get asked this all the time. Because it feels so bad, people feel like they must be the only one who experiences that. And I think the first thing I say is stress is part of being us. This is what we do.

The goal isn't to avoid stress. The goal is to build a relationship with your stress and recognize that it can be a powerful tool for you to understand what's going on in your environment, recognize when it's getting out of control, and then start using those skills that we have spoken about to recover so that you can stay strong, resilient, and healthy for the long haul.

When to Seek Help and Where to Find Resources

Interviewer: And if a listener is maybe not quite sure where to even get started with that kind of stuff, are there any resources that they could maybe reach out to?

Dr. Hunziker: Definitely. Going to their primary care doctor is a great place to start. If you already have a therapist, fantastic. That would be another place to go. There are resources online. Of course, here at Huntsman Mental Health Institute, on our website, there are a lot of resources that can be utilized.

And of course, if this gets to a point where you are unsafe and you cannot manage, pick up your phone, dial 988, and they will get you somewhere where you can get some support immediately.