Stress & Memory

Discussion in 'Health & Wellness' started by Ken Anderson, Oct 29, 2017.

  1. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    You're running late. You have a lot to do. You're getting anxious. You're feeling stressed. You're becoming forgetful.

    Here's why. Too much stress will trigger the release of a hormone known as cortisol, which can interfere with memory. An episode of severe stress can kill off new nerve cells in your brain. This is what occurs in post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD), which is simply an exaggeration of what occurs during times of stress.

    Actually, the type of stress that is discussed here is distress. Stress itself is not bad, as it is what keeps things moving within our systems. Those without stress of any type are dead. Good stress is known as eustress, but that's another issue.
     
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  2. Mike Dobra

    Mike Dobra Veteran Member
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    Stress keeps you on top, strain is the killer......
     
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  3. Ina I. Wonder

    Ina I. Wonder Supreme Member
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    That makes sense @Ken Anderson. When I’m stressed, my thoughts and actions seem to kick in with clarity. I’m one of those people that in a crisis I somehow know what to do, and how to do it.

    The last time something like that happened was when I was at a convenience store, and a woman drove up screaming her child was straggling. At least six or seven people gathered around a five year old little girl, but no one seemed to be doing anything, and the child’s face was becoming bloated and a deep red color. When I looked over I could see two plastic ties on her neck, and they had been tightened on both sides of her throat. Everyone was just crowding the child, but doing nothing.

    I walked over and I could see she was passing out. I automatically reached into my purse and pulled out my pocket knife, then I slipped my two smallest fingers between her neck and the ties, and I cut them off. I’ve never seen anyone’s face change color so quickly.

    I have to admit I couldn’t understand what caused so many people’s brains to freeze up. It was a simple action that seemed to evade them.

    But on the other side of that was when my son died in February of 2014, and my husband in December of the same year. My brain seemed to shut down. I couldn’t think straight. I couldn’t even spell words correctly as I tried to put what I was feeling on paper. The only person I could talk to was @Yvonne Smith. I blamed my confusion on everything but distress. It took a longtime before my thoughts and emotions became clear again.
     
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  4. Holly Saunders

    Holly Saunders Supreme Member
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    I'm not running late... I have't a lot to do...any more...but for the last few years of my job it was extremely stressful...I mean *high doh* The stress however( and please believe me I'm the type of person who thrives on stress and action usually)... that was I was having to deal with day in and day out actually made me physically ill, which is why I chose to take early retirement 4 months ago...BUT....aside from the physical ailments... my memory is SHOT completely in the last year to the point of real concern for me....and still now 4 month after leaving the job there's no sign of improvement , so I wonder if the last few years of highly daily stressful conditions have left a lasting effect on my memory...
     
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  5. Ken Anderson

    Ken Anderson Senior Staff
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    That's the difference between eustress and distress.
     
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  6. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    In my profession, Stress and Strain take on a far more real definition, no vagueness or immeasurable quantity: how much stress do you have at any given time, for example, is quite difficult to put into numbers.

    All materials existing undergo Strain when Stress is applied to them. Stress is defined as "Force per unit Area", like Pounds per Square Inch. Strain is the amount a material is deformed by the Stress applied to it. All materials undergo Strain, they stretch or compress, when Stress is applied to them. Some materials like metals deform very little, others, like rubber, deform much more.

    Everyone has stretched a rubber band, by applying Stress to it, and maybe even noted that it got skinnier as it was stretched. That's because rubber, being relatively incompressible, retains it's original volume as it's Stressed, or stretched; if it had 1 cubic inch of rubber in it as it lay on the table, it still has 1 cubic inch of rubber in it even when stretched to several times it's length at rest.

    The concept of Stress and Strain is exceedingly important in the areas of design and building of things. For example, we need to know that Aluminum, a nice lightweight metal, will "Strain", stretch or compress, about 3 times as much as Steel, which is essentially Iron. Such concerns must be carefully considered when building things having the inherent ability to hurt people: airplanes are a good example. Much of the plane has traditionally been made of Aluminum, because of it's light weight. However, weight is not a consideration when building the plane's landing gear, which must undergo and successfully contain extremely high forces.

    Frank
     
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  7. Ina I. Wonder

    Ina I. Wonder Supreme Member
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    If only stress to the human mind and emotions could be determined with the principles you just applied to matter @Frank Sanoica.
     
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  8. Babs Hunt

    Babs Hunt Supreme Member
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    That cortisol hormone also makes you bloat and gain weight easier too. That's a bad hormone to mess with!
     
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  9. Kitty Carmel

    Kitty Carmel Veteran Member
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    This is me walking into work.

    I've put up with a lot of stress and fear since childhood. Sometimes I wonder what damage it's done.
     
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  10. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Babs Hunt
    How to avoid a hormone seriously affecting day to day? I'm pretty bloated, come to think of it!
    Frank
     
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  11. Frank Sanoica

    Frank Sanoica Supreme Member
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    @Kitty Carmel
    Relax. The answer is probably none, IMO. Frank
     
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  12. Martin Alonzo

    Martin Alonzo Supreme Member
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    The human mind processes information and there is different ways in which we see a situation one is through our eyes and one is seeing something through someone you are communicating with and last is the bystander. Stress only happens in the first and not in the others but your mind can be in any of the three positions. In the first position you tend to take everything personal this creates stress as you think it is a personal attack. Second position is seeing through some on else eyes like why did that person say that how are they trying to help me think differently. The old saying walking in another’s shoes. Lastly is the bystander who can watch a argument and see booths sides and have no stress. All of these things are just information but how we process it in our minds gives us stress. The old idea of I wish I was a fly on the wall watching that fight between the boss and employee this is the bystander position. You can learn this and it is very powerful in negations because while not under pressure you can think clearly.
     
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