Stress can serve us, and stress can harm us. Stress spikes during exams and deadlines actually assist our body and mind to stay alert, sharp and focused. The stressful thoughts surrounding possible failure can often be a key motivator to put in the hard yards of study and work – this is an example of how short term stress is okay. But we cannot sustain this level of functioning for too long.
Chronic Stress
Long term, or chronic stress, is taxing on both our body and our mind. It leads to sleeping problems, exhaustion, procrastination, a loss of mental clarity and it slowly and certainly decreases our quality of life. It also affects those around us and more and more studies are emerging that prove that parental stress does negatively impact children both in-utero and throughout their early development.
Signs of chronic stress can include:
- Constantly feeling tired
- Being less willing to socialise
- Becoming rigid about sleeping times
- Feeling very irritable
- Loss of appetite, or overeating
- Finding simple things difficult
- Headaches, neck pain, back pain
- Procrastination
- Short temper
- Impulse shopping or reckless spending
Chronic stress continuously ramps up our fight or flight response which, in the most basic terms, increases cortisol. When this system is being constantly activated health issues such as digestive problems, sleep disorders and an overall weakening of the immune system. Again, in basic terms, stressed-out people get sick and feel tired. People with chronic stress are also somewhat more prone to developing mood disorders, depression and anxiety.
What To Do About Your Chronic Stress
So if we are suffering with chronic stress, what can we do? We need to restore the balance in the brain. Stress is a neural dysregulation, and chronic stress is an ingrained neural dysregulation. So we need to train our brain away from this dysregulated habit. It can be done easily, quickly and naturally through neurofeedback, which is a brain training system that swiftly trains the brain how to break these patterns and rebalance into a healthy and natural pattern.
Neurofeedback at Brain Training Australia™ uses simple audio interruption to train the brain. Little effort is required on your part and all you have to do is wear a set of headphones and relax – some people like to read a book or colour in a picture, some meditate, while others like to close their eyes and relax. Neurofeedback for stress does not tell the brain to do anything, does not push the brain around in any way, it simply uses feedback via sensors to cause interruptions to music when electrical activity spikes or dips in a negative manner. It is safe and effective for all ages and is backed by almost 3 million hours of use worldwide.
If you, or someone you know is struggling with the symptoms of stress, remember that life doesn’t have to be that hard, and you can self-regulate simply with Neurofeedback Brain Training with the Brain Training Australia team.
Train your brain. Change your life.
