When I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) the first time, and Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS), back in 2004, I remember people telling me that AFS was due to stress. I was confused by that because I did not live a stressful lifestyle nor did I feel stressed.
However, when we get sick, our brains and autonomic nervous system (ANS) perceive certain stressors as danger, sending the body into a permanent fight or flight response. This is called a maladaptive stress response.
It turns out that a maladaptive stress response is actually at the root of many symptoms such as chronic fatigue, anxiety, brain fog, body pain and/or stiffness, recurring sore throat and/or flu-like symptoms, allergies, digestive issues, numerous sensitivities, hormone imbalances, skin issues, and more.
A maladaptive stress response means that our brains and ANS are not responding well to stress. When this happens, we develop a neural network (circuitry in our brain) and ANS dysfunction.
The question is, what stressors have led up to your symptoms? If you’ve read my story, then you’ll know that my initial trigger for CFS and AFS was toxic mold.
This is a form of toxic stress. My body was continually experiencing a state of toxic stress, which then in turn caused me to experience psychological stress (worrying about things like how badly I felt, as well as financial stress).
When the stress builds to the point of causing symptoms and illness, it is called a trigger. There are many forms that stress triggers take, which I’ll outline below. Keep in mind that it’s often several different kinds of stressors that accumulate that cause the trigger to set off the illness.
When I developed Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) the first time, and Adrenal Fatigue Syndrome (AFS), back in 2004, I remember people telling me that AFS was due to stress. I was confused by that because I did not live a stressful lifestyle nor did I feel stressed.
However, when we get sick, our brains and autonomic nervous system (ANS) perceive certain stressors as danger, sending the body into a permanent fight or flight response. This is called a maladaptive stress response.
It turns out that a maladaptive stress response is actually at the root of many symptoms such as chronic fatigue, anxiety, brain fog, body pain and/or stiffness, recurring sore throat and/or flu-like symptoms, allergies, digestive issues, numerous sensitivities, hormone imbalances, skin issues, and more.
A maladaptive stress response means that our brains and ANS are not responding well to stress. When this happens, we develop a neural network (circuitry in our brain) and ANS dysfunction.
The question is, what stressors have led up to your symptoms? If you’ve read my story, then you’ll know that my initial trigger for CFS and AFS was toxic mold.
This is a form of toxic stress. My body was continually experiencing a state of toxic stress, which then in turn caused me to experience psychological stress (worrying about things like how badly I felt, as well as financial stress).
When the stress builds to the point of causing symptoms and illness, it is called a trigger. There are many forms that stress triggers take, which I’ll outline below. Keep in mind that it’s often several different kinds of stressors that accumulate that cause the trigger to set off the illness.
Some of the different forms that stress can take:
Toxic or Viral Stress
Toxic exposure to mould, chemicals or other toxins is a form of toxic stress. Even vaccinations can be a trigger for some. Viruses are another common trigger that can set off the ANS and neural network dysfunction.
Psychological Stress
I’m going to focus a little more on this form of stress given that in both my personal experience as well as the experience of my clients, psychological stress almost always accompanies one of the stress triggers of someone with an ANS and neural network dysfunction.
There are many things in life that may cause us psychological stress, from going through a divorce, losing our job, losing a loved one or the more obvious one of being sick.
But something that we don’t often consider as stress, but is absolutely part of psychological stress, is the negativity bias in our own minds.
Negativity bias refers to our proclivity to “attend to, learn from, and use negative information far more than positive information” (Vaish, Grossmann, & Woodward, 2008, p. 383)
This was one of the psychological triggers for me the second time I got CFS (the initial trigger being my challenging pregnancy), and the thing that, once I learned how to shift, had one of the greatest impacts on my recovery, and on my life.
Lifestyle Stress
There are daily stressors of running late, relationship issues, email overwhelm, sleep disorders or perhaps financial stress that is always underlying, or any other stress that you feel on a daily or almost daily basis.
Nutritional Stress
If we eat a poor quality diet high in junk food on a regular basis, eventually our bodies will start to experience nutritional stress.
Lifestyle Stress
There are daily stressors of running late, financial stress, email overwhelm, sleep disorders, or perhaps financial stress that is always underlying, or any other stress that you feel on a daily or almost daily basis.
Nutritional Stress
If we eat a poor quality diet high in junk food on a regular basis, eventually our bodies will start to experience nutritional stress.
There are many other stressors such as Unresolved Stress from Past Trauma, Physical Stress such as over exercising, or even Positive Stress like planning a wedding or a pregnancy.
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All of these stressors are cumulative, which means that the stress builds up and up until it reaches a tipping point which has often been referred to as The Perfect Storm.
Let me give an example of what someone’s Perfect Storm might look like. We’ll call this person Sam. Let’s say Sam has never had good eating habits. In fact, Sam typically eats a lot of processed food laden with sugar and trans fats (nutritional stress).
It’s never really bothered Sam before though. He also has a demanding job. He often finds himself rushing throughout the day, trying to meet the demands his job requires of him but continually feeling like he never has enough time to get everything done (lifestyle stress).
Then Sam gets a viral infection (viral stress) that he just can’t seem to throw off. He’s got symptoms of severe fatigue and brain fog for months. It finally starts to get a little better, however a month later Sam’s wife leaves him.
He is devastated, (psychological stress) and this is when the Perfect Storm happens for Sam. Meaning his ANS and brain experiences a trauma at this point, causing Sam symptoms of CFS let’s say.
The Perfect Storm may happen at the first stressor for some, or the second for others, but the majority like Sam will go through more than 3 stressors before they reach their Perfect Storm.
We don’t really know why some people can tolerate more stress than others. Perhaps it’s genetics, or upbringing. Maybe it’s constitution, or perhaps it’s attitude and perception of the events alone.
The list could be endless. The point is that everyone’s tipping point is different.
What is happening to our brain and ANS during a Perfect Storm?
Repeated or cumulative stress (above) cause trauma in our brain, causing threat circuits in the brain to fire more rapidly. In the case of someone with an ANS and neural network dysfunction, the brain and ANS get stuck in a chronic fight, flight or freeze response and become dysfunctional.
This causes a maladaptive stress response, meaning that our brain and body remain on high alert even if the initial trauma is no longer present.
Neural pathways for previous good health then stop being used and new neural networks are formed in their place, causing the illness’ symptoms.
Because the problem now lays in the brain and nervous system, the solution also lays in the brain and the nervous system.
In the Rewire Your Brain Transformational Coaching program, clients are taught personalized neuroplasticity tools to rewire the brain, and form new neural networks that support optimum health and happiness in the body and mind.
Disclaimer
The content in this website is intended to be used for educational and informational purposes only. It is not a substitute for medical diagnosis, treatment or advice Please consult a physical or other health care provider if you are unsure about whether you have any of the conditions described in this website.
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