Social media, high workload, children, studies and so much more that occupies our minds every day. Kirsten Elsdijk, experienced kPNI therapist, often sees people with an overstimulated brain come by. In this article, she explains what happens in our brains during these busy times and how to deal with it.

What happens in the brain during stress?

The moment your senses perceive danger - seeing, hearing or feeling - they signal to other parts of the brain. One of these parts is the amygdala, also called the smoke detector of our system. Danger can be physically, psychologically and emotionally threatening. The stress hormones produced in response are designed to get your body ready to fight, flee or freeze. The purpose of this? Survival.

As you might imagine, our system is not meant to be in this "stress mode" all day long. Modern stressors such as a bad relationship, financial problems, depression, providing informal care combined with a busy job and family, or keeping a lot of balls in the air at all, cause this stress response to last for weeks, months and sometimes years. This while the stress response from evolution is only supposed to last about 20 minutes. After all, the danger of the bear running after you was long gone after 20 minutes.

A long-term chronic stress reaction is a great strain on our bodies. All the while adrenaline and cortisol are released, these hormones turn on your genes to produce certain proteins. Those proteins in turn trigger a reaction in your body which can lead to symptoms and so the circle is complete.

More and more imbalance

Many people do not realize that there is a chronic stress response going on in their bodies. They have become so accustomed to the negative patterns and thought flow that they are unaware of the hormonal stress response in their body. Often we developed one or more coping mechanisms in childhood so that we could ease our pain, anger or sadness. Early life stress in children can cause major problems later in life.

If you are not aware of the negative patterns that hinder you, nothing is going to change. In fact, as much as 95% of every human being is controlled from the subconscious mind. In addition, 95% of the thoughts you have today are the same as yesterday's thoughts. If your brain is filled with negative patterns, negative thoughts are repeated every day. Each time this happens, stress hormones are released, thus keeping the chronic stress response going.

The fact that we have many more stimuli to deal with than in the past does not help this. We all have smartphones, are reachable all day and are exposed to a lot of radiation. In addition, the diet of the average Dutchman does not have a positive effect on the quality of intestinal flora and many suffer from deficiencies of certain vitamins or minerals. These and other stimuli cause us to be overloaded. As a result, more and more people struggle with depression, loneliness and burnout. 

It's all about energy

In a healthy body, the brain is in charge; the brain uses as much as 25-30% of all the energy we have available to us. This is an awful lot when you consider that your brain occupies only 2% of your body weight. Our brain is responsible for controlling other functions in the body. In order to devise solutions, it is very important that this energy is available to the brain.

When you get an infection, the immune system demands so much energy that the brain becomes deficient. To avoid dying from sepsis (blood poisoning), it is important that our system works this way.

However, when you are dealing with multiple and prolonged (low-grade) inflammations, you can imagine that the immune system continues to take the energy that should actually be available to the brain for a very long time. As a result, other systems are neglected, causing new symptoms in other parts of the body in the long run. So you get a domino effect with more and more complaints, which can be traced back to an overactive immune system.

Give your brain a hand!

You may have come to the conclusion - after reading this article - that your immune system is also overactive and your brain overloaded. In the consultations I have with clients, I often see this come up. They don't know where to start anymore. Fortunately, our therapist team is here to help you get on the road to a healthy brain in balance. I have listed some tips for you.

• Eat a lot from the sea because of Omega 3, think fatty fish, seafood and seaweed. Our brain is 60% fatty acids, so it needs a lot of them.
• Supplements can be a nice addition to support the immune system and/or brain.
• Saffron contributes to emotional balance*
• Vitamin D supports the immune system.
• Brain support, Brain effort and Memory support support memory*.
• When we cannot eliminate the cause of stress, it is important to build relaxation. Make time for moments of relaxation as well as things that energize you. Examples include a walk in nature, skin-to-skin contact, yoga, meditation, reading, taking a warm bath or journaling.

Because our subconscious is 95% in control, it is important to discover and change patterns in the subconscious. Together with my fellow therapists, I am ready to help you on your way to a healthy and happy life. Click here for more information about the 1-on-1 consultation.

*This claim is pending European authorization

**Always consult our therapists with these supplements if you are on medication