What Happens to Our Thought Processes When We Experience Stress

1.  The adrenaline secreted during the stress response also acts to stimulate the RAS.

2.  The RAS causes the neurons in the brain to fire two to three times faster than normal. When brain activity is increased in this way, it makes us think faster and causes our emotions to intensify.

3.  The more threatening we perceive the stressor to be, the stronger the stress response is, creating greater stimulation of the RAS and a subsequent increase in brain activity.

4.  When brain activity is increased in this way, our thoughts race and become fragmented. Memory and critical thinking abilities are impaired as a result, causing us to be impulsive or make irrational decisions that often lead to more stress.

5.  Every negative thought we think produces a stress response in our bodies. The intensity of that response is determined by the degree to which we perceive that thought as a threat. Understanding this extensive and complex physical response to a single negative thought offers another compelling reason to be aware of and honour the mind/body connection.

Click here to view a video on how stress affects your brain.