How we perceive a situation plays a larger role then what we sometimes consider. We have always been told that a positive outlook is important, but why?
Why would how I look at a situation potentially dictate the outcome, if my actions remain the same?
These are important questions, for not only the patient/athlete but also the clinician/coach. It is more then just bringing "positive thinking" to the situation. It will also show the importance of the psyche of the collective team or the trendy modern phrase "culture" of a group or organization. How does challenge or threat effect our health?
Challenge or Threat?
When faced with a task or situation do we classify this as a challenge or a threat. A challenge invokes a chance to learn, potential increase from the outcome, and while hard either physically or mentally, we believe it will turn out well. There is generally a sense of control.
A threat is very similar but just perceived very differently. A challenge will be high stress/excitement but will reside. A challenge ends. Exposure to these will make us better. A threat has the physiological impact that lasts a long time. Chronic load, weakens and undermines are health.
<--THREAT--THREAT---Threat-Challenge--CHALLENGE---CHALLENGE--->
As you can see, there is a sliding scale. Not everything is a massive threat or massive challenge. There will always be a scale involved.
Lets look at the physiology differences between the two and why they have such a different outcome on our health.
A challenge will stimulate something called the SAM pathway. Sympathetic adrenal medullary. SAM will have different hormone production depending on if its more a mental challenge or physical. Mental tasks, will stimulate adrenaline. This will cause an uptake of the brains use of glucose. It will prompt the liver to produce glucose and will increase heart rate to drive more glucose to the brain.
A physical challenge will dictate more of the hormone noradrenaline. This drives fatty acids into the blood stream so the muscles can use this for energy and uses an increase in blood pressure as the method of choice.
The primary driver for this is the neural system. This allows for the SAM to be shut down very quickly. The half life of released adrenaline and noradrenaline is 2 min. This means it is fairly quickly out your system. This is important.
A threat is very different. It will start with SAM and then go to what is called the Pituitary Adrenal Cortical system. (PAC). PAC rolls in around 20 min later. Some big threats to our human psyche are social embarrassment, shame and biggest of all, a sense of loss of control.
The PAC will ultimately cause the hormone corticotropin releasing hormone and cortisol to come into play. The hypothalamus release the CRH, CRH ultimately causes cortisol to be released. If the cortisol gets to high, receptors in the hypothalamus detect the high levels and stop CRH from being released. Thus ending the cycle. (Hopefully).
If we continue to experience threats this keeps going.
Cortisol will cause the release of fatty acids into the blood stream. A source of fuel that the brain can not use. It has a role in limiting inflammation. It can play a role in breaking down protein, which will ultimately lead to muscle loss to secure enough glucose for brains fuel. PAC and cortisol will be also involved when you diet or are in a fasted state.
Cortisol will also dampen the effectiveness of insulin. More and more insulin requirements can lead to Type 2 diabetes. Long lasting cortisol can have some immune suppression and digestive issues.
Not all is bad. It's the dosage. Low levels will cause some good things to happen including helping noradrenaline with brain arousal. It can help with dopamine release to deal with the threat that started the PAC cycle. The downside is that it can by a few physiological steps to get the amygdala to create anxiety and stress.
Why have we evolved these cortisol receptors in the hypothalamus and brain? Good question...the body is pretty cool. Moderate levels of cortisol help to consolidate memories. Thus we are learning what to do with a threat and how to cope. Low levels and high levels do not trigger or help consolidate memories. High levels, essentially panic, do not do well with learning.
Physical activity doesn't help with the threat that would usually would trigger the PAC pathway, but not doing physical activity has big downsides. The body just released a bunch of fatty acids into your bloodstream. If it stays there and isn't used in exercise it can contribute to plaque forming in the arteries. Also, letting negative emotions linger can potentially cause the PAC pathway to keep running. With a half life of 90 min, it is already lingering in a sense. Remember the SAM pathway half life was 2 min. This also gets worse the older we get.
You can have SAM and PAC together. Overall SAM increases heart rate or cardiac output. PAC causes blood pressure elevation without the cardiac output. Thus challenge can increase CO, but threats increase BP.
We know now that PAC arousal has been shown to increase tension and anxiety and puts you into a fear state quicker. SAM arousal may enhance a positive or negative state. This is crucial. SAM pathway can be thought of an enhancer of what every cognitive state you bring to the situation.
What are some takeaways we can implement?
Exercise when you don't feel like it. Exercise is SAM neutral, but can limit health risks that can accompany PAC. Try to see activities as challenges. Even if I fail, I learn. Mindset. Stop self focused behavior. Essentially when we have a negative thought we create self focused thinking. This interferes with learning and for performing tasks. I recently watched Thug Rose win her UFC title belt fight. Before the fight, you can hear her saying loud "I'm the best," over and over. Creating positive emotion to a task at hand.
These are essentially my notes for a few chapters of the book, "Building Resistance to Stress and Aging."
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