The aftermath of 2020 and the long-term mental health impairments on Americans
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Swimming in the debris of the COVID-19 pandemic, the plummeting economy, exponential bouts of racism, and a tense presidential election lurks another invisible monster threatening the mental health of the American people—chronic stress.
According to the American Psychological Association (APA), stress is the second, growing national crisis seriously damaging the mental health of the United States population. The level of harm, however, depends on the duration and intensity of the stressful experiences.
A poll conducted on behalf of APA found that nearly 8 in 10 adults claim that COVID and other issues America currently faces remain the most significant sources of stress in 2020. The poll also showed that 1 in 5 adults say their mental health is worse than last year and that symptoms of depression is on the rise as of October 2020.
But why is stress so detrimental to the brain?
Stress, as defined by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), is the “brain’s response to any demand.” When undergoing stress, the brain sends distress signals to the body creating the “fight-or-flight” response commonly associated with physical reactions like a quickened heart rate and a rush of adrenaline. The Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science also explains that cortisol, the stress hormone, is synthesized and released in order to restore balance to the body following exposure to stress.
The Harvard Health Publications of Harvard Medical School explains that constant activation of this survival mechanism is harmful to overall health and can even change the physiology of the brain: evidence suggests that stress actually rewires the brain. The brain produces more cortisol quicker than the body has a chance to release it. According to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) and Dartmouth, these high levels of cortisol can wear down functionality of the brain causing several irreparable issues to include cognitive impairments such as decreased mental agility and flexibility and killing brain cells.
Studies from PNAS have also shown that stress-induced impairment has been linked to shrinkage of the prefrontal cortex,the part of the brain responsible for learning and memory. Furthermore, early-life stressful or traumatic events play a direct role in cognitive functioning during later stages of life and is theorized to be associated with early Alzheimer’s disease. However, young adults are more able than elderly to recover from the effects of stress. Plasticity, which refers to the re-formation of neural pathways in the brain, is much more difficult to regain or create these neural pathways the older in age.
Stress is an inevitable part of life, but the back-to-back traumatizing events of 2020 can and will have significant long-term consequences on the brain. The declining mental health of Americans has been amplified from growing uncertainty of the future and financial disruption.
There are always ways to manage and combat stress; do not be afraid to ask for help.
The NIHM recommends several steps in managing stress:
Recognize signs the body is responding to stress, such as sleeping difficulty and fatigue
Keep a journal
Exercise regularly: just 30 minutes of cardiovascular activity releases tension and assumes balance of stress
Find and try a new relaxing activity
Avoid excess caffeine
Try breathing exercises
Reach out to friends and family
Always contact a healthcare professional if any symptoms persist. You can find other information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) about healthy ways to manage stress here.
For a quick reference summarizing this article, see the below infographic.
