The Hidden Cost Of Chronic Stress: Memory Loss

The hidden cost of stress leaves an imprint on us without us realizing it – at least at first. Living under stress is almost like living life on a train that runs at high speed all the time.

At the beginning of the trip, we acted naturally and even thanked you for moving forward so quickly. However, little by little we realized that we could enjoy the view if we slowed down a bit. Our bodies and minds begin to resent it.

Thich Nhat Hanh, a well-known Buddhist monk and author of books like Paths to Inner Peace , says that our thoughts and emotions are like clouds that come and go on a windy day. Of course, in the midst of a gale, it’s harder to talk about balance, a point of calm in order to regain control and allow the mind to function at its best potential.

It is not easy to deal with these psychological states generated by stress and anxiety. Now, the problem is not having to go through a time of high stress. It’s practically impossible to get away from it these days.

The real focus of concern is to allow this epoch to extend indefinitely in time. This is where the sequelae appear, and it is in this context that the hidden cost of stress arises.

We all know that a body subjected to a stressful environment or situations feels the consequences. Muscle pain, digestive problems, changes in night sleep and many other factors that significantly limit our quality of life appear.

However, there is another factor that cannot be overlooked: memory loss.

The hidden cost of stress: the memory that fails in everyday life

When someone suffers from stress, he has the feeling that the world, everything that happens outside of him, moves too fast. However, internally the impression is just the opposite.

Cognitive performance declines. It is very difficult to focus attention, start any task, etc. Besides, as if that wasn’t enough, the mind boycotts us with fears, doubts and threats (you won’t be able to finish this delivery, you won’t have any money at the end of the month, you’re doing it wrong…).

It may seem like redundancy, but one of the more obscure characteristics of stress is that it creates more stress. So, even though we often complain of headaches, occasional nausea or the damned insomnia that this psychological state causes us, we do not realize so much its emotional and cognitive impact.

Malaise, low motivation, discouragement and memory loss are associated elements that we should keep in mind.

Chronic stress and difficulty remembering data

As we said at the beginning, punctual and time-limited stress does not have great consequences. What’s more, in most cases, this internal activation facilitates the achievement of certain goals, makes us overcome challenges more easily and makes us advance as human beings in a more or less complex context.

Now, as this activation stretches over several weeks or months, the hidden cost of stress arises.

Research carried out by Dr. Jannine Wirkner, from the University of Greifswald in Germany, showed something very important. Experiencing acute stress, temporarily and briefly, enhances memory. This is something that, without a doubt, can benefit us in tests or certain tasks.

On the other hand, chronic stress, in which the release of the stress hormone, cortisol, is constant, hinders our ability to form new memories.

Stress acts as an interference in all memory processing. That is, it interrupts encoding, consolidation, and retrieval – all phases of this cognitive process.

The cost of chronic stress in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex

The research carried out by Dr. Kim Jeasonkok, from the University of Florida, in the United States, also revealed something very interesting. When the level of cortisol is too high, the hippocampus changes its morphology. This brain structure related to memory and emotions reduces its size as a consequence of stress hormones.

Plus, as if that weren’t enough, there’s another hidden cost of chronic stress. This state of constant activation and alertness causes the amygdala to inhibit the activity of the prefrontal cortex.

Something like this creates, for example, difficulty in thinking more logically, which makes it more difficult to reflect and make decisions.

Memory loss and stress, two sides of the same coin

The hidden cost of stress can be more complex than we think. We know that when stress is chronic, when we spend months worrying and submerged in states of very high pressure, memory fails.

Now, in cases of post-traumatic stress, some memories last longer and are more intense than normal.

• When we go through dramatic experiences, where there is a very high emotional component, our hippocampus maintains adverse images and sensations in a permanent and painful way.

• However, after this experience, there is also great difficulty in forming new memories, generating, in turn, problems in tasks that require superior reasoning, such as reflective and logical analysis, sustained attention, decision making, etc.

On the face of it, we cannot deny how complex our brain can be. Now, despite these circumstances, despite the traumas and impact of chronic stress, there is one more fact that we cannot lose sight of: the brain is plastic, it changes, and it can reverse all these effects.

Physical exercise, psychological therapy, meditation, better stress management and good lifestyle habits are aspects that can help us to enhance our well-being and brain plasticity. Maybe it’s time to include these activities in your daily life.