Neurological Reorganization and the Impacts of Chronic Stress

By Emily Beard Johnson, BA, CD, Asst. Assoc. of ECE, Neurological Reorganization Practitioner

Permission to copy with appropriate attribution is granted. (503) 981-0635. Everyone has stress in her life. Small doses of stress help us cope with daily life. However, research has long confirmed that chronic stress--living with a persistently stressful situation--leads to physical, emotional, and mental ailments. Chronic stress stems from a myriad of situations: it can be the professional with a high-powered career who is always exhausted when she comes home; it can be the highly disruptive child who has emotional or behavioral challenges; it can be an ill family member who requires ongoing medical attention; it can be a family member who experienced trauma or abuse. It’s obvious that this person needs help alleviating her stress. What is less obvious is that this individual’s condition has serious negative consequences for all other family members due to the chronic stress of constantly managing and reacting to her. In fact, chronic stress alters central nervous system function in each family member. Neurological reorganization is the only approach to resolve the underlying, central nervous system impacts of this chronic stress.

The negative effects of chronic stress begin early, even harming fetal brain development in utero. A March, 1999 study found that maternal stress and stress hormones adversely effect fetal brain development.[i] The study found that “psychosocial stress during pregnancy may negatively impact fetal brain development and function,” setting the child up for a constellation of lifelong problems.

A March, 2007 study specifically documented the brain changes chronic stress causes in children.[ii] The children with the most severe markers of stress were most likely to have reductions in the part of their brain known as the hippocampus as well as elevated stress hormones which independently negatively impair neural function. The researchers concluded that this reduction in the size of the hippocampus has significant impact on the children’s emotional well-being, academic success, and memory processing.

Additional studies confirm the negative changes chronic stress has on the parts of the brain that regulate emotion and academics. Research published in April, 2006 found that long-term exposure to stress hormones directly results in the anxiety that often accompanies depression.[iii] Quite bluntly, “chronic exposure [to stress] has detrimental effects on brain and behavior.” Additionally, research published in May, 2005 found that increased stress hormones lead to learning difficulties.[iv] Children between the ages of six and fourteen were found to have memory impairments as a result of high stress hormones. As memory is essential to academic success, researchers found that chronic stress threatens the child’s scholastic achievement.

Chronic stress jeopardizes children’s physical health by suppressing their immune function. A March, 2007 study found that children exposed to chronic stress in their families are sick more often than children who do not experience chronic stress.[v] “These kids living with chronic stress in their families really were sick more often,” said lead researcher, Dr. Mary Caserta. Additionally, chronic stress has been found to decrease the effectiveness of vaccines. A March, 2001 study found that vaccines designed to protect against infectious diseases were “less effective among the chronically stressed.”[vi] The accumulated effects of chronic stress endanger children’s emotional, academic, and physical well-being.

The negative effects of chronic stress put parents at heightened risk for an array of physical and mental ailments as well. Neuroendocrinologist Bruce McEwen states, “We’re learning that post-traumatic stress disorder, burnout, chronic fatigue syndrome, and fibromyalgia are all related.” In terms of physical health risks, a study published in January, 2006 found that large rises in blood pressure during mental stress places some individuals at greater risk for heart disease.[vii] This finding is reinforced by a January, 2007 study: chronic stress leads to increased risk for coronary heart disease.[viii] The researchers concluded, “These results suggest that exposure to prolonged stress not only may increase the risk for serious mental health problems but are also cardiotoxic.”

While the January, 2007 study focused on men, exposure to chronic stress has been found to age mothers of children with chronic disorders, such as autism or cerebral palsy. A University of California at San Francisco study found that the stress of caring for these children made the mothers, from a genetic standpoint, “anywhere from nine to seventeen years older than their chronological age.” A September, 2000 study also found that stress causes even slender women to have excess abdominal fat, associated with increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.[ix] Besides the negative mental health issues, chronic stress ages women and causes them to store unhealthy fat.

The detrimental effects of chronic stress continue to alter our brain function as we grow older. In February, 2007, researchers “identified for the first time a certain area of the brain which can shrink in old age and cause depression and Alzheimer’s Disease. The scientists believe the shrinkage may be caused by high levels of stress hormones.”[x] “This is the first time we have been able to show that increased levels of stress hormones may cause shrinkage in this critical area of the brain,” said lead author Dr. Alasdair MacLullich. “The discovery deepens doctors’ understanding of ageing, depression and Alzheimer’s diseases, and will help in the development of treatments based on reducing high levels of stress hormones.”

Clearly, chronic stress has serious negative effects on the central nervous system, in utero through our senior years. When each family member struggles with her own particular manifestation of chronic stress, the entire family unit becomes dysfunctional, although some of the symptoms of chronic stress may not manifest for years: one child may have rages, another child may struggle with anxiety, and a third child may have learning disabilities, while the father has heart disease and the mother battles fibromyalgia. While these issues look very different, they are all symptoms of dysfunctional neurology derived from chronic stress. Because chronic stress causes actual structural changes to the brain, even when the cause of the stress is rectified—such as a disruptive child or burnt-out parent--the issues remain as they are now hard-wired into the brain. Consequently, even if the disruptive family member is treated and her symptoms subside, the other family members now have central nervous system dysfunction.

Neurological reorganization is the only approach that addresses the underlying, central nervous system basis of the problems caused by chronic stress. It is needed to alleviate the impact of chronic stress on all family members. Other approaches treat the symptoms of the chronic stress, such as learning disabilities, emotional imbalance, and mental health issues, rather than the root cause, central nervous system dysfunction. Specifically, neurological reorganization boosts stress response, providing the most robust possible defense against chronic stress, and addresses the damaged parts of the brain that cause learning disabilities, anxiety, depression, and memory impairments. This lowers the risk factors for serious physical problems, such as heart disease and Alzeheimer’s Disease.

It is incredibly challenging for any family to cope with chronic stress. Part of this challenge includes looking beyond the individual from whom the stress stems and managing the chronic stress in the entire family. Even though no one else’s issues appear as extreme, they are equally as detrimental. To insure that each family member can fulfill her potential and the family can be as healthy as possible, the neurological dysfunction done to each family member must be alleviated through neurological reorganization.

[i] Presented by Pathik D. Wadhwa, MD, PhD, The 20th Annual Scientific Sessions of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, March 3 – 6, 1999.
[ii] Allan Reiss, MD and Carl Weems, PhD, Stanford University School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital, March 5, 2007.
[iii] Paul Ardayfio and Kwang-Soo Kim, PhD, Behavioral Neuroscience, April, 2006.
[iv] Sonia J. Lupien, PhD, Pyschoneuroendocrinology, May, 2005.
[v] Mary Caserta, MD, Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, March, 2007.
[vi] Sheldon Cohen, Psychosomatic Medicine, March, 2001.
[vii] Peter Gianaros, Psychophysiology, January, 2005.
[viii] Laura D. Kubzansky, PhD., Archives of General Psychiatry, January 3, 2007.
[ix] Elissa S. Epel, PhD., Psychosomatic Medicine, September/October, 2000.
[x] Dr. Alasdair MacLullich, University of Edinburgh, February 28, 2006.