CHAPTER
3

Understanding Stress

In This Chapter

  • What is the stress response?
  • How stress can affect you physically
  • Becoming part of a community of support
  • De-stressing with ASMR videos

It is a six-letter word that causes hearts to pound, palms to sweat, and muscles to tighten; a bodily function designed to help people survive, but one that over time has become the scourge of their lives. It can compromise the immune system, kill brain cells, add fat to people’s bellies, and even unravel chromosomes. It is stress.

Stress is not a state of mind. It is a physiological response within the body that can help people rise to the occasion and meet challenges head on, but can also upend their equilibrium, compromise their health, and shorten their time on Earth. However, similar to those with sleep issues, people have embraced ASMR as a way to get away from those problems associated with stress and into a relaxed frame of mind.

In this chapter, we take a deeper look at how stress works. We uncover what goes on in the body when people are stressed, why they can’t seem to turn it off, and why they are turning to ASMR videos in order to help them relax.

Under Pressure: Fight or Flight on Overdrive

It is no secret that people live in a state of perpetual anxiety. From the moment they wake up in the morning until the time they go to bed, people’s lives are jam-packed with places to go, things to do, people to see, and bills to pay. If you’re like many people, you constantly struggle to balance your workplace responsibilities with your family commitments, personal life, and social activities while trying to convince yourself that you have everything under control and you thrive on the pressure. In truth, you are likely exhausted and overwhelmed by the stress in your life, which is a factor in 60 percent of all human illness and disease.

Stress isn’t supposed to be affecting you this way. In reality, stress isn’t supposed to be a bad thing at all. In fact, stress is the body’s natural defense system to any situation that threatens to disrupt the status quo.

DEFINITION

Stress is the physical and emotional reaction to the changes and challenges that affect individuals on a daily basis.

Whenever your body feels threatened, a tiny region in the back of the brain known as the hypothalamus sounds an alarm. This alarm sends a signal to the adrenal glands, which sit on top of the kidneys, to release a surge of hormones into the blood. These hormones—adrenaline and cortisol—cause an increase in heart rate, a rise in blood pressure, and a rush of blood sugars designed to give you a boost of energy that will either lead you to combat the threat or run away from the potential danger. You know this stress response as fight or flight.

The fight-or-flight response is pretty important to the animal kingdom. It is the sensor that alerts you to potential danger and then gives you the strength you need to survive a direct threat on your personal being. (Your colleagues in the eat-or-be-eaten realm of the wild understand this concept.) When the immediate crisis is over, the hormone levels return to normal until the next time.

The fight-or-flight response can be a positive in your life. It can help you react quickly when an animal darts out into the road in front of your car and encourage you to avoid a situation that doesn’t quite feel right. It can give you the energy you need to get through a competition and help you be on top of your game for a performance, a job interview, or when taking a test. When balanced, stress is the kind of thing that can keep you alert and top of your game.

Unfortunately, your body does not always reset itself to a normal level, and this is where you get into trouble. While animals’ stress levels begin and end with their ability to survive an immediate threat, people tend to stress out over everything! Like others, you probably worry about yourself, your family, your friends, your education, your job, your bills, your health, the government, the economy, the environment … the list goes on and on. You can be plagued by a sense of inner turmoil over the things you can control, as well as the things you cannot, and it never seems to stop.

The human body is not set up to deal with this constant surge of hormones or to operate at a high level of alertness for long periods of time. When it does, its systems begin to founder and shut down, opening the door for other health problems to occur.

DID YOU KNOW?

The tension of a stringed instrument is a good illustration of how stress in the body works. When the tension is too loose, it does not make the right sound. When it is too tight, the strings can snap. There has to be a healthy balance of stress, like an instrument tuned to the middle, so the body can react quickly when the occasion calls for it.

The Long-Term Physical Effects of Stress

Discoveries about the physical effects of the stress on the body can be traced back to research on stomach ulcers. A stomach ulcer, also known as a stress ulcer, is essentially a hole or a break in the protective lining of the small intestine or in the stomach region. People with ulcers often describe them as a burning, aching pain between the navel and the breastbone that can last from a few minutes to a few hours and that is often mistaken for a hunger pain.

Until the 1980s, it was medical gospel that ulcers and stress were intrinsically linked. However, an Australian research team discovered that bacteria were the root cause of ulcers and that they could be managed with medication. This was a huge breakthrough that might have closed the book on stress and ulcers, but a few years later, the research took a new turn. Scientists realized the bacteria causing ulcers were not unique and could be found in about two thirds of the world’s population. Why were only a fraction of these people affected?

When you feel initially threatened and stressed, the body inhibits systems that are less helpful to fight or flight. In the case of stomach ulcers, the production of mucus that lines the stomach—which protects the stomach and its cells—is inhibited. This leads to a degrading of the stomach, as well as stomach cell damage from bacteria that can more easily invade because of the lack of protection. If the stress continues, the body inhibits the immune system to prevent stomach cells from stimulating excessive inflammation. This reduced production of stomach mucus and reduced activity of immune cells are the main reasons these stomach bacteria take hold and increase the risk of stomach ulcers.

As for the rest of your body, the overall inhibition of immune cells by stress can result in other microbes wreaking havoc in other areas as well. In addition to creating ulcers, stress hormones can do the following:

  • Trigger an immediate, intense negative cardiovascular response, which can increase the risk of clogged blood vessels, heart attacks, and strokes.
  • Shrink brain cells over time, especially in the hippocampus, which is responsible for your ability to learn and remember things.
  • Influence the level of dopamine in your brain, which affects your moods and leaves you feeling miserable.
  • Cause you to put on weight, especially around the middle. This most dangerous type of body fat can lead to other health issues over time.
  • Negatively affect both the male and female reproductive systems.
  • Affect the health of developing fetuses in the womb, which can result in negative health outcomes for children after they are born.

DID YOU KNOW?

Socioeconomic standing also has a direct bearing on people’s stress levels. In studies conducted on primates in both Kenya and in South Carolina, it showed that dominant members of the tribe had far less stress than the subordinate members whose stress levels caused a plaquelike buildup in the arteries.


Recently, scientists have also learned that the trail of stress goes even deeper into the body and can affect you on the cellular level. Genetic structures known as telomeres act like the plastic tips on shoelaces; they are located on the end caps of your chromosomes and keep them from fraying. These protective telomeres become shorter as you get older. However, if you are wallowing in stress along with the stress hormones, those telomeres can shorten prematurely. In other words, stress can age you.

Dr. Elizabeth Blackburn, a leader in the field of telomere research, conducted a 2008 study on a group of women who due to circumstances beyond their control, have an unrelenting amount of stress in their lives; they are the mothers of disabled children. What she found was staggering. Although mothers of young children are typically under a lot of stress anyway, when coupled with the added responsibility of a child with special needs, on average these women were aging six biological years every 365 days.

“We found that the length of the telomeres directly relates to the amount of stress that they are under and the amount of years that they have been under this stress …,” she said in a National Geographic documentary. “This is not somebody whining; this is real, medically serious aging going on and we can see that it is actually caused by the chronic stress.”

It was a grim picture, but it was far from the end of the story. Not long after this study, Blackburn co-discovered an enzyme that, when stimulated, could actually repair the damage to the chromosomal end cap. It was called telomerase.

DEFINITION

Telomeres are genetic structures that serve as an end cap on the chromosomes and shorten as we age. Telomerase is the enzyme that can repair the damage stress causes to the telomere, lengthen it, and slow the aging process.

In order for telomerase to slow down the aging process, repair the telomere, and improve overall health, individuals needed to make changes to their lifestyle that would reduce stress and promote longevity. In addition to adhering to a healthier diet, engaging in moderate aerobic exercise on a daily basis, and practicing proven stress-management techniques such as deep breathing and meditation, it was vital that they build a community of support including family, friends, and like-minded peers.

So as the research shows, to prevent and/or combat these problems that come about due to stress, you need to find a system of stress management that works for you and practice it faithfully. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done in a society that values those who multitask, who are always on the go, and who juggle every facet of their lives and keep smiling even when they are falling apart on the inside. However, experts say it is critical that you learn to live and appreciate a balanced and serene life in order to be healthy.

A Community of Support

Of all the lifestyle changes that have been shown to reduce stress, the two that are of particular interest to the ASMR community are practicing stress management techniques and having a community of support. Stress management techniques such as meditation, deep breathing, hypnotic suggestion, biofeedback, and sound therapy (or white noise) are at the core of every ASMR video. These methodologies allow you to be mindful in the present moment, to focus on something other than your problems, and to allow for a bit of internal healing.

While we will talk more in Part 2 about the specifics of these known stress busters and how they work in conjunction with ASMR, for now, we’d like to discuss how a community of support is at the heart of the ASMR phenomenon. There is no overstating its importance in reducing your stress, as well as improving your outlook on life.

Collaborative Care

A community of support is not the same thing as a support group, though there are some similarities between the two. When you think of a support group, you may imagine a formal gathering of people bonded by a shared experience who need a place to talk out their feelings in a safe environment. The group is usually mediated by a behavioral health professional or some other kind of official leader who ensures the conversation does not get off track and makes sure one person does not dominate the entire session.

A community of support, on the other hand, may include family and friends, as well as a cohort of peers who have similar interests and experiences and who can lend valuable insight into a particular situation and serve as a shoulder to lean on when times are tough. For example, it may be a support group such as the group of mothers in the study we discussed earlier, who come together and say the things that no one else would understand about their situation, to tell the jokes no one else would understand, and to commiserate over difficulties they know only too well. It may be bereavement support; a group of writers that workshop each other’s material; or a group of fans bound by a particular love of a book, movie, or television show. It is believed that this kind of support is critical, not only for the alleviation of stress, but also goes a long way toward offering you a sense of belonging, an improved feeling of self-worth, and an overall sense of security.

A community of support can be found anywhere you can surround yourself with friends—including the gym, through volunteer efforts, school, work, and online—through reputable sites that can help you stay connected to others who may be in the same stressful situation as you. However, no matter how you choose to build that social support network, remember that it is a two-way street and there is a lot to be said for being a good friend. No one wants to be that person who does all of the taking without giving something in return. The truth is that when you help others, you tend to help yourself even more.

While it can be hard to think of others when you are wallowing in your own “stuff,” it’s interesting that by channeling your energies on someone else, your own stress levels decrease to a certain degree. It doesn’t mean it will go away, but it does afford you the opportunity to take a break from your own problems and offer a fresh perspective on someone else’s. The better you are at nurturing your friendships and not being a drain on them, the more quickly you can get back on track with your life. Learning to give and take—to show support as well as being willing to accept support—will go a long way toward reducing the level of stress in your life.

ASMR: A Symbiotic Relationship

As you learned in Chapter 1, ASMR content has the ability to calm your nerves and reduce your level of stress so you can enjoy a period of rest and relaxation. Those who experience it and know the particular sensations that trigger them say it is one of the fastest and easiest ways to calm down without resorting to medical intervention and can relieve their stress like nothing else.

TINGLE TIP

The most common ASMR triggers for stress relief and relaxation are tapping, scratching, crinkling, the performance of simple tasks, and makeup application. We will talk more about finding your ASMR triggers in Part 3.

However, while you may come to the ASMR community looking for rest and relaxation, what you’ll discover is so much more. The ASMR community is a unique group of content creators and viewers who enjoy a symbiotic relationship with one another—in other words, a community of support. Viewers depend on the content creators to make videos in hopes of stimulating their ASMR sensation, while the content creators rely on viewers’ feedback to improve their work. ASMRtists connect with one another in order to gain additional knowledge and expertise in their craft, and ASMR experiencers all over the world chat on various forums about the sensation that binds them together even if the individual triggers are highly subjective.

In a National Geographic documentary on stress, Elissa Epel, PhD, with the University of California at San Francisco said “compassion and caring for others may be the most important ingredients, those may be the factors that … keep us rejuvenating and regenerating.” In other words, when you connect with and care for others—such as by joining and engaging in the ASMR community—it can go a long way toward your own healing process.

Members of the ASMR community would probably agree. In the trailer for the forthcoming ASMR documentary Braingasm, content creators and viewers from around the world wax poetic about their experiences with ASMR, as well as the community of friends they have discovered, who they may not have met through traditional social circles. Interviewees say it is wonderful to have this group of friends to turn to in times of need and marvel at how YouTube and a communal condition have given people the chance to connect with one another. One interviewee marveled that two people who live on opposite sides of the world could become the best of friends, while others say it makes them feel less alone.

If you’re looking for that kind of connection, there are a number of ways you can do so with the ASMR community. There are several Reddit threads that are focused on ASMR, as well as people who connect through YouTube comments, blogs, social media, and more. Although you do not have to participate in these forums to gain stress relief from ASMR videos, for some people, the community provides an extra form of support.

How ASMR Videos May Relieve Stress

In terms of the videos themselves, although most tingle heads can’t put their fingers on exactly what it is about ASMR videos that causes them to immediately relax, it is possible that it has something to do with bilateral stimulation. This refers to visual, auditory, or tactile stimuli that occur in a rhythmic left-to-right pattern.

Bilateral stimulation features prominently in the nontraditional treatment of eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) used on those who have suffered from extreme trauma in their lives. Developed by psychologist Francine Shapiro in 1987, EMDR is a nontraditional approach to psychotherapy that has been shown to be effective in those who may be suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Like ASMR, it is a practice that has been called pseudoscience by the medical community; however, its popularity continues to gain ground with those who can attest to its effectiveness.

DEFINITION

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) is a nontraditional branch of psychotherapy that uses traditional talk therapy and bilateral stimulation to help individuals cope with a traumatic experience.

EMDR uses a combination of talk therapy along with something that resembles a stereotypical hypnosis session. During treatment, the client is asked to follow the therapist’s fingers as they wave back and forth while recalling a painful memory. This bilateral stimulation enables the patient to lessen the power of emotionally charged memories stemming from past events.

While it’s not clear how or why it works, scientists believe that EMDR is connected to the area of the brain responsible for REM sleep (see Chapter 2 for a refresher on sleep). Because it is the dream state of sleep, REM helps people cope with life’s nightmares and upsetting incidents. But when people experience a particularly painful event, this process is interrupted, so they cannot effectively deal with the negative emotions. By engaging that eye movement in a clinical setting, therapists can help folks open up that process and desensitize the feelings and emotions while at the same time reprogramming the brain with more positive imagery.

For example, Eric Smith is an EMDR patient who spent decades trying to cope with memories of the Vietnam War. In the 1990s, he agreed to try what was considered at the time to be a radical new therapy. He said that when he underwent the EMDR session, it was as if the combination of words and eye movements forced him to open his mind and allow the therapy to work where traditional methods had failed.

“It would stick … It would stay,” he told ABC News. “In traditional counseling or groups, I could keep my defenses up, but in trying to deal with this doggone hand movement at the same time, I couldn’t do it. I had been working on this stuff for years and within two, three, or four sessions, I resolved issues I had been discussing for four or five years with some people.”

These EMDR treatments have even been known to produce the ASMR tingly sensation in some patients. Therapists such as Erin Doolittle, who have studied the EMDR approach, say that during the session, people may experience a variety of sensations (including tingles) based on the memories that are uncovered. While some are more pleasant than others, Doolittle says that the best part of the process is when one is asked to recall a particularly comfortable feeling and “flood [the] brain with delightful, delicious endorphins and dopamine,” an experience that will sound familiar to most tingle heads.

However, while EMDR tends to be used for the most extreme forms of stress, ASMR bilateral stimulation is an effective option for those times you are in need of calm and relaxation.

Are you ready to try a few ASMR videos to see if they can cause you to relax and de-stress at the end of a long day? Here are just a few of our favorites that incorporate ASMR with a host of other known relaxation processes:

KEEP IN MIND

While it is worth noting that there are some interesting parallels between EMDR and ASMR, one is not a replacement therapy for the other. EMDR is a customized treatment program that should only be administered by a licensed therapist trained in the practice (despite the number of YouTube videos that promise you can treat yourself).

The Least You Need to Know

  • Everyone experiences stress. The stress response helps alert you to immediate danger in your life.
  • Over long periods of time, the stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol can affect every system in the body, leading to health problems.
  • Stress can be reduced through stress management techniques and social support.
  • The ASMR community offers stress management techniques but also the social support critical to stress reduction.
  • Like EDMR, ASMR can use bilateral stimulation to help you potentially relieve stress.
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