The stress system is made up of multiple interconnected brain-body systems—the autonomic nervous system, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, immune-inflammatory system, and brain stress systems underpinning salience detection, arousal, pain, and emotional states. These systems form part of a larger, integrated system that protects the individual from a broad range of threats
The Stress System Stuck in Defensive Mode.
Unfortunately, when stress is chronic, uncontrollable, unpredictable, cumulative, recurrent, or overwhelming—and the stress system is activated too much, too long, or too frequently—the stress system can get stuck in defensive mode (see Fig. 4.3, Frame B). When that happens, the stress system remains activated or, as it were, switched on.
"The child’s body told a different story. The body’s story suggested that each stress had switched on the child’s stress system. With each new stress, the stress system had been activated more and more, and was less and less able to turn itself off. The story that had begun with one functional somatic symptom was now a story of many different symptoms."
"Although the children and their parents typically told me that they were psychologically and emotionally unmarked by the adverse life events that they had experienced, I felt unconvinced. Likewise, although the paediatricians who referred children for treatment of functional somatic symptoms always confirmed that the physical examination was normal, that there was nothing wrong with the children’s physical health and no evidence of disease, my impression was that their bodies had activated in response to stress and had not settled back down. It was common for the child’s respiratory rate to be elevated—a sign of motor activation, possibly coupled with sympathetic activation. Another such sign was the child’s response—with pain—to palpation of their postural muscles, the neck and back muscles that maintain posture and that activate when the body prepares itself for action; this response suggested that those muscles were activated or braced as they would be if the children were readying themselves for self-protective action."
The Castle-Fortress Metaphor of the Stress System
The castle-fortress metaphor provides an alternative visual representation of the stress system (see Fig. 4.5). According to this metaphor the stress system is like a castle-fortress. When everything is calm, the castle-fortress (specifically the castle, the place for living) is a calm and welcoming place, with the gates wide open, a place where the tasks of daily life are carried out in a rhythmic and predictable manner (= restorative mode). When the castle-fortress comes under threat, however, the gates of the castle-fortress are shut, the alarm is raised, and the defence towers (specifically those of the fortress) are manned, as needed, to protect the castle-fortress as a whole (= defensive mode). In this metaphor, the stress system, like a castle-fortress, is designed to activate, when necessary, its defence systems—all of them, if necessary, to maximize protection.
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Lady4
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The problem with this, as with many articles/doctors etc, is the insistence that psychological stress has to be at the root of everything. The seminal work on stress, Hans Selye's "The Stress of Life, does not find this. Selye, who actually coined the phrase "stress", was an endocrinologist who noticed the bodily effect on rats who were exposed to any kind of stressor - hunger, cold, injury etc - not just psychological. It is beyond frustrating for patients, and their families, to be gaslighted by doctors with the very narrow psychological view, when their condition could be caused by a virus, surgery or many other factors. I notice that the FND Society has a lecture on Covid at their upcoming annual conference so it's encouraging that the experts are beginning to take a broader view.
Absolutely, stress can also be caused by circumstances but I do kinda agree with the stress level metaphor that exposed continually, it could decrease your tolerance level and take a little longer to regulate yourself (well on a personal level, as I used to be more grounded and not phased as much).
Good to know they are addressing the Covid link, not just from lockdown but reactions from the virus/vaccinations (for some). It narked me that some professionals wouldn't acknowledge a link between long Covid ... and why ... because of loosing funding. Think it was a newspaper article I read once.
So true but, its the mind body connection, which surely can be gradually reversed. Think resilience techniques would help too as if we expect bumps in the road, unexpected turns, then hopefully we will be able to deal with them more effectively.
Every school day morning,I try not to worry what I will be faced with (the symptoms that my son may be dealing with, or whether he has had a drop attack) and just run with what adjustments I need to make to our day. Not ideal, but it is what it is at the moment, so I just have to breathe. Although, Monday mornings I will try and do mindfulness first thing.
With my son suffering from tension headaches and lack of sleep, I told him to write down what he was thinking/feeling. Amongst it he put " this f...... stuff is keeping me awake, don't you love em, made me smile 🤣. Myself, on the other hand was up early writing pages and pages of things to do, I thought "oh my" 🤣
Thanks, I will add to my reading list (although the content of the last article might cause me some distress, so will have to wait. As I always wonder whether my prioritising my mother with a terminal illness and how I emotional and exhausted I was, as he would have seen me at times, could of been a precipitating factor).
I hope you don’t believe yourself to be at fault, Lady4. Remember, if it is established that 30% of FND sufferers have experienced a psycho trauma, then 70% have not…
Did you know April is FND awareness month? Buildings were lit up across US and Canada…lots of storms out there! Can’t imagine dealing with this as a teenager. If I remember correctly, that was a bit of a challenge in itself.
Yes, I heard that it was, not aware of what awareness event/s were done here, although think its the FND Society meet (another member mentioned it). Sounds lovely, all buildings lit up to raise awareness, hopefully the US medical world will take note "its real", do you have any pics?
He just takes it in his stride but I wouldn't be able to function on a few hours sleep and chronic tension headaches.
I do hope he finds some relief soon. Has he been able to get massage therapy yet? Release of that tension should really help. Luckily he has a great Mom!
Haven’t seen photos yet but some should be on FND Hope US/Canada Facebook page. ( I don’t know how to attach photos anyway)
It’s crazy that I’ve never met anybody in person who has ever heard of FND. We have a long way to go! But every little bit helps!
visiting a terminally ill mother is already an anticipated grief. It is a most stressful time to live. You have all my compassion as the most diverse emotions cross us in the relationship lived with the woman who transmitted us life.
Take good care of yourself, with all my compassion
I wonder if we can ever collectively accept that the answer to nearly everything is "yes and", not "this, or". Lowering immunity and resilience happens directly through stress, whether physical or psychological. And then our bodies are more succeptable to viruses, gut issues, sugar, toxins, environmental pollutants, etc... so really it's BOTH. It boggles my mind to see folks stick to a hypothesis and not also be able to accept a different one IN ADDITION. I think there is plenty of space in the human brain for even conflicting hypotheses. no?
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