EMOTIONAL OPERATING SYSTEMS: You get to CHOOSE your stress response

Covid has been one huge challenge among many more! Uncertainty still reigns. How you choose to respond to Covid and stress in general matters a lot! Not just for your mood and attitude, but for your physical health.
Consider these three primary stress responses. Which one is your “go-to” Emotional Operating System?

THREAT Response – Perceived danger is your primary concern. Your FEAR produces increased anxiety, irritability, and overwhelm. You may freeze with an emotional shutdown. This sympathetic nervous system response is commonly called the “fight, flight, or freeze response.”
SEEKING Response – The new situation is perceived as a CHALLENGE. You are stimulated to explore new ideas and behaviors. Under pressure, you become engaged, motivated, and energized for heightened performance.
CARE Response – Your response is to TEND & BEFRIEND, making sure loved ones are safe, remaining emotionally open and supportive. You offer empathy and compassion, connecting and cooperating with others.

Depending on your emotional response, your body will relay different messages through different communicators or “molecules of emotion.” Your endocrine system produces hormones, your nervous system sends neurotransmitters, and your immune system makes cytokines/chemokines.

Here are some of your body's communicators

When in a chronic state of perceived threat, our immune systems amp up to produce inflammation which has been shown to have multiple adverse effects on our health.

The Fight/Flight/Faint/Freeze stress hormones produce some of these common symptoms:

Anxiety
Depression
Irritability
Panic Attacks
Fatigue
Insomnia
Brain fog
Lack of focus
Memory Problems
Digestive Issues
PMS

But we can get our nervous system to toggle between stress and relaxation. Self-soothing tools can help a lot, or if needed, effective therapy can balance the mind and body by balancing the nervous system and the chemical hormones, neurotransmitters, and cytokines. A balanced mind and body makes it possible to choose a different, healthier response to stress – Challenge or Tend & Befriend. Research has demonstrated that with the right mindset or emotional operating system, stress actually results in a positive health boost and longevity.

Additional Tools and Resources:

Visit my Self-Help Video Tools Page or my Resources Page for videos, books, meditations and more…

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