Reactive Stress verses Chronic Stress - Which one do you experience?

Stress is a word we use in every conversation, it can refer to experiences from feeling stressed because we can't find our car keys in the morning and are going to be late al the way through to complex post traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD). What we find stressful, how we process it and the impact it has on our behaviours is different for each and every person.

Reactive Stress

Reactive or Acute stress is a reaction to an 'in the moment' or short term experience. It is when something triggers the fight or flight part of our nervous system; something has made us alert, on edge, needing a response or protection. Examples of this might be being asked a question in a meeting at work, being stuck in traffic, missing an important phone call.

We might experience motivation, excitement, anger, frustration, annoyance, anxiety fear.

We might feel our heart rate increase, take shorter quicker breaths, feel our muscles tighten, become hyper focussed, or have a need to move.

Our behaviour might look like intense crying, shouting, shaking, trembling, social avoidance, movement, aggression, lying, violence or attempts to control.

It can pass in a moment, or we can get stuck in this place following the trigger.

Chronic Stress

Chronic stress occurs when we are stuck for hours days or longer in a stressful situation or environment. It often triggers the freeze or fawn reaction in our nervous system as an attempt to protect us from the ongoing stress; something has made us fearful or stuck. Examples of this might be feeling stuck in a job or relationship that is undermining your self confidence or stifling your voice.

In Freeze:

We might experience shame, confusion, a sense of doom or sinking, unworthiness, hopelessness, numbness.

We might feel a slow heart rate, cold pale skin, downward gaze, little to no movement.

Our behaviour might look like isolation, disassociation, quiet crying, low motivation, self harm or suicidal ideation, catastrophic thinking.

In Fawn:

we experience a combination of Fight/fight and freeze so for example hyperarousal and hyperfocus alongside shame and a sense of doom, a racing heart alongside cold, pale skin. Our behaviour moves to appeasement, we try to keep the other(s) steady by changing our behaviours to try and maintain some sense of safety.

It is important to remember if you have been or are being impacted by reactive or chronic stress, your nervous system is acting healthily to try and keep you safe. The important piece of work is to start to understand the triggers that are causing the stress, why those triggers are so impactful to you and what to do next.

If you want to talk through your experiences of stress, feel free to get in touch.