{"id":2721,"date":"2008-08-30T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2008-08-30T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.willclower.com\/blog\/2008\/08\/stresss-brain-drain.html"},"modified":"2016-09-21T10:33:45","modified_gmt":"2016-09-21T14:33:45","slug":"stresss-brain-drain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2721","title":{"rendered":"Stress&#8217;s Brain Drain"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_HAl9r2q_-j0\/SLVUd2C1mbI\/AAAAAAAAAgI\/SUVlenxMdrk\/s1600-h\/StopStressing.jpg\"><img data-opt-id=943733027  fetchpriority=\"high\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" id=\"BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5239186613215795634\" style=\"FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; CURSOR: hand\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/_HAl9r2q_-j0\/SLVUd2C1mbI\/AAAAAAAAAgI\/SUVlenxMdrk\/s200\/StopStressing.jpg?w=735\" border=\"0\" \/><\/a>You are stressed. So what else is new.<\/p>\n<div><\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div>And you may think that, well, whatever, I&#8217;ll relax when I&#8217;m dead (or retired, whichever comes first). I&#8217;ve got way to much work to accomplish to let concerns over stress slow me <span>down.<\/p>\n<p>And that&#8217;s the problem. Stress does slow you down <\/span>&#8212; your brain, that is. Whether you have &#8220;a lot to accomplish&#8221; or not, you cannot escape the fact that stress causes stress hormones that can lead to the atrophy, shrinkage, of the brain areas (hippocampus, prefrontal cortex) vital brain region for episodic, spatial, and contextual memory (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/16720347\">now see here<\/a>).<span><\/p>\n<p>E<\/span>ven for short term stresses that only last a few hours can impair brain-cell communication in areas associated with learning and memory (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pubmed\/18337421\">now see here<\/a>). This isn&#8217;t caused by cortisol, but through another pathway of corticotropin releasing <span>hormones.<\/p>\n<p>The solution? You cannot turn off the world, but you can work with it more effectively. Focus on high quality, and low quantity &#8212; that includes your daily To-Do check list as well. If you need a rule, try this.<\/p>\n<p>Simplify. <\/span><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>You are stressed. So what else is new. And you may think that, well, whatever, I&#8217;ll relax when I&#8217;m dead (or retired, whichever comes first). I&#8217;ve got way to much &hellip; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[494],"tags":[345,415],"class_list":["post-2721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-brain","tag-stress"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Qv5g-HT","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":5959,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=5959","url_meta":{"origin":2721,"position":0},"title":"Stress May Be A Nightmare, But You Can &#8220;Find The Good&#8221; Solution","author":"Will Clower","date":"April 23, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Let's say you have a nightmare. King Kong is chasing you through New York City, and you may hide under some random desk in a random building that your brain conjured up for this little dream sequence, but no matter where you go, the giant bloodshot eyeball tracks across the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sleeplessness man suffering from Insomnia.","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-814310712.jpg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-814310712.jpg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-814310712.jpg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/iStock-814310712.jpg?fit=724%2C483&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":8332,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=8332","url_meta":{"origin":2721,"position":1},"title":"Your Brain&#8217;s Blind Spot","author":"Will Clower","date":"June 1, 2020","format":"image","excerpt":"Your brain has a bit of a blind spot as it cannot tell fantasy from reality sometimes. For example, if you have a terrible nightmare, your heart races, you sweat, and your body produces stress hormones all for a dream that wasn\u2019t real. By contrast, if you have a positive\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dart Board with the words Train Your Brain on the bullseye","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/08\/Train-Your-Brain-Sticky-Note-on-Dart-Board.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":6722,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=6722","url_meta":{"origin":2721,"position":2},"title":"For A Stress Less Holiday, Keep a Clean Mental Desktop","author":"Will Clower","date":"December 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"One constant source of stress is what we call a cluttered \u201cmental desktop\u201d. When you have 37 things whirring about in your brain, you can get into a spin-cycle that contributes to chronic stress. The solution is to do exactly what you do when you meditate \u2013 clear the desktop\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Articles&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Articles","link":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?cat=494"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stressed-woman.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stressed-woman.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/mlcmmqmgggev.i.optimole.com\/w:auto\/h:auto\/q:mauto\/f:best\/https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/stressed-woman.jpg?fit=640%2C360&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2213,"url":"https:\/\/www.mymedwellness.com\/blog\/?p=2213","url_meta":{"origin":2721,"position":3},"title":"Chocolate Is a Health Food For Your Brain. 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