Some activities increase anxiety and stress. To feel better, you still need to know how to spot them. That's the whole point of an Instagram post by Nawal Mostafa, an American neuropsychologist.
Do you feel anxious, stressed and afraid but for no apparent reason? Maybe you have some bad habits that lead to dysregulation of your nervous system – the network of nerves and nerve cells through which messages are transmitted from our brain to different parts of the body. If it is disabled, this system activates the “survival” mode in us: our entire body prepares to respond to a non-existent danger. This is what Nawal Mostafa, an American neuropsychologist with 1.6 million subscribers, explains in an Instagram post dated April 17.
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Lack of exposure, social networks, sedentary lifestyle…
“Some activities disrupt our nervous system because they disrupt the balance of physiological and psychological processes that contribute to its regulation,” warns the neuropsychologist. For example, lack of exposure to sunlight, poor breathing, or distracting auditory stimuli can trigger stress reactions in the body. “This activates the sympathetic nervous system, which leads to increased heart rate, increased cognition, and the release of stress hormones such as cortisol,” she says.
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Nawal Mustafa enumerates these bad habits:
- Stay indoors all day without exposure to natural light
- Listening to loud, chaotic music or sounds
- Spend time with people who bring us stress or negativity
- Scrolling through our social media feeds nonstop
- Ignore or suppress your feelings
- Stay sedentary and avoid any form of physical activity
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On the contrary, she emphasizes that other behaviors help regulate our nervous system and promote a state of balance and relaxation. Among them: walking outdoors in natural light, listening to soothing music, spending time with friends, disconnecting from social networks for several hours, crying from the heart to release strong emotions, and finally exercising. Such activities “activate the parasympathetic nervous system that stimulates a feeling of calm, reduces physiological arousal and promotes the release of neurotransmitters associated with relaxation,” she concludes.
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