1. The Long Term Impact of Chronic
Stress
By Brenda McCreight Ph.D.

2.  Some forms of stress can be exhilarating
and energizing.
 Indeed, stress can give you the kick you
need to get through a high pressure
meeting or recall what you need to score
well on an exam.
 Chronic stress, however, will slowly and
systematically create havoc and damage
to your physical and emotional health.
 Brenda McCreight Ph.D. workshop series

3.  For those engaged in Hazardous
Parenting, chronic stress is part of life but
the good news is that the damage it does
to your body and your brain can be
alleviated.
 Here’s what stress
does to you ...

4.  First, the stress trigger happens. It might be
that the phone rings and you know it’s
your child’s school calling to tell you that
your child has to be sent home for the day
yet again. Or, the social worker just called
to say that the funding for your respite
care has been cut. Or, it’s almost time for
school to end and you become stressed
knowing that the daily afterschool chaos
is about to begin.
 Brenda McCreight PH.D. workshop series

5. The trigger will ignite the amygdala in
your brain – that’s the part of the
brain that alerts your whole body to
danger and sets you into flight, fight
or freeze mode. It results in the
release of cortisol and other toxic
hormones that flood the brain and
cause your heart beat to increase
and your blood pressure to rise.
Brenda McCreight Ph.D. workshop series

7.  It also shuts off your pre-frontal cortex,
the part of the brain that reasons and
evaluates and allows for long term
thinking as well as problem solving.

8.  The hormones in your brain make you
irritable and impatient and they disrupt
your sleep cycle, causing more stress and
more cognitive problems.
 Cortisol even impacts your weight, as it
slows the metabolism and sends fat to
your waist – leading to obesity
and the health problems that
go with that.

9.  Your body and your brain get pretty worn
out from the chronic overdose of cortisol
and so they become sluggish and
depressed and exhausted and you find
that you don’t have the energy to
exercise or the will to eat right.
 If you have a genetic tendency to other
health problems, such as migraines or
heart problems, these are going to
develop in full force.
 In the long run, the chronic stress, if
unattended, may be a factor in
developing dementia!

10.  The downward cycle continues as your
now chronic irritability and impatience
alienates you from friends, from support,
from your spouse and your other children.
Sooner or later it will impact your work
and then you have even more chronic
stress to add to the damage already
happening inside of you.

11.  What can you do about this? Well, you
can’t remove the source of your stress,
which is your child, and she isn’t going to
get any better in the near or immediate
future.

12.  Here are some things you can do to
increase your brain health by lowering the
cortisol levels and increasing the function
and activity level of the rest of your brain.

13.  Here’swhat doesn’t work:
Addictions or bad habits, such as alcohol,
shopping, affairs, food, reading, the internet,
carbohydrates, and other quick fixes that
only add to the burden your brain is
experiencing.

14.  Here’s what does work:
 Exercise – no matter how difficult it is, get
up off the couch and move. Start with a
walk around the block, then find a gym
where you feel welcomed, or join aqua
aerobics – just do something.
 Remember, you need both cardio and
muscle resistance exercises to make sure
that your cardiovascular system and your
cognitive capacity are supported.
 Brenda McCreight PH.D. workshop series

16.  Breathing techniques – anything that gets
oxygen to your brain is great. There are
many biofeedback breathing techniques
(check out Heartmath.org), yoga is
excellent too.
 A simple breathing technique I devised is
at the end of this presentation.
Check it out.
 Brenda McCreight Ph.D . workshop series

17. Therapy – many therapies help alleviate the
symptoms of chronic stress, including
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, EMDR,
neurofeedback, biofeedback, Emotional
Freedom Technique (my favorite) and
others.

18.  Meditation is excellent for brain health
and for stress reduction.
 Search the net for meditations that suit
you – or go to my Hazardous Parenting
website where we are always adding
new, and short, meditations.
 You may feel that meditating is too “new
age” or too time consuming or too weird
or too….. But it takes less time than a heart
attack and its been around way too long
to be considered new.
 Brenda McCreight Ph.D. workshop series

20.  Play – that’s right – you are entitled to play
and have fun – whatever that looks like to
you.
 Take time to golf with your buddies, or go
to a movie without the kids, or go away
for a weekend with your spouse or your
friends
 Join a group activity that isn’t about
parenting

21.  Healthy eating – I know you already know
about this – but make sure you do it!
 Add some fruit and vegetables to your
existing diet
 Swap out carbs for vitamins from raw
foods
 See a nutritionist if you are unsure about
what to do with your food intake.

23.  People die early from many things, such
as obesity, diabetes and heart disease,
but often it’s the underlying factor of
chronic stress that led to these fatal
conditions.
 You don’t have to be a victim of stress,
you can heal and recover and flourish!
 Remember – you are entitled to a better
day.

24.  Brenda’s breathing technique –
QUIET THE MONKEYS
 Picture a tree – try to make it make it big and
thick with many branches and full of shiny
green leaves. Now, picture monkeys on the
branches – they may be swinging from one
branch to another, or they may be settled
firmly on their favorite spot, peeking out at the
world from behind smaller tree limbs, still leaf
filled. Picture the monkeys chattering away –
all chatter at the same time, without pause,
without meaning that you can discern.

25.  Now, picture the monkeys slowly quieting.
One by one they cease their noise, one
by one they close their eyes and assume
a resting position. They begin to fade
behind the leaves, and tree stands strong
and silent.
 The monkeys are quiet.
 Square your shoulders

26.  Think about a word that describes how
you intend to feel.
 Pay attention to your breathing for about
30 seconds
 Breathe a little bit deeper and a little bit
slower than usual for about 30 seconds
 Think about your heart for about 30
seconds

27.  Picture your oxygen rich blood flowing up
to, and through, your brain
 Picture the oxygen washing out the stress
hormones and toxic thoughts that fill your
brain for about 30 seconds, or longer if
you have time
 Think of something you love or something
that makes you feel wonderful, or think of
a person, place or event that brings you
joy for about 30 seconds
 Slowly open your eyes

28.  Brenda’s books at Amazon.com

31. Thank you for sharing this time with me
 You can check out other services and products at
these sites:
 http://www.lifespancounselling.com
 http://www.theadoptioncounselor.com
 http://www.hazardousparenting.com
 The Hazardous Parenting facebook site
 Udemy.com (search under Brenda McCreight)
 Slideshare.com (search under Brenda McCreight)
 Amazon.com (search under Brenda McCreight)
 brendamccreight@gmail.com
 Brenda provides counselling and parent coaching
worldwide via skype,