Stress-Related Cognitive Symptoms

If your primary stress symptoms are cognitive in nature you may find you suffer from the following:

*Sleeping problems
*Over riding pessimistic thoughts of things turning out for the worst
*Thought distortion
*Memory problems
*Preoccupation
*Racing Thoughts
*Difficulty Making Decisions

The brain works differently under stress.  Some people find that they feel more clear thinking and sharper under stress.  As motivation or challenge increases, the brain can take in more information and becomes hyperactive, and so do you. Adrenaline can cause the neurons in the brain to fire two to three times faster than normal. Thoughts race in bits and pieces, memory is impaired and judgment deteriorates.

If there is too much pressure, or in dangerous situations, mistakes can be made, especially for tasks that require complex, creative thought. This stress/performance ratio changes depending on the type of task, fatigue levels, and the individual’s experience.

If an action has been rehearsed repeatedly, it becomes automatic, even under pressure. This is why police officers, fire fighters and soldiers drill emergency procedures over and over, so when they are faced with the real-life situation, they can perform under pressure.  In contrast, problems that require unusual or creative solutions may need long periods of uninterrupted quiet.

When stressed, the brain tends to oversimplify and jump to quick, easy solutions and attention narrows down on to one or two things instead of the big picture. Immediate risks loom larger than long term ones and certain information is ignored and other information is magnified, which leads to thought distortion.  Finally it becomes impossible to see the wood from the trees.
If the stress is constant or recurrent, with no time to recover, your brain is unable to return to levels of normal activity, and it becomes over stimulated.