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If you’re grieving the loss of a family member, going through a divorce, were unexpectedly laid off from work, or caregiving for a loved one dealing with a serious illness, your stress will come as no surprise to you or anyone else. Culturally and personally, we are familiar with and accepting of how these major life stressors affect us. The rushes of anxiety and pit-in-stomach dread are persistent. Frequent headaches, digestion problems, trouble sleeping, or weight changes are all par for the course when the Big Stress happens.
However, there exists a subtler, yet equally impactful form of stress that often goes unnoticed until it rears its head as burnout. Experts have dubbed it microstress. These seemingly minor stressors, often overlooked, can accumulate over time, exacting a significant toll on our mental and physical well-being. Recognizing and effectively managing these micro stressors is paramount for safeguarding our overall health and productivity. Let’s dig in to learn more about microstress and its causes, and how we can prevent it.
The Anatomy of Microstress
While major stressors such as bereavement or illness are readily identifiable, micro stressors are elusive, manifesting in the mundane interactions and experiences we encounter regularly. Microstress is caused by difficult moments that we register as just another bump in the road—if we register them at all, write Rob Cross and Karen Dillon, co-authors of The Microstress Effect. Microstresses come at us so quickly, and we’re so conditioned to just working through them, that we barely recognize anything has happened. They’re fleeting, minor “hurts'' that we assume have no impact on our lives.
What does microstress look like? It might be picking up the slack for a lax co-worker or a late-in-the-day request from your manager. It could also look like not getting enough sleep, managing three kids' weekend activity schedules, or even knowing you have to cancel on friends (again) because something came up at work.
“I think a good metaphor is a teacup that you keep adding a little more to,” says Karen Dillon. “You add a little more, a little more, and it’s sort of holding on at the top—until you add one extra drop, and it spills over. That’s the effect of microstress.”
These stressors are often intertwined with our closest relationships, emanating from friends, family, and colleagues. Draining our cognitive resources, depleting our emotional reserves, and challenging our sense of identity, micro stressors chip away at our well-being surreptitiously.
What Microstress Does to The Brain
Our brains know how to register conventional forms of stress. A process called allostasis, the biological mechanism that protects the body, helps maintain our internal homeostasis; our body can identify a threat and use the extra oomph of the fight-or-flight mechanisms that kick in to deal with it. But microstressors can fly under the radar.
“While micro stressors are damaging our bodies, our brains are not fully registering them as a threat,” says Joel Salinas, a behavioral neurologist, and researcher at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine and the chief medical officer at Isaac Health, which provides online brain-health services. “Therefore, our brains are not triggering the same kind of protective higher-order mechanisms that might occur in the face of more obvious stress.”
Microstressors elicit physiological responses akin to conventional stress, exacerbating conditions such as high blood pressure, increased heart rate, hormonal and metabolic changes, and brain fog. Lisa Feldman Barrett, a distinguished professor of psychology at Northeastern University and the author of Seven and a Half Lessons About the Brain, says our brains do a “body budgeting” to assess the cumulative effect of the stressors we experience on a day-to-day basis. The thing is, our brains don’t actually distinguish between different types of chronic stress, meaning the cumulative effects on our health end up being the same.
“When your body budget is continually burdened, momentary stressors pile up, even the kind that you’d normally bounce back from quickly,” she says. “It’s like children jumping on a bed. The bed might withstand 10 kids bouncing at the same time, but the 11th one snaps the bed frame.”
Strategies for Mitigating Microstress
Simply deciding to not feel stressors, especially micro stressors you might not be clocking, is easier said than done. But according to Cross and Dillon, finding ways to eliminate even just a few micro stressors in your life can make a significant difference. Their research suggests that most people can find three to five obvious opportunities to make a notable difference in their microstress level.
To combat microstress, they offer three strategies: 1) identifying and addressing its sources, 2) being mindful of causing microstress to others, 3) and learning to rise above stressors or let them roll off your back. In practice, applying these strategies looks like learning how to say no to small asks or by managing technology and how it interrupts your day. It means readjusting relationships; do you need to ask that pestering question to your partner? Or send that late-night Slack DM? Those might be unnecessary micro stressors you’re putting on others.
Lastly, one reason some micro stressors affect us is simply because we allow them to. Some things really aren’t that big of a deal, experts say, and we should treat them as such for the benefit of our brains. Again, easier said than done. One way to build this perspective into your life, says Salinas, is engaging with others. Connecting, having informal conversations, sharing mutual interests, or seeing the world from another perspective is a powerful antidote.
“Engaging with other people…trains your brain—like training a coordinated group of muscles—to develop brain circuits for managing your own reactions, responses, and emotions,” says Salinas. There’s also a healthy distraction component, because emotional burdens don’t weigh on you as much when you’re immersed in a multidimensional life. “You tend not to ruminate on your problems when you are around other people who engage your full attention in a positive way.”
Conclusion
Stress manifests in both overt upheavals and subtle undercurrents. While major life events garner attention and empathy, the insidious nature of microstress often eludes detection until it culminates in burnout. Unveiling the effects of microstress underscores its profound influence on mental and physical well-being. Like a persistent drip filling a teacup, microstress infiltrates our lives through mundane interactions and responsibilities, draining cognitive resources and challenging our resilience. Its impact extends beyond psychology, eliciting physiological responses akin to conventional stress. Combatting microstress demands a multifaceted approach, from identifying its sources to fostering resilience and nurturing meaningful connections. By understanding and managing these undercurrents, individuals empower themselves to navigate life's challenges with grace and fortitude, ensuring enduring well-being amidst the tumult of modernity.
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