I was ‘addicted to stress’ — here's how to tell if you might be, too

King John Pascual, Contributor Aug 27, 2016, 10:00 AM

Flickr / Pabak Sarkar

For the past two years, the real world has kicked my butt.

Fresh out of college, I was working full-time as a science teacher in an under-resourced school and completing my master’s degree, all the while adjusting to millennial life in New York City.

Even during the summer time and winter break, moments of true relaxation were few and far between.

So naturally a week ago, when my master’s program and emotionally taxing job as an urban teacher came to a conclusion, I very much looked forward to finally having an unhurried work hiatus. 

However, three days into my "time off," I realized that something was wrong. I looked at moments of relaxation and downtime askance and wasn’t enjoying any of it. Riddled with withdrawal-like symptoms such as anxiety, increased appetite, and irritability, I mused on why I kept stepping into this hormonal paradox every time I tried to relax. 

A Google inquisitor through and through, I decided to do some research and came across several articles that struck a chord. “Guilt May Ruin Your Relaxation If You Don’t Take It Easy On Yourself” said one headline. “Watching TV To Relieve Stress Can Make You Feel Like A Failure” quipped another. That’s when it hit me. Drawing from my knowledge of psychology and biology, I reckoned that perhaps my restlessness was due to me being addicted to stress.

That’s right. My name is King and I am a stressaholic. And as it turns out, science seems to be on my side. 

Research shows that cortisol, known as the stress hormone, can make a region in the brain called the nucleus accumbens become more sensitive to dopamine, a neurotransmitter that gives us the feeling of pleasure and satisfaction. For Type A people like myself, embracing fast-paced environments can lend itself to unchecked cortisol levels, which, if prolonged, can be a problem. Picture a work environment marked by the constant need to achieve something under stressful circumstances. If this sounds like your daily routine, chances are that your chronically stressed out brain can become dependent on the euphoric release of dopamine. In other words, stress, as some experts put it, can turn into addiction.

Neuroscientist and addiction specialist Jim Pfaus says that stress can cause a “natural high” by activating the arousal and attention centers in our peripheral nervous system. Pfaus explains that “stressors can also wake up the neural circuitry underlying wanting and craving – just like drugs do.” 

This could shed light on the reasons why in 2015, the American Psychological Association reported that 24% of Americans experience extreme stress regularly. Might those who latch on to stress do so not least because they are addicted to the satisfaction they get from accomplishing work-related tasks under pressure? 

Debbie Mandel, author of Addicted to Stress, thinks so. A stress management specialist, Mandel says, “like a drug addict, you need a bigger fix all the time.” She adds that those who are addicted to stress do so in part because obsessing over work allows people to avoid self-reflection and “run away from their own unhappiness.”

But how to get out of the emotional quagmire? Time management and productivity expert Laura Vanderkam might have the answer. In her article “How To Let Go Of Your Guilt And Actually Enjoy Your Downtime,” Vanderkam thinks that it’s a matter of tricking your mind into thinking relaxation is just another task to be accomplished.

“Once it becomes an assignment,” Vanderkam writes, “it would be out of the realm of guilt, and more into the realm of duty.” In other words, you have to deliberately budget mental time for relaxation and turn downtime “into something you judge yourself on.”

Indeed, while one might consider restlessness as the greatest weakness of stressaholics, don’t forget that it can also be their most useful strength. The moral of the story then is that if you start feeling restless during your free time, simply remind yourself that being unproductive is just another task to check off.