Stress, Anxiety and Mood Range Practitioner Guide

How is Stress Affecting Your Patients?

Exposure to acute and chronic stress is an inevitable part of modern life, with Healthcare Practitioners (HCPs) well placed to improve their patients’ resilience and ability to cope. In fact, stress and mood disorders are the most prevalent conditions HCPs see in clinic, with patients experiencing diverse physical, psychological and behavioural responses to stress. Patients may present with positive coping and adaptation abilities through to impaired resilience and negative symptoms, with some chronic states culminating in anxiety and/or depression. Mental health data confirms stress and mood disorders are on the rise:

• 25% of Australian adults report high levels of anxiety and/or depression, with 14.3% of New Zealand adults experiencing depression and 6.1%, anxiety disorders.
• 4.3 million Australians received mental health related prescriptions in 2018-19 with a $9.9 billion spend on Australian mental health services in 2017-18.
• 46.1% have a diagnosis of depression or anxiety, as confirmed by a 2018 study of females.

Understanding the Science of Stress and it’s Relationship to Neuroplasticity

Ongoing stress can affect the structure and function of different areas of the brain, as it is designed to reshape and rewire itself in response to different experiences, thoughts and emotions. These neuroplastic responses can have both positive and negative impacts on the brain, for example:

• The hippocampus (involved in memory, learning and emotion) can shrink in size due to retracted dendrites of the neurons and synaptic aberrations, exacerbating emotional responses such as sadness or worry.
• Neuroplastic remodelling has been shown in regions involved in anxiety and mood states, such as the amygdala (involved in fear and worry) and pre-frontal cortex.
• Low levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) have been found in mood and stress disorders. BDNF is involved in memory and cognition and exerts protective activity against the effects of stress.

Stress responses can disrupt neurotransmitter and hormonal activity while also driving hypothalamic-pituitary (HPA) axis dysfunction, influencing neuroplastic outcomes.14 For example, during chronic or prolonged stress states the HPA axis mediates cortisol release which, in excess amounts, has a propensity to concentrate in the hippocampus, exerting neurotoxic and maladaptive effects in the brain. This can impact on the cellular energy required for effective neuroplasticity and inflammatory responses known to induce proinflammatory cytokine.

Natural Solutions to Relieve, Restore and Rebuild Mental Wellbeing

By ensuring adequate protective (i.e. neurotrophic) factors, using targeted herbs, nutrition and lifestyle tools, we can offset maladaptive brain plasticity and promote beneficial plasticity (i.e. neurogenesis).

Metagenics offers holistic tools and strategies that are easy to implement and can be tailored to an individual’s stress, anxiety or mood states, focusing on three core areas:

1. Relieve symptoms using targeted herbal formulas for stress, anxiety and mood symptoms and support neurotrophic pathways, as well as addressing underlying drivers (i.e. inflammation) that impact a healthy stress response.
2. Restore a healthy stress response using core nutrients including conditionspecific magnesium combinations and B vitamins for stress adaptation, mood, sleep, healthy neurotransmitter synthesis and energy production. Our gut and brain are interconnected via a two-way communication system known as the ‘gut-brain axis’. Targeting vagal nerve responsiveness and a healthy gut microbiota with specific probiotic strains can restore a healthy microbiota gut-brain axis and modulate stress response.
3. Rebuild resilience by addressing drivers and lifestyle factors including diet, social support, therapy, movement, sleep hygiene and some device-based technologies.