I just recently learned that a condition, which I have experienced many times, has an actual name, and that many suffer from this psychophilosophy following a stressful event. It is called the Let-Down Effect. Have you ever wondered how you “made it” through a stressful period with ease, only to get sick afterwards, or experience physical and emotional symptoms that affect your everyday life? This has happened to me on multiple occasions. I have had people say to me while going through a stressful time with Sayla, “I don’t know how you do it.” Well, apparently, it’s because of the Almighty, and the hormones he created such as glucocorticoids, catecholamines, and adrenaline.
These hormones activate the immune system, protect against perception of pain, and increase energy levels. Once these wear off, and the body returns to normal, it can cause a down regulation of the immune system, increase in body pain, headaches, increase in emotional and physical stress, which can trigger an inflammatory response. This can all happen following both a sad or a happy stressful event.
I experienced the Let-Down Effect after Sayla’s spinal surgery, which she had 7 weeks ago, and was not prepared for it at all! In fact, I felt guilty for having both emotional and physical symptoms when everything went perfectly with her surgery and recovery! I started to think something was wrong with me. After talking to a few friends about what I was experiencing, they said they have had that happen to them as well. That’s when I began my quest to learn more about this phenomenon. I not only wanted to know the term for it, but also the medical aspect of it, and how to prevent it. The following are prevention method recommendations I have found:
- Avoid Stressful Situations –
Yeah, not gonna happen, so NEXT!
2. Prepare and Plan Ahead –
I do this when possible (non-emergent events), but still crash and burn after, so NEXT!
3. Ask for Help –
We have a huge support system around Sayla, since she has 4 parents, a nurse, and family close by for when a stressful situation occurs (planned or unplanned) and I still experience Let-Down, so NEXT!
4. De-stress Slowly –
I found some advice on how to mitigate the Let-Down Effect in a way that is similar to a cool-down after a workout. You want to taper down the stress to prevent an abrupt downshift in your body’s elevated state. Sounds good, right? I learned the best way to do this is by creating the right intensity of both mental and physical stimulation. Physical stim would be moderate exercise in 5-6-minute bursts several times a day, such as jogging, or walking stairs. Mental stim would be doing a crossword puzzle, or a challenging computer game. It is recommended that you do these activities for three days following a stressful event, which is considered to be the critical window, to prevent a crash in the wake of a stressful event. I look forward to putting these tactics into practice after my next stressful period.
Have any of you experienced this phenomenon called the Let-Down effect? If so, what got you through it, and what do you do to prevent it? I hope you found this topic interesting!
