Introduction
The Stress Bucket has served functional medicine well for years. However, with today's rise in chronic illness, it is time that the Stress Bucket received some attention!
What is the Stress Bucket?
The Stress Bucket is a helpful tool that brings awareness to what we are exposed to and how to support the body in managing these stresses. The concept is quite simple:
The body can manage stress that is within the bucket
If the bucket overflows (stress outpaces the body's ability to manage), disease and symptoms arise
What goes in the Stress Bucket?
Traditionally, functional medicine agreed that there are three "T's" of stress: Thoughts, Traumas and Toxins. While this is still true, functional medicine has grown to include additional variables that build on this concept - Threshold (credit to Dr.
Ramneek Bhogal) and Transferred. Let's explore each of these.
Thoughts
Thoughts can be stressful? Of course, but they can also be healing. Thoughts dictate the state of the body.
Thoughts as a stressor can be our inner dialogue, beliefs, perspective, interpretation and assessment. In fact, all of our experience in the physical world is interpreted in the brain and translated as an assessment... or thought. Our nose provides our sense of smell, but the information is deciphered in the brain and then labeled "pleasant" or "stinky." Our eyes take in visual information, but the brain interprets the information as good, bad or otherwise.
I don't aim to oversimplify the human body; I simply aim to bring awareness that the brain is always scanning and interpreting primarily for safety or threat. This assessment then sends the corresponding signal to the rest of the body. When safe, the body feels joy, motivation and well. When threatened, the body feels tense, on edge and hesitant.
For example, if someone sees an attacker, the brain will enter fight-or-flight mode (sympathetic nervous system state) and adjust bodily functions and signals to prioritize escaping the threat. Similarly, if someone is constantly criticizing themself, this is recognized as negative in the brain and the body enters the same fight-or-flight state. Taking this further and applying it today, if someone receives a rude comment on social media, the body interprets this as a perceived threat, and therefore responds accordingly. And this is only one example of the unnatural stresses that we face today. It's this very mechanism that contributes to chronic illness and chronic stress.
On the other hand, it is also chronic illness and chronic stress that contribute to our thought patterns. In the example of the attacker, it is beneficial for the body to also scan for other possible threats in this state. When in fight-or-flight mode, "stopping to smell the roses" does not assist in survival. Today's chronic stress limits our ability to exit this sympathetic nervous system state, and we are constantly scanning for threats, and only threats. Disrupting negative thoughts sometimes needs to start with improving physical health and emptying the Stress Bucket.
Traumas
This one is pretty straightforward. Both physical and emotional traumas need to be managed and dealt with by the body. Generally, physical traumas require physical management and emotional traumas require emotional outlet.
In my experience as a practitioner, I've seen past emotional traumas surface during the healing process of chronic illness. This can be challenging; however, it indicates that the body has improved enough to have the capacity to revisit the trauma, resolve and move past it. Previous physical traumas can surface during the healing process as well. This usually presents as pain/inflammation in the area of the trauma. This is also short-lived and indicates further resolution of the past trauma.
Toxins
Toxins as a stressor is a bit of a catch-all category. Think of toxin as it relates to the Stress Bucket as anything that doesn't belong in the body. Some examples of toxins are:
Chemicals
Pesticides
Heavy metals
Environmental toxins (such as mold)
Microbial overgrowths and/or infections
Waste products from microbial overgrowths (organic acids, lipopolysaccharides, etc.)
Buildup of metabolites due to improper metabolism
Some of these are the cause, while others are the result, of illness. Either way, all of the above examples are burdens on the body that quickly fill the Stress Bucket. Clearing these toxins is a crucial part of the healing process, and this increases the importance of thorough investigation. Blindly entering a detox or cleanse can have short-term improvements, or short-term exacerbation of symptoms. Clearing toxins should follow this simple three-step process:
Identify toxins
Open drainage pathways and support elimination processes
Mobilize toxins
If not done in the order above, a detox or cleanse can leave us feeling quite unwell.
Threshold
Threshold as it relates to the Stress Bucket, refers to an individual's capacity to manage stress. This could either be the overall "size" of the bucket and/or the size of the Bucket's "drain."
For sake of simplicity, someone may have a small threshold or a large threshold. Someone with a small threshold would accumulate stressors and rapidly "spill over" into symptoms and disease. Whereas someone with a large threshold would have to ability to manage more stress for longer periods prior to spilling over and experiencing symptoms and illness.
This idea of threshold is a useful concept in understanding why someone may be more sensitive. However, it is not a true representation of the human body. Things that would determine threshold are usually rooted in genes (enzyme deficiencies) but could also be affected by other variables. Threshold could also be thought of as the efficiency of clearing/emptying the contents of the Stress Bucket. Poor clearance would cause quicker filling of the bucket, and therefore a lower threshold.
Transferred
Transferred stressors refers to what is transferred from mother to fetus during pregnancy. This is not an attack at mom, dad or anyone. This is just reflective of our convenience-focused, chemical-happy, society. Transferred stressors are becoming increasingly common and have varying implications in disease.
While the study is a bit old, there aren't many studies being conducted on this topic. A study spearheaded by the Enviornmental Working Group in 2005, found an average of 200 different chemicals (287 total) in the umbilical blood of newborn babies! Of these chemicals, 180 are known to cause cancer, 217 are toxic to the brain and nervous system, and 208 have been shown to cause abnormal development and birth defects. There are roughly 85,000 chemicals in use today. Unfortunately, only about 1% of these have been tested for safety. Additionally, toxicology studies on these chemicals are only done individually. There is very limited research where multiple chemicals are studied for any synergistic effects.
The reality is that babies are being born with their Stress Buckets half-full. This explains the rapid increase in childhood illness, disease and cancers.
Skimming or Emptying?
Now that we know what goes into our Stress Buckets, let's talk about modalities that assist the "emptying" process.
Skimming
I use this to refer to the top spicket in the image of the Stress Bucket. Individually, and in combination, modalities such as supplements, restrictive dieting, exercise and so on offer many benefits. I refer to this approach as "skimming" the top layer of the Stress Bucket. These approaches stop the "spilling over" and therefore usually resolve symptoms. However, I've observed, and you may have experienced, long term, these efforts eventually stop yielding the same outcome. Restrictive dieting usually leads to more restriction to maintain the same benefits. Or exercise usually leads to more frequent exercise sessions just to sustain any improvements. And as it relates to conventional medicine, medications usually need to be increased to maintain previous levels otherwise biomarkers creep out of range again.
While some of these are essential for stabilizing the body, minimal healing comes from these modalities. If the root cause(s) is/are not addressed, eventually these efforts will stop producing perceived benefits.
Emptying
Emptying is done through the "bottom spicket" in the image of the Stress Bucket. Fully emptying the bucket involves the skimming modalities, but also requires more investment and effort. However, with the added investment and effort comes long-term health! Here are the areas to invest in and focus on:
Minimize what goes into the Stress Bucket
Clean up your home and work environment
Choose natural personal care products
Choose organic, non-GMO, grass-fed and pasture raised food
Filter your drinking water and your bathing water
Introduce deep breathing, prayer, meditation and/or other stress reduction techniques
Optimize sleep hygiene
Intentionally add exercise and movement to your routine
Thoroughly investigate through functional lab testing
Work with a trusted Holistic Health Practitioner that will see your health success through to the end
Conclusion
Being aware of what goes into our Stress Bucket and how to empty it is crucial for improved and sustained health today. Unfortunately, the convenience of today comes at the cost of early-onset chronic illness. We must remain vigilant to navigate the stressors of 2024 and forward.
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