By Anne Gagliano
我们Americans are stressed out. In the past 20 years of mass media, obesity has加倍在我国。不断令人心碎的悲惨新闻泛滥，艾格达拉（Amygdala）（大脑的战斗或飞行中心）始终发射，产生的压力激素（例如皮质醇）超出了我们的身体需求。杏仁核告诉人体准备采取行动，但很少需要采取行动。我们使用祖先为生存所做的能量的不到38％。结果？所有压力都没有出口。
消防员往往比普通公民驱逐更多的能量，但由于他们在悲剧的前沿，他们的压力更大，亲眼目睹了我们其余的人只二手。底线？我们all需要烧毁多余的皮质醇和肾上腺素或遭受后果。运动是关键；有些很好，更多的更好。每周进行三场30分钟的锻炼将获得令人难以置信的好处；每周六次45至60分钟的锻炼，甚至更多。对于消防员夫妇，运动是especiallyimportant to you for the following reasons:
Exercise counters depression and anxiety. Depression is serious business, as it can lead to health issues and even suicide. The World Health Organization lists depression as the leading cause of disability in the United States ahead of coronary heart disease, any cancer, and AIDS. About 17 percent of American adults experience depression at some point in their lives. And every 17 minutes, someone in our country commits suicide. Tragically, we are seeing more and more firefighter suicides.
Chronic stress is the leading cause of depression, and firefighting is the most stressful profession in the nation. The stress response triggers massive amounts of cortisol, which, if unused, can damage the brain and affect how a person thinks and feels. Brain-derived neuro-trophic factor (BDNF) protects neurons against cortisol damage in areas of the brain that control mood, such as the hippocampus. Cortisol over timedecreaseslevels of BDNF; autopsies on suicide brains revealed significantly lower levels of BDNF.
皮质醇还会导致三种“感觉良好”神经递质的失衡：多巴胺，5-羟色胺和去甲肾上腺素。其中任何一个都可能导致抑郁症。
Hormones have a powerful influence on mood as well. Women are two to four times more likely to suffer from depression and anxiety than men because of massive hormonal fluctuations. After puberty, a man’s hormones fluctuate two percent a day, for life. On average, a woman’s hormones fluctuate 25 percent a day, and even more so during pregnancy, postpartum, and menopause.
压力过多也会引起焦虑，这是抑郁症的邪恶双胞胎。消防员可以同时沮丧和焦虑。焦虑是恐惧 - 恐惧是对危险的记忆。如果没有受到检查，战斗或飞行的反应可能会导致恐惧的记忆被困在恐惧的记忆中，从而欺骗人体认为危险没有过去。皮质醇损坏控制杏仁核的前额叶皮层（PFC）；如果杏仁核不受控制，则超出效果会产生滚雪球。PTSD的患者显示出小于平均PFC。
Anti-anxiety and anti-depressive drugs have a powerful allure–the quick fix, the magic pill. Sometimes these medications have amazing, even life-saving results. But these drugs have problems; they don’t work for everyone, they don’t work long-term, andall它们具有强大的副作用。这些包括干嘴，出汗，头晕，体重增加，恶心和性功能障碍。没有人对孕妇安全。百忧解是所有抗抑郁药或SSRI（选择性5-羟色胺再摄取抑制剂）的母亲，它可以通过在系统中留下更多的5-羟色胺来供大脑使用。SSRI确实提高了5-羟色胺水平，但5-羟色胺只是one在三种感觉良好的化学物质中，您的身体需要控制情绪。请注意，SSRI被用来治疗早产射精和性犯罪者，因为他们致力于性欲。什么消防员想让他的性欲减少？因此，使用这些药物的消防员的可能性很低。
Here is the beauty of exercise: It elevates endorphins, raises BDNF, and regulatesall由抗抑郁药靶向的神经递质，而不仅仅是一种。锻炼有助于平衡激素的波动水平，使其不那么剧烈或严重。正确完成后，它不仅对孕妇安全，而且对婴儿也有益。运动没有危险的副作用，这是一种长期工作的解决方案每个人。
只有10分钟的剧烈运动可以立即改善情绪和活力。每周50分钟的锻炼与沮丧的几率下降了50％。只有运动可以通过燃烧压力激素来减轻对焦虑的身体唤醒的敏感性。从字面上锻炼您的大脑从抑郁或焦虑的下降螺旋中抢走自然restoring the proper balance of chemicals needed to do so.
锻炼刺激了PFC的增长（可以容纳记忆），帮助大脑记住“好东西”，而不是被慢性压力所激发的负面，引起恐惧的思想 - 与负面思想相关。
Exercise strengthens mental acuity. The stress hormone cortisol temporarily increases norepinephrine, which arouses attention, and dopamine, which sharpens focus. This is necessary during the fight or flight response to be able to perform scary tasks such as fighting fire or public speaking (which is ranked as the #1 fear). The bigger the threat, the more the fluctuations, and the bigger the fluctuations, the more likely an imbalance will occur. If cortisol is left unchecked in the brain, cognitive skills cease to be sharpened and eventually begin to erode, resulting in attention deficit. With attention deficit, one can become unfocused, unproductive, and unmotivated, and decision making becomes tough.
锻炼会增加多巴胺和去甲肾上腺素列弗els the same way that stress does, minus the cortisol. These two neurotransmitters are the leaders in regulating the attention system. Exercise accomplishes this by spurring the growth of dopamine receptors in the basal ganglia, which is the area of the brain responsible for attention (this is what the drug Ritalin does). Exercise increases norepinephrine, which calms an overactive cerebellum to decrease fidgetiness and noise distraction. Exercise does what Ritalin does, only better.
正如之前提到的,运动增加的体积the pre-frontal cortex by actually helping it grow back to its original size. The brain is always trying to rejuvenate itself by producing new cells, but if they are not “plugged in” within 28 days, the new brain cells will die. Stress blocks this process, but exercise immediately “plugs” them in. Move it or lose it.
The PFC regulates mental acuity. A shrunken PFC can lead to lack of concentration and procrastination, forcing the already stressed out firefighter couple to always live on the edge. But with a healthy balance in the brain, sharpness and productivity return and, with it, the ability to make decisions in a timely fashion.
如果您在抑郁，焦虑或一点“模糊性”中挣扎，那就感觉很好，尤其是当您意识到自己时canhelp yourself.
In my next column, more issues that plague the firefighter couple will be addressed, including addiction, sleep issues, and disease.
安妮·加里亚诺（Anne Gagliano）has been married to Captain Mike Gagliano of the Seattle (WA) Fire Department for 30 years. She and her husband lecture together on building and maintaining a strong marriage.
