Stress is unavoidable. It’s natural in our day to day life. How we respond to stress has a major impact on who we are as a person. The physical and mental consequences to our whole well-being. Do you notice how some individuals handle stressful situations better (or worse) than others? Or what one individual might perceive an experience as being stressful or scary while another views it is challenging but fun. Enter the “Worrier/Warrior” gene—the gene that codes for the COMT enzyme. COMT short for Catechol-O-methyltransferase. This enzyme is what breaks down the hormones and neurotransmitters that are released in response to a stressful experience – the Catecholamines. Although I am highlighting the COMT gene in this post, behavioral gene makers include a variety a genes. But the COMT gene is a key gene variant that has more of an impact than others.

Catecholamines

Catecholamines are the neurotransmitters and hormones made by your adrenal glands released into the body in response to stress. The main types being dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine (epinephrine is also known as adrenaline). Both epinephrine and norepinephrine are the hormones behind your “fight-or-flight” response. Sympathetic and Parasympathetic states. These hormones are released allowing for bodily response within seconds. Epinephrine and norepinephrine work together in stressful situations to increase blood flow throughout your body. Increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, allowing for blood and oxygen to quickly get to our cells and increasing mental alertness. You’ve probably heard the expression of needing to outrun a lion in years past, this is our ancestry DNA readying our body to be able to quickly escape a dangerous situation or fight off a predator. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter or a chemical messenger in your brain, controlling your responses to sensory information such as motor control, emotions related to pleasure and dislike, thought-processing.

Worrier vs. Warrior and COMT

There are two variants of this gene. but a blend of both can occur.

Increased COMT activity means faster breakdown of the hormones mentioned above, being associated with an advantage in processing stress – the Warrior.

Decreased COMT activity means slower breakdown of the hormones, being associated with an advantage in memory and attention tasks – the Worrier.

The variant referred to as the “Worrier” with the slower breakdown mean they will then have higher levels of catecholamines, allowing for better focus and memory. These people tend to do very well in school and scoring higher on IQ tests, but that comes with a worry way of thinking. These individuals tend to have a preference of being in a more relaxed, less stressful environment. This gives them an analytical advantage, being able to put these neurotransmitters and hormones to work. However, when put under high pressure situations or any type of stress, because they do not break down these stress hormones quickly, this can lead to a feeling of overwhelm and nervousness. Now there’s too much worry. Long-term stressors have a bigger impact on the mental and physical health of these individuals. Experiencing a negative situation, a stressful situation, they do best and will often even prefer to step back to take a more analytical approach. Offering more time to look over a problem before going right in. Allow these individuals to make the plans and go over the details.

The Warrior variant with a faster breakdown due to the increased COMT activity tend to do better when under pressure. The high stress situations increases their hormone levels just as well, which improves their focus in the moment. But they quickly break these down and return to a state of low stress. They get the benefit of the stress hormones surging, they get control and then the catecholamines clear our preventing any overthinking or long-term overwhelm. Warriors are then able to move through a stressful experience faster, not hold on to the experience too long and thus when faced again with that same situation or something similar, even when realizing they are going into a very stressful environment, with a warrior gene variant they will continue to go back into the battle or competition, ready to re-experience and handle it possibly even with more ease and confidence.

Good Stress vs Bad Stress

I wanted to put in here that not all stress is bad. Good stress, called eustress, is the type of stress you feel when you’re excited. This is the type we get when we’re about to do something thrilling, such as mountain biking or going into an interview or on a first date or competing in an important game. Hormones ramp up and heartrate gets going. This eustress is short-term, motivating us to take on challenges and inspiring us to keep going. The hormones allow for crips focus and enhanced energy allowing for peak performance. We thrive off this feeling.

Bad or negative stress is what wears on us and just exhausts us mentally and physically. The anxiety jitters and the feeling of lethargy, overwhelm and lowered cognitive thinking, minimizing performance. It can be short-term (acute) or long-term (chronic). Considering both the Warrior and the Worrier, when it comes to acute stress, this can be mitigated by finding ways to relax quickly. The Warrior has an easier time recovering from this acute stress and even if it’s not a situation they prefer, they still may thrive off it, especially once finding a solution. However, the chronic stress and continuing to be in an environment of high negative stress, this can take its toll on your body, causing unwanted health concerns. Headaches, trouble sleeping and weight gain or trouble losing weight, physical pain and lack of motivation. Those individuals carrying the Worrier gene may even find themselves in a lifestyle of chronic stress, not realizing they would thrive in a more relaxed environment, possibly even worrying about how they could even make lifestyle adjustments to allow them to use their analytical skills and keen focus. Stress piles up, a breakdown often experienced in health issues. This is why it is important to take a whole body perspective and understand what some other gene variants are to know how to approach lifestyle adjustments. There are gene markers that can identify if one is more prone to an addictive nature or have lower dopamine receptors.

SZENNX Epigenetic Coaching

SZENNX offers genetic testing that will include your gene variant of the COMT gene. This has proven to be helpful in allowing individuals to better understand why they respond the way they do in stressful events.

Regardless of the gene report, there are lifestyle adjustments that SZENNX includes in the individualized coaching. Training to be better prepared for stress while understanding one’s environment is the SZENNX Life approach. Tailored to your individual plan, offering suggestions and guidance for healthy stress response.

It is important to maintain balance. If you find you’re living a lifestyle that is not best suited for your genes SZENNX will guide in suggesting effective relaxation techniques, such as a regular yoga practice or other preferable ways to decompress. Running or hiking. Or even suggestions of pursuing different challenges, different passions and hobbies, switching from negative stress to the positive eustress.

Well-Nourished

The nutrition component of this is that a deficiency in Vitamin D (impacts of gut health which encompasses the gut-brain axis) and low B vitamin intake such as B1, B2, B3, B6, B12 and B9 impact the functions of these hormones and are important in creating our hormones and neurotransmitters. Deficiencies are associated with anxiety, depression, feeling of fatigue.

It is natural to become overwhelmed by stress. Your environment and your diet is a major factor, as it is a component of how we are able to deal with stress more keenly or if it is adding to stressful issues. Understanding your genes is an important step to understanding how our environment and our life choices impact your health and happiness.

Go to SZENNX.com to get started!