As persistent stress becomes the norm for many, new insights highlight the importance of safe self-regulation techniques over suppression, addressing the brain’s adaptive but potentially harmful responses to prolonged pressure.
Chronic stress is no longer an occasional interruption to daily life but a persistent backdrop for many people, and that shift changes how the brain behaves. Clinical psychologist Artem Stupak told aif.ru that the nervous system can drift into a state of constant alertness, with anxiety, catastrophising and black-and-white thinking becoming more common as the mind tries to cope with an unrelenting stream of threat signals. Research on chronic stress supports that picture, linking prolonged strain to changes in brain regions involved in memory, decision-making and mood, as well as to the broader wear and tear known as allostatic load.
That pressure often shows up in habits that look trivial from the outside: nail-biting, skin-picking, hair-twisting, foot-tapping or incessant pen-clicking. Stupak described these as self-soothing rhythmic behaviours, arguing that repetitive movement can give the brain a sense of predictability and the body a temporary anchor when inner tension feels unmanageable. In that sense, the behaviour is less a sign of bad manners than a crude but understandable attempt at self-regulation.
The key warning signs are loss of control, physical harm and social avoidance. A habit becomes more concerning if someone is damaging their nails, skin or hair before they even notice what they are doing, or if they start organising their life around the symptom. Stupak also said the trigger is not always stress alone: boredom and hyperfocus can each push the brain into automatic behaviour. That is why simple advice such as “just relax” often fails, because different states require different forms of intervention.
Instead of trying to suppress the behaviour directly, Stupak advised first lowering internal tension. He pointed to ordinary physical tasks such as washing up, cleaning, cooking, rearranging objects or gardening, which provide a clear sequence of actions and a visible result. He also recommended cold exposure, such as a cold shower, alongside exercise, walking in nature, diaphragmatic breathing and reducing continuous exposure to digital information. Evidence reviews on stress management likewise suggest that breathing techniques and exercise can help blunt the body’s stress response.
He was more cautious about cathartic release strategies, such as shouting into a pillow or breaking things, warning that aggression often reinforces anger rather than resolving it. The broader psychological research points in the same direction: the brain can adapt to pressure, but when stress becomes chronic, those adaptations may become harmful rather than protective. In practical terms, that means the most effective response is usually not to force emotion out, but to give the nervous system safer ways to settle.
Disclaimer: This content is for informational purposes only and is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical judgment, advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
