Understanding How The Brain Interprets Stress and Its Importance - The Threat Bucket

How many times have you told a client or been told; “You need to decrease your stress.”

Of course, we do. We all do.  It’s no secret we all could use a little more of that, but HOW.   More sleep?  But I don’t sleep well.  Less Pain?  My knee has been hurting for years.

Life stress?  How do I change my stress and my stress response when life happens?  

These are just the tip of the iceberg, but what Applied Neurology does and what we teach is that the brain's interpretation of pain is no different regardless if it is emotional or physical pain.

Applied Neurology allows us to decrease this stress (threat) in our brains, regardless of what we need.  Yes, we are individuals, and yes we have a framework we teach so we know what areas of the brain need some attention.

Let’s explain what happens in the brain with threat (stress) so you can understand why we do not function as well under stress.

In today's post-COVID world, stress is a common experience, influencing both our physical and mental well-being. Understanding how our brain interprets and responds to stress can provide valuable insights into managing it more effectively.

One crucial concept we teach in Next Level Neuro is understanding the "threat bucket." This analogy helps explain how the brain processes various external and internal inputs to determine our stress levels and initiate protective mechanisms.

These “protective mechanisms” are what coaches, doctors, therapists, personal trainers and more see their clients for. (see OUTPUTS on IMAGE)

I. The Threat Bucket Analogy

The "threat bucket" is a useful analogy to illustrate how our brain manages stress and threats. Imagine that your brain has a bucket that collects all the potential threats you encounter—both big and small.

These threats can come from various inputs, such as physical pain, emotional stress, or environmental factors. The bucket represents your capacity to handle stress. When the bucket is only partially full, you can manage the stress effectively.

When the bucket overflows, it can lead to overwhelming stress responses, such as chronic pain or anxiety.

II. How the Brain Initiates Outputs to Prevent Threat Overload

The brain's protective mechanisms are designed to prevent the threat bucket from overflowing. When the brain senses that the bucket is getting too full, it initiates outputs to reduce the load.   

**This is the spout on the side of the bucket as seen in the image.  The brain sends out P.A.I.N.

For example, physical pain might encourage you to rest and avoid further injury, while anxiety might prompt you to avoid a perceived danger.

These responses are the brain's way of managing and mitigating threats before they become unmanageable.  We listed some of the ‘outputs’ on the image and we will go into this more below, but think about yourself for a second.   

What are the most common OUTPUTS you have continually felt within your life?   There is a good chance that when you use applied neurology and the neuro drills your common outputs decrease or go away altogether.

**** 97% of all our student report losing their chronic pain by the end of our mentorships. 

If you want more on this topic and more of an understanding of INPUT and OUTPUTS, click the box below this blog post and join our email list.  Each week we will dive deeper into neuro-educational concepts. 

This week is THE THREAT BUCKET.

If you want more information about our mentorships and what they are all about., click here.