Acute stress doesn’t just fray your nerves—it may disrupt the brain’s ability to regulate emotion, especially in people with anxiety, depression, or borderline personality disorder. A new study reveals how stress short-circuits the mind’s control systems, reshaping how we understand—and treat—mental health.
Key Points at a Glance
- Acute stress impairs executive brain functions crucial for emotion regulation
- People with depression, anxiety, or borderline personality disorder are more vulnerable
- Working memory and impulse control are particularly disrupted
- This may reduce the effectiveness of therapies like CBT during stressful episodes
- Findings call for more adaptive, stress-aware mental health treatments
In a world increasingly shaped by stress, understanding how our brains cope under pressure has never been more urgent. A new study from Edith Cowan University (ECU) offers compelling evidence that acute stress can destabilize the brain’s most important regulatory systems—executive functions—and that this effect may be far more severe in people struggling with mental health conditions.
Led by ECU Masters student Tee-Jay Scott and Professor Joanne Dickson, the research explored how stress impacts the cognitive tools we use to manage emotions. These include working memory (which allows us to hold and manipulate information), response inhibition (our ability to stop impulsive behavior), and cognitive flexibility (our mental adaptability in changing situations). Collectively, these abilities form the foundation for how we solve problems, adapt to challenges, and regulate emotional responses.
Published in the Journal of Affective Disorders Reports, the study reviewed 17 international research papers, analyzing the acute stress response in individuals with depression, anxiety, and borderline personality disorder—conditions collectively referred to as ‘distress disorders’. The results were clear: stress doesn’t just challenge these executive functions, it actively disrupts them, with different disorders showing distinct patterns of vulnerability.
“For people with depression, we found working memory was especially affected,” said Scott. “This means they may struggle to retain and apply information when they’re feeling overwhelmed.” In individuals with borderline personality disorder, the study highlighted a breakdown in response inhibition—critical for maintaining self-control during emotional surges.
While many people assume stress sharpens mental focus, this research confirms the opposite for those with emotional vulnerabilities. Under pressure, the brain’s control systems falter, leaving individuals less able to manage their feelings, behaviors, or thoughts.
Professor Dickson believes this insight may explain why some people don’t respond well to traditional psychological treatments, like cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT). “CBT is cognitively demanding—it requires patients to think clearly, evaluate thoughts, and apply strategies,” she noted. “But if stress is impairing the very functions needed for that work, we may need to rethink how and when therapy is delivered.”
These findings could be a wake-up call for mental health professionals. Rather than assuming a uniform approach to treatment, interventions may need to be adapted based on the patient’s stress state. It might mean building executive function capacity before launching into emotionally challenging therapy sessions, or developing more flexible, real-time coping techniques that can withstand stress-induced cognitive disruption.
“This research opens up new avenues for understanding how and why distress symptoms and disorders develop and persist,” said Professor Dickson. “It also highlights the need to design therapies that are responsive—not just to diagnosis, but to the moment-to-moment cognitive conditions of the brain under stress.”
For millions living with depression, anxiety, or borderline personality disorder, these insights offer both clarity and hope. Clarity in understanding why even the best therapy may sometimes fail; and hope that more personalized, adaptive care models may soon follow.
As Scott puts it, “It’s not just about what therapy is used, but when and how it’s delivered that will help ensure it’s effective.”
Source: Edith Cowan University
