When you’re in a stressful situation, your body responds by releasing a surge of stress hormones — this is called your stress response. If you’re stressed a lot, your stress hormones remain high which can lead to weight gain, low energy, poor sleep, mood problems, and high blood pressure. There are lots of lifestyle changes you can make to get your stress levels under control.
If you’re in a stressful situation, your body responds by releasing a surge of hormones to help you cope with the situation. This is called your fight-or-flight response, where your body either stays to fight off the threat or runs from it.
Normally, your stress hormones rise temporarily and then drop back down to normal. This is a healthy response and can protect you from danger. Unfortunately, your body also reacts in the same way to stressors that aren’t really dangerous, like work stress or traffic jams. So if you suffer from prolonged (chronic) stress, your stress response system is always fired-up. This means your body is constantly exposed to stress hormones.
Your body releases two hormones when you’re stressed:
These hormones give you a burst of new energy and strength. If you’re often stressed, your stress hormones remain high — mainly cortisol. Constant exposure to these hormones can cause a lot of damage to your body.
Long-term, raised cortisol levels can lead to:
It can also increase your risk of diabetes, heart disease, weak bones, and mood disorders, like depression. In rare cases, very high cortisol levels can lead to a serious condition called Cushing’s disease.
Over time, chronic stress makes your body less able to cope with stress and you stop producing enough cortisol. This is called the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) dysfunction. This will cause you to feel extremely tired. You might also feel dizzy, lose weight, feel nauseous, weak, have tummy pain, and have headaches. If you have these symptoms it’s important to see a doctor immediately.
A blood, urine, or saliva test can be done to measure your cortisol levels.
There are lots of lifestyle changes you can make to lower your stress and cortisol levels: