Cortisol, The Hormone Associated With Stress

Cortisol is a hormone that acts as a neurotransmitter in our brain. Seen as the stress hormone of the scientific community, our body produces it in situations of tension to help us deal with them. The release of this hormone is controlled by the hypothalamus, in response to stressful situations and low levels of glucocorticoids in the blood.

Stress is an emotion that generates physical tension. It can come from any situation or thought that makes us feel frustrated, angry or nervous. In fact, stress, in small doses, can be positive, as when it helps us avoid danger. However, when stress goes from being a temporary emotion to a recurring emotion, it can harm our health.

Through our way of thinking, believing and feeling, we can condition our levels of cortisol. Furthermore, scientific evidence shows that by changing our thoughts in a certain way we change the biochemical activity of our brain cells.

Lack of sense of humor, being constantly annoyed and often angry are possible indicators of elevated cortisol levels. Others are permanent fatigue for no apparent reason and either loss of appetite or overeating.

Cortisol, the stress and insomnia hormone

Situations we interpret as stressful increase our cortisol levels, which can impair the quality and duration of our sleep. But cortisol, despite how negatively we have described it, should be present at certain levels during the day to keep us awake and active while the amount drops at night.

Cortisol levels also vary throughout the day. For example, some people are more active in the morning and others do not start their day until they have eaten. It is normal for it to gradually decrease as the day goes on and reaches its lowest levels when it becomes time to fall asleep . However, if cortisol levels do not fall at night because our stress response remains active, we have trouble falling asleep.

Cortisol plays an important role in our health and well-being and increases with any problem we identify as a threat. When our cortisol levels are good, we feel mentally strong, clear and motivated. But if they are low, we tend to feel confused, apathetic and tired.

Regulating stress is important and often not easy . In a healthy body, the stress response occurs and then allows a relaxation response to take over. On the one hand, if our response to stress is activated too often, it is harder to shut down, and therefore an imbalance is more likely. On the other hand, when stress continues and the desired relaxation does not come, we get sick.

“The time to relax is when you do not have time for it”.
-Sydney J. Harris-

Stress makes us sick

Stress is the way your body tries to solve a problem, but when the situation is recurring, it can cause diseases like diabetes, depression, insulin resistance, high blood pressure and other autoimmune diseases. Our body’s response to stress has a protective and adaptive character. That said, the response to chronic stress provides a biochemical imbalance that actually weakens our immune system.

Research has shown that recurrent or very intense stress is a factor that contributes to the development of somatization. It is a consequence of adapting poorly to change. There are many psychosomatic illnesses that are produced, triggered or exacerbated by stress.

When acute stress is persistent, ulcers can form in various parts of our digestive system, as well as cardiovascular problems. In fact, in people with high risk factors, it can cause heart attacks. In addition, these diseases tend to move quietly and cause somatization in different ways and in different areas of the body, depending on the particular characteristics of the persons affected.

“Without health, life is not life; it is only a state of lethargy and suffering ”.
-François Rabelais-

Social support reduces cortisol levels

Social support and oxytocin interact in our body and suppress the subjective reactions that psychosocial stress produces. Thus, support from family and friends is one of the most powerful ways to protect yourself from stress-related illnesses, such as those listed above.

In fact, biological psychology research at the University of Freiburg in Germany, led by Markus Heinrichs, showed for the first time that the hormone oxytocin plays a primary role in both the fight against stress and the stress-reducing effect in humans. Oxytocin also plays a significant role in our social behavior (stress modulator factor).

Although it is difficult to control our blood cortisol levels, there are certain factors that are easier to control directly. We’re talking about having a good social support network (people you feel you can trust and who can really count on you) or reducing your consumption of certain drugs, such as alcohol or tobacco, which indirectly increase our cortisol levels.

A healthy, balanced diet also helps regulate the levels of this hormone because decreased calorie intake can increase cortisol levels. In addition, a study from Ohio State University concluded that adding relaxation and meditation exercises to our routine reduces the risk of chronic stress.

According to this study, the difference between those who meditate and those who do not is that if a thought arises in a “meditative mind,” the thought is a witness. Otherwise, the idea is boss.

“There are no problems we can not solve together, and very few that we can solve ourselves ”
-Lyndon Baines Johnson-

Bibliography:

Aguilar Cordero, MJ, Sánchez López, AM, Mur Villar, N., García García, I., López, R., Ortegón Piñero, A., & Cortés Castell, E. (2014). Salivary cortisol as an indicator of physiological stress in children and adults: systematic review. Hospital Nutrition ,  29 (5), 960-968.

De La Banda, GG, Ángeles Martínez-Abascal, M., Riesco, M., & Pérez, G. (2004). The cortisol response is an examination and its relationship with other stressful experiences and with some characteristic of personality. Psicothema ,  16 (2), 294-298.

Dickerson, SS, and Kemeny, ME (2004). Factors of agute stress and cortisol responses: a theoretical integration and the synthesis of laboratory research. Psychological Bulletin  ,  130  (3), 355.

Heinrichs, M., Baumgartner, T., Kirschbaum, C., and Ehlert, U. (2003). Biological Psychiatry  ,  54  (12), 1389-1398.

Romero, CEC Estrés y cortisol.

S Moscoso, M. (2009). From the mind to the cell: Impact of stress in psychoneuroinmunoendocrinology. Liberabit ,  15 (2), 143-152.

Valdés, M., & De Flores, T. (1985). Psychobiology of stress. Barcelona: Martínez Roca .