What Are Stress Hormones? Understanding How Stress Affects Your Life

When you experience stress, your brain typically has a chemical reaction, releasing stress hormones and neurotransmitters to put your body on high alert until the threat passes. While this can serve a defensive role when you are in danger, stress can lead to excessive levels of stress hormones and cause damage both physically and mentally. 

Below, we’ll discuss stress hormones, how they can affect you, and evidence-based strategies for reducing your stress levels. We’ve also highlighted resources for those who’d like to speak with a mental health professional about chronic stress, elevated stress response, and long-term strategies to address these concerns. 

What are stress hormones?

By utilizing a combination of signals through your nervous system and bloodstream, your brain triggers various responses throughout your body in reaction to stress or perceived threats.

Helpful definitions

Before exploring ways to mitigate the effects of stress, we’ll define some key terms that are often used in discussions of stress hormones and their effects on the body.

Neurochemical/neurochemistry: Neurochemistry refers to the chemical processes that occur in your brain to send electrical signals via neurotransmitters throughout your nervous system. You might consider your individual neurochemistry like the highway over which your brain sends impulses to accomplish everything from taking a breath or walking to composing a symphony.

Neurotransmitter: Neurotransmitters are the natural chemicals your brain produces to carry electrical signals through your nervous system. Each neurotransmitter affects different bodily functions. During times of excessive stress, neurotransmitters can crowd the nervous system and affect the body in various ways.

Hormone: Also chemical messengers on your body’s internal highway, hormones are generally created in your body’s endocrine system and carried through the bloodstream. Some stress hormones, like cortisol, are produced in the brain.

Chemical Imbalance: Some aspects of neurochemistry may depend on a delicate balance of your brain's chemical components. Researchers still don't fully understand the exact psychological consequences of neurochemical imbalances, which were previously thought to cause conditions such as depression. However, many researchers now believe the cause is more complex than a simple chemical imbalance.

Human stress hormones

According to a 2011 study, the following hormones are linked to stress reactions in the body and brain.

• Cortisol:Cortisol is a stress hormone that promotes survival instincts by suppressing nonessential functions and increasing sugars in the bloodstream so your brain can process the glucose.

• Catecholamines (adrenaline): Adrenaline boosts cardiac output, blood flow, and other physical processes to make your body more efficient.

• Vasopressin: Triggered by acute stress, vasopressin controls blood pressure and volume.

• Gonadotropins: During times of prolonged stress, the body suppresses gonadotropins, which disrupts the menstrual cycle .

• Thyroid hormones: When your body releases cortisol during stressful situations, it can interfere with your production of thyroid hormones, which are essential for proper body function.

• Growth hormones: Chronic stress can inhibit or increase growth hormones, and many children raised in high-stress environments show signs of stunted growth.

• Prolactin: This stress hormone can affect your body's immune system, making it easier to become ill and harder to fight off infections.

• Insulin: Stress can cause insulin levels to drop, and when combined with the insulin-antagonistic tendencies of growth hormones and cortisol, it can lead to liver problems and hypoglycemia complications.

How stress affects your body and brain

Your body’s stress response is meant to be a temporary phenomenon. However, if you have an anxiety disorder or overwhelming stress levels, your neurochemistry may not achieve equilibrium because your body remains convinced the danger is still present—regardless of how physically safe you may be. Constantly staying at fight-or-flight readiness can impact how your body and brain work over time.

Long-term exposure to cortisol and other stress hormones can disrupt nearly all your body’s processes and put you at a greater risk for various health problems like anxiety, depression, digestive concerns, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure, sleep problems, weight gain, and memory or concentration impairment.

Common stress symptoms

The following are some of the physical, behavioral, and emotional symptoms that can arise as a result of stress and high cortisol levels: 

• Physical: Fatigue, headache, muscle tension, chest pain, changes in sex drive, stomach ache, changes in sleep habits, elevated blood pressure, weakened immune system, or chest pain

• Behavioral: Social withdrawal, a noticeable decrease in physical activity, out-of-character outbursts, alcohol or substance use, overeating, or undereating

• Emotional: Anxiety, restlessness, a constant feeling of overwhelm, irritability, sadness or depression, lack of motivation, or trouble concentrating

High levels of stress hormones, like cortisol released by the adrenal glands under direction from the pituitary gland, can disrupt normal bodily functions. They trigger the "fight or flight" response, raising blood sugar levels to provide quick energy. When experienced over long periods of time, this can lead to health issues such as cardiovascular problems and metabolic imbalances.

Correcting stress hormone imbalances

If your stress hormones are imbalanced because you aren’t processing them as you should, you may have a mental health condition like an anxiety disorder. However, you may benefit from making some lifestyle changes to minimize how stress affects your thinking, behavior, and emotional patterns.

Medication

If your stress symptoms are severe enough, a doctor or psychiatrist may prescribe medication. Pharmaceuticals like benzodiazepines, beta-blockers, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), and selective norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) are often used to treat stress.

Psychotherapy

One of the most effective tools for anxiety and stress is often talk therapy. A licensed therapist may be able to help you manage your stress reactions and find healthy ways to move forward. A therapist may also teach you communication and coping skills, mitigating stress's impact on how you think, act, and feel.

Practical coping skills

Coping skills are the methods you use to manage stress and emotional reactions in a given situation. For example, if you are stressed after a long day at work, you may relax with a long bath or a workout to better process your feelings. 

An active support network

Stress tends to be easier to manage when you have a supportive network of friends and family encouraging you. If you’re comfortable with it, consider discussing your challenges with stress and let them support you.

According to the American Psychological Association, “Emotional support is an important defense factor for dealing with life’s difficulties, while loneliness has been associated with a wide variety of health problems including high blood pressure, diminished immunity, cardiovascular disease, and cognitive decline.” 

Explore natural stress relief options

If you’re experiencing high-stress levels, you might benefit from incorporating some natural remedies for stress relief. The following are just a few:

• Try to eat a healthy, balanced diet, which gives your body what it needs to function properly.

• Engage in regular exercise, which is a known stress reliever and part of a well-rounded self-care plan.

• Create a plan to improve your sleep habits. Adequate sleep plays a key role in your overall well-being, and it can be easier to overcome stress if you are well-rested.

• Practice relaxation techniques like yoga, meditation, and deep breathing exercises. These may help you cultivate emotional balance, minimizing the effects of stress on your mood and behavior.

• Consider keeping a daily journal to track your stressors, their triggers, and coping skills that help most.

• Connect with friends or family members who offer low-stress companionship. Stress can often lead to social isolation, which can make it worse.

• Consider making time for hobbies or creative pursuits that you enjoy.

• Find ways to laugh. Research shows that laughter has a positive effect on both physical and mental health.

• Consider limiting use of alcohol and other substances, which can increase stress when used as a coping mechanism.

Practice regular self-care

Self-care involves everything you do to safeguard your physical, emotional, and mental health and well-being. If you regularly work self-care into your daily routine, you may already be doing things that can help reduce the impact stress hormones have on your mood and behavior.

Know when to reach out for help

If stress is causing reactions severe enough to interfere with your ability to function on a daily basis, it may be time to seek help from a mental health professional. Working with a licensed therapist may help you more fully identify the emotions bothering you, evaluate their underlying causes, and process them in healthy, productive ways. 

How therapy can help control stress hormones

If you don’t feel well enough to visit a therapy practice, you might try online therapy. With an online therapy service like BetterHelp, you can speak with a licensed therapist from the comfort of home via live chat, phone, or video chat. You can also reach out to your therapist 24/7 through in-app messaging, and they’ll respond as soon as they can. This may be especially helpful if you experience stress between sessions. 

Research demonstrates the effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) when delivered online. It can be an  effective way for therapists to help people overcome adverse stress reactions. CBT typically focuses on identifying unhelpful thought and behavior patterns and shifting them toward more productive, positive habits with the support and guidance of a licensed therapist.