Stress doesn’t have to wreak havoc on your life. Make it work for you.
Tight deadlines, unpaid bills, angry coworkers. In today’s 24/7, go-go-go world, stress is unavoidable - but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. “The body’s stress hormones, particularly cortisol, give us the power to get up and go in the morning,” says Jacqueline Rivers, a researcher at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in stress. “We shouldn’t think of cortisol as the enemy, because the body needs it to function.”
In an athlete, cortisol provides the adrenaline rush that spurs her on in a race. Jeannie Samson, a top amateur triathlete and a mom of four, says she usually rises to the occasion in stressful race situations.
“I either had a bike crash or a flat three races in a row last year,” she says. “But I dealt with it well. After the crash I kept going, and went on to place second in my age group.”
Stressed Out
The body’s adrenal glands release several stress hormones besides cortisol the “fight-or-flight” hormone that causes an increase in heart rate, breathing and blood pressure including epinephrine and norepinephrine. When we find ourselves in a difficult situation, like an unexpected confrontation at work or a traffic jam, these hormones kick in, providing extra energy and alertness, and then return to normal when the crisis is over.
Generally, hormone levels rise and fall throughout the day as needed, and that balance is critical to our overall health. “The body releases these hormones to protect itself,” says Charles Raison, M.D., assistant professor of psychiatry at Emory University in Atlanta. “When we get into trouble is when we can’t fight or flee.”
When your body stays in a chronic high-stress mode for a long period of time—for example, dealing with a difficult boss daily or going through a divorce—your health can be severely impacted. “The body needs cortisol, but in balance,” says Holly Thacker, M.D., director of the Women’s Health Center at the Cleveland Clinic and author of Women’s Health: Your Body, Your Hormones, Your Choices. “Any hormone is a bad thing if it’s too high or too low.”
The constant release of stress hormones can cause many medical problems, including a decrease in muscle mass and immune function, and an increased risk for cardiac events, cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, digestive and skin problems, depression and diabetes.
When your body stays in a chronic high-stress mode for a long period of time your health can be severely impacted.
Stress Queen
How we handle stress seems to depend at least partly on gender. Experts say that even though women produce more cortisol in stressful situations than men, we’re better at handling them.
During a difficult event, women secrete high levels of oxytocin, the “feel-good” chemical in the brain that encourages relaxation. “Oxytocin counteracts cortisol in stressful situations,” says Rivers. “It signals the need for social support.” Men release the same hormone in much smaller amounts, which may explain why the sexes respond to stress so differently.
A 2000 UCLA study published in Psychological Review suggests that women adopt a “tend-and-befriend” reaction to stress rather than the “fight-or-flight” strategy that’s long been described as the human stress response. The classic “fight-or-flight” response is often an aggressive one (yelling, for example) or withdrawing entirely (retreating to another room to be alone).
But the UCLA study found that most of the time women respond by seeking social contact and support from others especially other women (the “befriend” response)—and by protecting and nurturing their children (the “tend” response). Thacker says this makes sense because women are better at verbalizing, socializing and forming cooperative alliances—all of which are ways to reduce stress.
