Understanding and Controlling Your Stress Hormones

While it’s safe to say we all understand the concept of stress and accept that it can negatively affect our daily lives, we do not necessarily always view it from a more scientific perspective. But understanding stress as it occurs biologically can give us a deeper grasp on how and why it manifests and what we can do to reduce its impact on our daily functioning.

Cortisol and the HPA Axis System

This understanding begins with defining cortisol, the human body’s naturally occurring stress hormone. According to Lupien, et al. (2009), cortisol is a component of a larger physical system, “the hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal (HPA) axis system which plays an essential role in regulating the body’s biological systems — from metabolic to immune systems.” When the HPA axis system becomes dysregulated, all manner of bodily problems can manifest, from slight physical discomfort to tissue damage to chronic health issues.

Allostatic Overload

“Allostasis,” which in literal translation means “maintaining stability through change,” is the idea that, when in a state of calm, the body is naturally able to maintain a sense of balance and stability and, therefore, to be able to successfully perform normal, daily tasks and activities. When, however, an individual experiences an increase in life stressors (whether job-related, interpersonal, or otherwise), their cortisol level spikes in response, resulting in a disruption of stability and balance, or in more technical terms, an allostatic overload. Most people have likely experienced this type of overload, evidenced by feelings of fatigue, burnout, irritability, anxiety, panic, or general discomfort. Underlying many of these commonly experienced physical responses is an overload of cortisol and a dysregulation of our state of balance and stability. Long term, the effects of allostatic overload can be devastating, resulting in problems such as hypertension, cardiovascular problems, chronic pain and inflammation, autoimmune disorders, and musculoskeletal disorders, to name a few.

Finding and Maintaining Allostasis

All of the above begs the question: how do we create and maintain a sense of equilibrium and, thus, keep our cortisol from overproducing and wreaking havoc on our bodies and lives? The HPA axis system does not function without any influence from external sources: in fact, this system and the resultant release of cortisol are heavily influenced by what is happening in our daily lives. So, reaching a state of equilibrium begins with paying attention to our lives, the current stressors we are experiencing, and other extenuating circumstances that impact our body’s natural stress response or cause it to overrespond. Within the top 10 of the 43 life stressors listed on the Holmes-Rahe Life Stress Inventory are commonly experienced situations including divorce, marriage, death of a loved one, and being let go from a job. Attention to what is happening in our lives can help us recognize external forces that may be causing our cortisol to overproduce. From there, we can practice self-care, engage in activities that help us to relax, and seek necessary support, thus reducing the influx of cortisol.

Allostasis in Daily Practice

Often, following a discussion about being mindful, a client will say to me, “I understand all of that intellectually, but how do I do it in a practical sense?” Indeed, the concept is simple enough but actually implementing it into our lives can be more challenging. In a 2023 study by Fincham, Mavor, and Dritschel, participants who implemented “one of four mindfulness interventions (~ 10 min or ~ 30 min of sitting or movement meditation) to practice daily for 2 weeks” experienced increased well-being scores and decreased distress scores. But here is the key point from the study: “There were no significant differences between the conditions as a function of meditation dose or type. There were also no differences between the conditions on how regularly the meditations were practiced irrespective of type or dose.” I often tell clients that you do not need to be on a retreat or sitting in the lotus position in order to practice mindfulness, and this research supports that idea. Small and easily implementable changes like paying more attention to your breathing or being more attentive to the present moment can have big effects, namely a reduction in your body’s production of cortisol and a return to a state of allostasis.