The word stress tends to get thrown around a lot, and for good reason. I mean, between the cost of living crisis, Covid, all the heartbreaking news circling around at the moment, and just day to day life… we’re stressed. Everyone’s stressed. No big deal, right?
Because it’s so common, you might think that if you’re not lying on the floor from exhaustion, you’re probably fine. But stress has an insidious way of creeping up on you, and it’s not just a mental or emotional issue—stress symptoms can impact the body in some very visible (and bizarre) ways.
“One of the biggest problems I see in my practice is women coming in with multiple physical signs of stress,” says Nancy Molitor, Ph.D., a psychiatry professor. In fact, a new study found that stress and other negative emotions were consistently linked to poor physical health in more than 150,000 people in 142 countries. That’s because the mind and body are intrinsically connected.
“Emotional stress alerts the body to produce stress chemicals such as cortisol, which—if produced on an ongoing basis—begin to break down the immune, gastrointestinal, neurological, and musculoskeletal systems,” says Molitor.
What’s worse, those physical symptoms you end up with can bump up your emotional angst even more. Here, some of those, and if you keep reading – some ways you can try lower those cortisol levels.
1. Your brain
The hypothalamus sends a signal to your adrenal glands to produce stress hormones. These neural pathways can trigger long-term changes in your brain’s structure and function.
2. Your gut
Your body is secreting stress chemicals even though there’s no immediate threat, so it stores fat around your internal organs to protect them from future risk. Translation: weight gain.
The brain’s nervous system is linked to the gut’s, so mental stress can also wreak havoc on your GI tract, says Bincy Abraham, M.D., a gastroenterologist at Baylor College of Medicine. Depending on your situation, your doctor may treat your tummy troubles with over-the-counter drugs (stool softeners), prescriptions (such as antinausea meds), or dietary changes (fibre can restore your gut’s stress-ravaged helpful bacteria).
3. Your muscles
A process called proteolysis weakens your muscles – it breaks down proteins so simple tasks become harder. This happens when your cortisol levels stay high over a long period of time.
Then there’s eye twitching: annoying muscle spasms that typically occur around one eye and last for a few minutes. If this happens to you, close your eyes, try to relax, and breathe deeply. Inhale for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, then exhale for eight seconds. Repeat this four times while using a fingertip to put mild pressure on the lid that’s twitching.
4. Your bones
Your body is freaking out so it loses its potassium – the stuff that stops other acids from sucking your calcium. In return, your bones struggle to absorb the vital mineral.
The hormones your body pumps out when you’re stressed also produce a fight-or-flight response, which—along with raising your blood pressure and heart rate—tightens up your muscles. “If you’re trying to outrun a predator, that’s good,” says Joanne Borg-Stein, M.D., of Harvard’s Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. “But if it’s all the time, that sort of chronic stress response can lead to pain.” Plus, muscle aches are par for the course if you’re hunched over at your desk all day worrying about deadlines.
Movement is the best remedy, so if your back is in knots, stand up every hour and do some stretches, such as reaching your arms over your head, touching your toes, and rolling your neck and shoulders. Also try to get in a 10- to 15-minute walk around the office or outside once or twice a day.
5. Your thyroid
An imbalance in cortisol levels means your thyroid could be underactive or overactive. The former means weight gain and constipation; the latter, weight loss and an irregular heartbeat.
6. Your hair
Roughly three to six months after a majorly stressful event, like losing your job or ending a big relationship, you might notice more hair on your brush or in the drain than usual (shedding around 100 strands a day is normal). Super-high levels of sex hormones called androgens, which zoom up during stress, could mess with hair follicles to prompt temporary hair loss, says dermatologist Roberta Sengelmann, M.D.
7. Your skin
You’ve just woken up and there it is—a pimple. It could be all that cortisol, which increases your skin’s oil production. Depigmented white spots on your skin can also be a result of chronic stress.
Then there’s the fact that stress can short-circuit your immune system, causing dormant skin issues to act up.
Just like your hair, your skin is sensitive to those higher-than-normal androgens, which can bring on breakouts, says Sengelmann. Talk to your dermatologist if your pimples keep coming back—the chronic inflammation can lead to scarring. (As hard as it is, resist the urge to pop the suckers, that only adds to the inflammation, and you’re more likely to end up with scarring when you’re stressed and your body’s ability to heal isn’t at its peak.)
Other skin-related symptoms of stress can also include rashes: stress can bring on mysterious rashes or flare-ups of preexisting conditions. That’s because it can throw your immune system—not to mention your skin’s defenses—out of whack. When these are lowered, you could become susceptible to rash-causing skin infections caused by staph. On the flip side, if your immunity goes into overdrive, your skin will become more sensitive, making a dormant issue like eczema act up.
8. Your sleep
45% of Aussies report that stress is keeping them awake. That’s nearly half of us. When we are anxious, the body produces excessive amounts of cortisol, an awakening hormone, which leads to light, broken and restless sleep. This also contributes to that feeling of being ‘unable to switch off’. And that’ll make sense, too, as to why we’re ushered to literally ‘switch off’ with our phones and decrease exposure to blue light (the phone screens trick us into thinking it’s daytime – crazy, right?).
How to reduce cortisol
The best ways to reduce your overall stress is to get enough sleep (seven to nine hours a night for most people), eat healthful food, exercise, reach out to supportive pals, and focus on things within your control. You can also learn to read your body and recognise the not-so-obvious signs that you’re overstressed before it all snowballs into a long-term health condition.
Here, some other ways to get cortisol back down to more relaxed levels:
Mindfulness
If cortisol is produced as a stress response, it makes sense that lowering your stress is a good way to lower cortisol.This can include practices suck as mindfulness, meditation, breathwork and relaxation interventions.
If meditation really isn’t for you, then anything that makes you feel calm will be a good antidote to the high-stress way we live our life. That might be walking, spending quality time with friends, getting away from devices or painting.
Exercise
Low-intensity movement, like walking or gentle jogging, has been shown to lower cortisol levels both immediately after training and over time, too. Higher-intensity training has the opposite effect: it immediately increases cortisol levels but, when performed regularly and over time, cortisol levels decrease – as long as the body doesn’t see it as an additional and prolonged stress on the body.
Supplements
Ashwagandha root extract has been shown to be useful for reducing cortisol levels and improving stress: in a 2023 study, ashwaganda was shown to improve stress and anxiety by reducing cortisol and increase serotonin, while, in a 2022 systematic review, it was shown to significantly reduce anxiety and stress levels. (Always consult your healthcare professional beforehand.)
Socialise
Don’t underestimate the power of your loved ones: hanging out with the people you love can harness the positive power of oxytocin, your love and bonding hormone. Think of this dynamite of a hormone like cortisol’s kryptonite.
Many little moments of positive action can build up like a tapestry and form a feeling. A feeling that reminds the body that it is not under threat. That you are safe. This can help dampen your stress response.
