What is Cortisol?
According to the website you and your hormones “cortisol is a steroid hormone that regulates a wide range of processes throughout the body, including metabolism and the immune response. It also has a very important role in helping the body respond to stress.”
In your everyday life you may have heard of cortisol being referred to as the “stress” hormone.
Too much cortisol in your body over an extended period of time can create issues in our bodies. There are two main diseases connected to cortisol. One is Cushing’s disease which is when we have an overproduction of cortisol. The other is Addison’s disease when we have an underproduction of cortisol. Addison’s disease is rare and most often connected to autoimmune disorders that damaged the adrenals.
Too much cortisol in the body can result in:
- rapid weight gain mainly in the face, chest and abdomen contrasted with slender arms and legs
- a flushed and round face
- high blood pressure
- osteoporosis
- skin changes (bruises and purple stretch marks)
- muscle weakness
- mood swings, which show as anxiety, depression or irritability
- increased thirst and frequency of urination
The connection between cortisol and bullying
A study that took place in 2012 in Denmark showed that there was a correlation between being bullied and having issues with cortisol production in the body. “Bullying not only stresses the body mentally but also physically by inhibiting the body’s ability to kick-start the production of the stress hormone cortisol in the mornings”.
When cortisol production does not spike in the morning our body is racing all day to try and catch up. It then becomes possible that those who have been victims of bullying “don’t get their daily energy needs covered and thus eventually become unable to solve routine tasks,”
If you feel like the experience of being bullied might have created long term issues for you, I invite you to book a discovery call with me. Let’s connect and see if we can increase the cortisol receptors and reduce the pain of these old memories.