Long before you realize the problem, your brain may be wired to fail in ways that might surprise you. How so?
Let’s say you find yourself crankier than normal. You may suffer anxiety, or fear taking that risk that will move you forward at work. When this happens, you’ve likely stirred up a chemical hormone in your brain that pushes against relationships, courage, solutions, and general well being.
Cortisol is a potent chemical that surges when you slip into stress, and is now recognized as a drug that can literally shrink human brains. It leaves other damaging footprints behind too, that luckily can be avoided through awareness of its trickery. Researchers have known for some time, for instance, that cortisol shuts down learning, creates anxiety attacks and can cause depression.
Less known, until recently, are tactics to counter cortisol surges.
You may be saying … but cortisol has useful purposes, and you are correct. It’s a short term chemical which is useful to treat allergies, or zap you with the energy to survive a shocking moment. Cortisol can also lower sensitivity to pain, help you to survive grief, or pull you through a short term pressure project.
Long-term cortisol surges though, where you maintain harmful levels, can be highly dangerous. Research shows cortisol to:
1. Lower immune systems
2. Slow down thinking
3. Create blood sugar imbalances
4. Raise your blood pressure
5. Weaken muscle tissue
6. Decrease bone density
7. Increase fat to stomach areas.
Can you see why you may react negatively when under the influence of harmful chemical surges?
To flee from and lower dangerous levels of cortisol:
a. Relax, listen to music, take a walk, and run from stress.
b. Spend time with upbeat people, laugh, and steer away from cynics.
c. Manage time, create doable daily targets, and avoid overloads
d. Take up a sport, do stairs, park far from doors and avoid passivity.
e. Give away things, care, join Rotary, and run from financial anxiety.
f. Teach from your strengths, inspire excellence, yet flee perfectionism.
g. Propose winning solutions and avoid fixation on problems at work.
You get the idea, and will likely have better alternatives than mine, to sidestep cortisol’s confinement. Strange as it may seem, the key is to do the opposite of whatever creates cortisol. To do the opposite of a cortisol response, is to rewire the brain for more serotonin guided behaviours.
Luckily the human brain also comes fine tuned for serotonin success, through doing healthier actions. For example, your brain will rewire dendrite brain cells for serotonin well-being and growth plasticity in areas that had once created cortisol imbalances.
It’s worth an effort to make a few changes, when you think about the rewards. People who do so, tend to replace cortisol crankiness for serotonin serenity. It’s also true that some people come with lower levels of this drug, or seem to generate fewer fluctuating cortisol surges. Have you noticed how calm and rational some people are - even if a hairy spider meanders past?
Spiders aside, did you know that at least 22 stressors will creep in on you - even on an ordinary day.
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 10:10 am
[...] electrical activity turn toxic when confronted with serious differences. Add to this the related cortisol rush confrontations surge to the brain, and you heat tempers and sharpen barbs in a heartbeat. [...]
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Wow, Ellen! What a wonderful post! Through your great advice, you’ve armed us with the knowledge we need to take charge of our cortisol-induced catastrophes and turn them into serotonin-fueled successes.
Thanks for these immensely practical techniques!
on Sep 22nd, 2008 at 8:14 pm
Jeanne, can you imagine that we actually have choices here that we had no idea we owned (or at least i did not). It still takes stepping back - in my case - when I hit a situation that I may respond in cortisol — unless I roll it back and wait for the serotonin flow.
Oh, how wonderful it is to remember serotonin’s help ahead, and not to have to go back and try to repair:-) Either way - it’s usually worth knowing and trying to use more serotonin for mental fuels:-).
Imagine what that would do for teens in secondary schools, for business leaders who feel frazzled, or for people who think they are too old to catch the coming waves:-).
on Sep 23rd, 2008 at 12:27 pm
Choices! What a novel idea! So often we forget that we have choices when we’re faced with unpleasant situations. We feel as if we must respond negatively to negative stimuli. But, that simply isn’t true!
It’s so important to remember that the way we react to a given situation is entirely up to us, and that gives us great freedom and an amazing degree of control over our circumstances. Even when it doesn’t change our circumstances, it changes us — from the uptight reactor to the calm, collected proactor. It’s a great deal, all around!
And just knowing that all we have to do to initiate the flow of serotonin is choose not to fall into the negativity trap is not just liberating but motivating, too! If everyone realized — and practiced — this, just think how amazing our schools and workplaces (not to mention all other places) would be!
on Sep 24th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
[...] facial expressions and body language. It also triggers release of chemicals such as serotonin or cortisol into the blood, to trigger often unwanted emotional response. It’s even activated by nasty [...]
on Oct 5th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
[...] with them past mental barriers, such as stress and reduce cortisol levels that diminish their [...]
on Oct 6th, 2008 at 9:00 am
[...] financial newscasts. In contrast the stress and anxiety caused by failing finiances creates more cortisol chemicals, which reduces our ability to move forward [...]
on Oct 8th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
[...] poor tone hamstrings people to confusion and cortisol triggers more conflict, I’ve decided to use good tone tactics when I approach Verizon sales [...]
on Oct 10th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
[...] Flame wars create stress: Harmful chemicals such as cortisol surge with flame wars where people fail to step back and consider value from an opposing view. [...]
on Oct 19th, 2008 at 10:54 am
[...] people to disagree without attacking the person who offers a different perspective. Its opposite cortisol chemicals, may closes out opportunities that add success to a challenging day. It’s comes with [...]
on Oct 23rd, 2008 at 8:49 am
[...] Replace vents about financial failure, with innovative strategies for fiscal growth. Start where you stand now, [...]
on Nov 2nd, 2008 at 8:32 am
[...] Stress -increases cortisol to dangerous levels. Literally, it can shrink the human brain, lower the immune system, rob memory, [...]
on Nov 5th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
[...] peril and the heart thumps wildly in response. Blood pressure increases, your lips feel dry, and fear or stress sets in. This anxiety or panic process spins your brain’s hypothalamus into surges of [...]
on Nov 10th, 2008 at 9:11 am
[...] in that he unites people across many backgrounds to both help shape vision. Cynical mindsets fueled by cortisol chemicals, literally block creativity, impact talent, and stomp out innovation. Can you see why we should [...]
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Ellen,
We could all use a few tools to help us gain control of our ever-expanding busy lives. As I need my brain to be a successful teacher, I appreciate the doable tasks to reduce the cortisol surges in my body.
Thanks,
Laura Hecht
Laura Hechts last blog post..They did it - Why can’t I?
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Thanks for stopping by Laura. You speak for many of us here — whose lives get a bit busier than we like, and who have to fight the cortisol surges! Bravo — you seem to have the direction forward figured out. Your students are lucky to have you at their helm. Today I am blogging on a very related topic - with further strategies folks have asked for - when we get overwhelmed:-)
on Nov 17th, 2008 at 7:47 pm
[...] the day. Worse still, the relentless interruptions slapping you around, surge higher levels of cortisol that shut down creativity in the brain. Annoying distractions that often have little to do with projects already on the [...]
on Nov 20th, 2008 at 1:17 pm
[...] still run from people who pressure me to buy stuff I neither need nor want. And I run from the cortisol that fills my brain from buying on credit what I cannot afford with [...]
on Dec 28th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
[...] is fueled by dangerous cortisol chemicals, and anxiety increased for many people this holiday season through the constant reports of lost [...]
on Jan 7th, 2009 at 10:51 am
[...] common visions that unite. In contrast, venting tends to promote violent reactions that lead into cortisol fuels for more [...]
on Jan 10th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
[...] and vent but avoid acting on solutions, because there’s little you feel you can do under the cortisol generated by these [...]
on Jan 21st, 2009 at 7:01 pm
[...] We’ve also learned recently that chemicals such as serotonin open minds to learning, while cortisol, which is associated with anger, fear, stress, boredom, or frustration - tends to shut down [...]
on Feb 8th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
[...] leaders who use mental energy to contribute intelligent solutions that rebuild, rather than stoke cortisol chemicals by stressing only negative news. What do you [...]
on Feb 12th, 2009 at 8:45 am
[...] sure to run from cortisol, the chemical that can cause failure, depressions and many more problems that hold you back. Once [...]
on Feb 21st, 2009 at 8:03 pm
[...] at your business like a vulture swoops down for its kill, and folks flee. The brain shuts down with cortisol that comes through insincere statements such as, How are you? when you really mean, [...]
on Mar 7th, 2009 at 6:57 pm
[...] Cortisol releases from cynics like falls at Niagra, as its potent chemical slams people into stress that [...]
on Mar 10th, 2009 at 6:55 pm
[...] causes cynics to react without much reflection. Why so? Dangerous chemicals such as cortisol rev up in brains focused on negative or scary news. Driven by cortisol, it’s no surprise that [...]
on Mar 17th, 2009 at 7:21 pm
[...] the chemical hormone for well being is emitted through respectful tone. Dangerous levels of cortisol come with poor tone. The choice for good or bad tone is yours,and is far less dependent on [...]
on Mar 24th, 2009 at 5:12 pm
[...] Pressure toxins prevent goals from being reached at work, since people operate more from cortisol which stirs up conflicts and creates friction. Brain based tactic - target to gain back calm, by [...]
on Apr 1st, 2009 at 9:34 am
[...] can be done to curb the cortisol that critics bring to shut down progress - in order to welcome the serotonin that comes in [...]
on Apr 15th, 2009 at 8:47 am
[...] is another way of accepting cortisol that exacerbates any problem by diminishing brainpower and blocking [...]
on Apr 26th, 2009 at 11:54 am
[...] People who make the mistake of lingering in discouraged thoughts - spin their mental wheels - since dark thoughts tend to come dosed in the perilous chemical - cortisol. [...]
on May 18th, 2009 at 9:01 am
[...] spaces for serotonin to flow at work and you will also plug the leaks that allow in cortisol to poison results with amazing [...]
on May 31st, 2009 at 8:04 am
[...] 18. No Brain Left Behind: spreads encouragement that alters the brain’s chemistry with tone tactics that increase serotonin and decrease cortisol. [...]
on Jun 3rd, 2009 at 6:43 am
[...] stir up stress and encouragers activate the brain area for well-being. It’s really a case of cortisol versus serotonin, and it comes within people’s responses to others’ effort and [...]