Stress Hormones - Are They Life-Saving or Life-Threatening to Us?

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In order to maintain the healthy development of our brain and our body, we should always adopt different methods to cope with stress encountered in our daily lives. For example, exercising associated with psychological and physiological benefits that can allow people to deal with stress more effectively (Berger,1994). Some of the research findings revealed that there is a correlation between exercising and the level of stress hormones. According to Kim & Han (2016), wheel-running exercise could accelerate the decay of the corticosterone (a type of stress hormones) surge following restraint stress. Therefore, it shows that if people exercise more, their stress level will be more steady, resulting in better mental health. Besides, we should have enough sleeps every night in a view to maintain our hormonal levels stable. I think this can avoid secreting excessive stress hormones when we are in stress so that the stress hormones will not be detrimental to our nervous systems.

So, are stress hormones life-saving or life-threatening to us? In fact, it can be both cases under different circumstances, depending on how we perceive stress in life. If people can maintain a healthy lifestyle and develop a habit of exercising every day, stress hormones will remain a normal level in our body and help avoid anxiety-related behaviors from happening. It will perform its function as life-saving substances to help us escape from dangers. Otherwise, if we have an unhealthy lifestyle, stress hormones will pose a threat to our mental health, hindering our whole-personal development. Therefore, in hopes of having a fruitful life, exercising more and sleeping early should be a must for all of us.

References:

- Demers N.E. & Bayn C.J. (1997). The Immediate Effects of Stress on Hormones and Plasma Lysozyme in Rainbow Trou. Developmental & Comparative Immunology, 21 363.

- Ranabir S. & Reetu K. (2011). Stress and Hormones. Indian J Endocrinol Metab., 15 (1), 18.

- Sapolsky R.M. (2000). Stress Hormones: Good and Bad. Neurobiology of Disease, 7(5), 542.

- Berger B.G. (1994). Coping With Stress: The Effectiveness of Exercise and Other Techniques. Quest, 46 (1), 102.

- Kim, T. K. & Han, P. L. (2016). Physical Exercise Counteracts Stress-induced Upregulation of Melanin-concentrating Hormone in the Brain and Stress-induced Persisting Anxiety-like Behaviors. Experimental neurobiology, 25 (4), 172.