7 Signs You're Addicted to Cortisol
Are you a cortisol junkie, your nervous system always in ‘fight-or-flight’? Could you be addicted to stress, inadvertently sabotaging your own health? Let’s find out.
In this blog post I’m giving you seven common signs that you’re addicted to the thrill of stress and that feeling you get from the predictable cortisol bump that comes when you encounter a fight-or-flight situation. BUT before I get into the signs, a quick disclaimer:
I am a recovering cortisol junkie.
There’s no shame here. I mean seriously, I used to get mad at my yoga instructors if the class wasn’t hot enough, sweaty enough, or hard enough. And I didn’t truly stop pushing myself so hard at work and in life until my health made it impossible to continue doing so.
Which is all to say, I get it. I get you. Read on as I tick off the most common behaviors associated with cortisol addiction. I’ll then let you in on where this addiction might come from, what it does to your health, and specific action steps you can take to reverse things.
7 signs you’re addicted to cortisol & stress
#1 You’ve always got work stress
You’ve got a high pressure job and can’t seem to find ways to dial down the stress. In fact, looking back, you’ve always seemed to find yourself in high-stress positions in your career. Secretly (or not so secretly), you thrive on projects with short and intense deadlines. You hate working late and checking email on weekends, but you also kinda love it.
#2 You always say “YES”
You take on too much, saying yes to everything. You’ve got an over-scheduled life and frequently find yourself taking on too much. You might even find that- despite your overachieving tendencies- you’re often late to appointments. You’re just always rushing around and never have much time for yourself.
#3 You feel compelled to be productive
You have a hard time simply relaxing, doing nothing, and turning ‘off’. Or, you have a hard time doing things that aren’t obviously “productive” and that won’t create progress in some area of your work or life. When you have a moment of free time, you immediately look to fill it with something productive, whether it’s checking your email, cleaning the house, or starting a home DIY project. Ease is not in your vocabulary.
Only being able to do intense workouts is a telltale sign of cortisol addiction.
#4 You crave intense workouts
You’re drawn to HIIT classes, CrossFit, power yoga. You love running and a tough spin class. If it’s not hard, it’s not worth it. And moreover, these are the only kinds of workouts where you feel like you can let go of some of that stress and anxiety. Put you in a yin yoga class and you’ll probably want to kill someone.
#5 When it comes to diet and nutrition, you’re all-or-nothing
When you try cleaning up your diet, you almost always do a 180. You gravitate towards extremes: multi-day juice cleanses, restrictive detoxes, etc. Just like with exercise, if it’s not hard, it’s not worth it. And if you slip even for a day, you beat yourself up about it and have a hard time getting back on track.
#6 Your relationships are stressful
Whether it’s a gossipy friends group or a toxic romantic partner, drama and small-t trauma tend to follow you wherever you go. You find yourself repeating the same relationship patterns over and over again, even though you tell yourself you want something better.
#7 You can’t disconnect
Do you have trouble disconnecting? It’s another sign of stress addiction.
When you’re in line at the grocery store you must look at your phone and check social media. When you’re watching TV, you can’t help but pick up your phone. When you go to bed at night, you have a hard time disconnecting from your phone- even though you know it’s bad for your sleep- and you can’t help but check your email the minute you open your eyes in the morning. You’ve always gotta be connected, and feel uncomfortable when you’re truly alone with yourself and your thoughts.
HOW you became addicted to cortisol
If you see yourself in more than a couple of the traits listed above, you might be wondering, How did I get here? or Why am I like this? In my opinion, the answer is: it depends.
Some people become addicted to cortisol because they were raised in an unstable household and have a history of trauma. It might not make logical sense, but when your ‘norm’ has always been to be on high alert with fight-or-flight response firing, then deviating from that norm can feel scary.
That said, we live in a fast-paced world where stressors are all around us so you don't need to have been raised in a high stress environment to become addicted to stress. When you’re chronically stressed, the absence of stress can feel odd, like something’s gone wrong. High cortisol feels safe.
There’s also the (concurrent) possibility, especially among type-A overachievers, that you’ve become addicted to feelings associated with “good” stress, and it’s spilled over into other spheres of your life. It can feel quite exhilarating when you successfully complete a challenging project at work or deliver a kick-ass presentation, and then receive all sorts of positive feedback for your accomplishments.
As I’m writing this, I can remember the euphoric high I used to feel in grad school from getting an “A” on an exam after I’d pulled an all-nighter, winning a competitive grant and reading the rave reviews, or having a paper accepted into the top journal in my field.
These kinds of successes, often achieved under high pressure and duress, keep you looking for the next big thing that’ll produce a similar “high”, even though you might not consciously recognize yourself doing it.
This can easily spill into every aspect of your life, where you’re drawn to and maybe even create situations that ignite your nervous system’s stress response and give you a dose of high energy cortisol.
What’s happening in your body when you’re addicted to cortisol?
Let’s unpack what’s actually happening inside your body when you’re chronically stressed. First, anytime you encounter stress, your body has an automatic response. Your sympathetic nervous system is activated and a cascade of physiological reactions ensue. We’ll just hone in on one of them for the moment:
Your brain signals to your adrenal glands that it’s time to secrete cortisol.
This is why cortisol is often referred to as your “stress hormone”- because it’s released when you’re under stress, to give you energy to fight off a bear (or overcome whatever stressor you’ve encountered).
However, you also need cortisol for everyday functions. In a healthy person, cortisol is high first thing in the morning, to give you a jolt of energy and get your day going. Then it tapers off gradually and is lowest at night- which makes sense, because you don’t want to have high energy at night. You want to be able to get to sleep.
When you’re pushing yourself hard and under constant stress, cortisol can be high almost all the time- even when it should be low.
When you’re chronically stressed, the normal cortisol pattern becomes disrupted. Instead, cortisol might be high all day long and into the night (as in the graphic above). With some time, the pattern often shifts so that cortisol is low in the morning but high at night, preventing you from getting a good night’s sleep. This pattern is depicted in the graphic below.
With time, chronic stress can lead cortisol to be low in the morning but high at night, producing a “tired and wired” feeling.
If you do nothing change things, eventually your body will become exhausted from constantly responding to stress. In an effort to protect you, your brain will stop telling the adrenal glands to release cortisol, and you can develop an overall low level of cortisol all the time. When people reference the term “adrenal fatigue”, this is what they’re talking about, and it’s depicted in the graphic below.
Low cortisol, sometimes called “adrenal fatigue”.
When cortisol becomes imbalanced, it’s common for other hormones to become imbalanced, too. And many health problems can result.
What are the predictable results of being in a constant state of fight or flight?
Bottom line, chronic stress is no good for your health, both in the short and long run. You can’t survive in a permanent state of fight-or-flight, and eventually cortisol production will drop, your energy will flatline, and you’ll have no choice but to stop and prioritize your health. (Trust me, I’ve been there).
Some physiological results of imbalanced cortisol:
Your energy will tank.
Your sleep will suffer.
You’ll feel “tired but wired”- tired all day but unable to sleep at night.
You’ll gain weight, especially around your belly.
Your memory and focus will diminish.
Your libido will fall off.
Your digestion will be poor.
You’ll have intense cravings for sugar, salt and fat- i.e. hyper-palatable and processed foods that give you quick energy bursts.
You will not lose weight or improve in your workouts, if that’s your intention.
You will feel increasingly anxious, irritable and on-edge, unable to cope with small daily stressors.
You’ll eventually hit a metaphorical brick wall and have no choice but to slow down and ease up on everything in your life.
And if you don’t do that, more serious health problems may develop, like:
Type 2 diabetes- including insulin resistance, high blood sugar, “pre” diabetes.
Autoimmune conditions- hypothyroidism is a common one among women.
Cardiovascular disease- including high blood pressure and high cholesterol.
Stress really is the root cause of a lot of big health problems.
What can you do to recover?
Releasing yourself from cortisol addiction- and achieving balanced, healthy cortisol levels- is honestly easier said than done. It won’t happen overnight and for most women it’s an ongoing process.
While nutrition is the number one thing I recommend for hormone balance in general, here are a few non-nutrition steps you can take to bring cortisol back to normal:
Practice relaxing and being unproductive.
Try meditation and breathwork. (Click here for meditation tips)
Shift to lower impact exercise- like walking, yin yoga, or leisurely bike rides.
Set boundaries and practice saying “no” more often. (See this post for tips)
Prioritize sleep.
Get outdoors for 15 minutes first thing in the morning.
Make “going slower” your new challenge!
All of these ideas are simple and straightforward. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re easy. When you’re addicted to stress, shifting in the direction of ease will usually feel uncomfortable. Your challenge is to sit with that feeling, knowing that a life of better physical and mental health is waiting for you on the other side.
And yes, I understand how hard that can be to believe. I, too, have to constantly remind myself that it’s good to take breaks, step away from work, and be unproductive sometimes. That’s why I say I’m in cortisol addiction “recovery”- it’s an ongoing process.
It can be so helpful to have some to support as you navigate this process. If you’d like to have a chat and see how I can help you get cortisol, stress, and your health back on track, just click here and book a free Burnout Breakthrough call.
