9 CORTISOL TRIGGERS THAT YOU AREN'T AWARE OF

You’ve probably heard of cortisol, often dubbed the "stress hormone." While it plays an essential role in the body, chronically elevated cortisol levels can lead to anxiety, poor sleep, weight gain, and even burnout. What you might not know is that many everyday habits and seemingly harmless behaviors can quietly spike your cortisol, without you realizing it. Here are 9 cortisol triggers that could be secretly stressing you out:

1. Social Media Scrolling: Mindless scrolling through Instagram or TikTok might seem relaxing, but it's often overstimulating. Constant exposure to curated lives, news updates, and comparison traps can trigger cortisol spikes by increasing anxiety and feelings of inadequacy.

2. Multitasking: Trying to juggle emails, texts, Zoom calls, and to-do lists all at once? Multitasking might feel productive, but it puts your brain in a constant state of alert, raising cortisol and increasing mental fatigue.

3. Group Text Messages: That endless ding-ding-ding from your family group chat or work team thread can feel overwhelming. The pressure to respond or stay updated on every message can cause micro stress spikes throughout the day.

4. To Much Caffeine: While caffeine can boost energy, overdoing it can overstimulate your nervous system and elevate cortisol, especially if consumed on an empty stomach or late in the day.

5. Phone Sounds Or Buzzing: That little buzz or ding from your phone creates a Pavlovian stress response, releasing cortisol as your brain prepares to respond, even if it’s just a notification about a sale or an app update.

6. Sitting In The Same Position For To Long: Sedentary behavior, especially when combined with poor posture, can cause physical tension and reduce circulation, triggering your body’s stress response. Your body interprets prolonged stillness as stagnation or threat.

7. Not Enough Of Sleep: Sleep is the ultimate cortisol reset. When you're not getting enough quality sleep, your body produces more cortisol to keep you awake and alert, leading to a vicious cycle of fatigue and stress.

8. Harsh or Artificial Lighting: Bright overhead lighting, especially from screens or fluorescent bulbs, can interfere with your circadian rhythm and increase cortisol. Your body relies on natural light cues to regulate hormone production.

9. Under Stimulation: On the flip side, not enough stimulation, like being bored or mentally disengaged for long periods, can also raise cortisol. Your brain craves novelty and purpose, and when it's deprived, stress can build.

It’s easy to associate stress with major life events but it’s often the daily micro triggers that wear us down the most. Becoming aware of these subtle cortisol culprits gives you the power to make small changes with big impact. Managing stress isn’t always about doing less, it’s about doing differently. By making simple adjustments to your environment and habits, you can bring your cortisol levels down and reclaim a greater sense of calm and control.

Sources:

Webmd, “What is cortisol?” 

Healthline, “What are the symptoms and causes of high cortisol levels?” via Adrienne Santos-Longhurst