I usually feel irritable and uncomfortable in instances when I feel stressed. I experience headaches, panic attacks, fatigue, and I’m also having a difficult time sleeping. Other manifestations that my body does is that my heart rate increases as I experience irritability due to my stressor.
Aside from releasing hormones, the endocrine system is also responsible for the stress response of the body. When we are stressed, our body reacts to a potential threat or in this case, what we call a stressor. Stressors can be anything that brings us discomfort and disturbance within our body. As we know, our body tries to maintain homeostasis so these homeostatic mechanisms help us counter the stress we are experiencing. We have a fight-or-flight response every time we experience stress. The nerve impulses from the hypothalamus are the one responsible for this response as these nerve impulses travel to the autonomic nervous system. After the signal has been sent to the pituitary gland, the said gland then stimulates the adrenal glands to release cortisol also known as the stress hormone of the body. Cortisol increases the amount of glucose and oxygen to the organs that are disturbed by the stressor such as the brain, skeletal muscles, and the heart which is why we experience headaches and increased heart rate.
References
Tortora, G. J., & Derrickson, B. H. (2018). Principles of anatomy and physiology. John Wiley & Sons.