Whenever I feel stressed, I experience a tightening around my head, increased heart rate, immense sweating, and the urge to abandon the current task to get some sleep. As much as possible, I try to think of alternatives or ways to cope so that my stress responses won't intensify. I'm not fond of stressing out during tasks as it takes a lot of time to recover, but it seems inevitable as the pressure builds up.
Our minds and bodies often try to keep up with the various activities that we take on every day, but there are times when the task is way too difficult to accomplish. Despite feeling thrown off as soon as we experience the effects of stress, this is a helpful indicator that we have to take things slowly so that we won't overdo ourselves. As a situation gets out of hand, our brain initiates a chain of events that involves various constituents of the endocrine system so that we can try to get a grip and accomplish the task without inflicting much damage.
The hypothalamus, pituitary gland, and adrenal glands are responsible for the endocrine stress response. Initially led by the hypothalamus, signals are passed to the pituitary gland to prompt the adrenal glands to produce cortisol, the body's main stress hormone that is essential in the fight-or-flight response. Along with the help of other hormones such as the likes of adrenaline and endorphins, the body’s resources are reallocated for utmost focus and readiness in a situation that demands an instant decision. As we go through the fight-or-flight response, the chain of hormonal reactions increases heart rate, blood pressure, and breathing rate.