Question: Can stress and/or restlessness make it easier for viruses to enter our bodies and cause damage?

Lucy McGowan answered on 18 Jun 2020:

Stress causes release of the hormone, cortisol. Cortisol does lots of things to our bodies. It evolved to help us to escape from predators or danger. Cortisol affects our bodies by raising our blood pressure and making us more alert to danger which is why stress feels very unpleasant – it’s part of the human body’s alert system! However, too much cortisol production due to sustained levels of stress can have a negative effect on physical health. Cortisol is known to dampen the signals produced by the immune system. This prevents the immune cells in the body from communicating and functioning normally. This means cortisol can make your immune system weaker and less able to fight off invaders. With a weaker immune system, the body is more vulnerable to infections of all kinds, including viruses, bacterial infections and yeast or fungal infections. That’s why it’s really important to take care of your mental health, because it does have a direct impact of your physical health too!