Chronic stress stems from many circumstances, such as poverty, a bad marriage, or long-term ailments. Its repercussions—elevated cortisol levels and inflammation—can wear us out, from the cellular level up to our major biological systems.

In response to experiences and the environment, the brain changes. This is especially true during childhood, when key structures like the amygdala, which controls the fight-or-flight response, are developing. Extreme childhood adversity can change these structures and have a long-term impact on mental health. Early trauma is thought to be responsible for 30% of anxiety disorders. According to Columbia University research, orphans who spent their early years in institutional care can develop abnormally large amygdalae, which can last even after adoption.

Chronic stress, as well as stress-related disorders like anxiety and depression, raise the risk of heart disease, though scientists aren’t sure why. Stress, according to the American Heart Association, can affect cardiovascular health indirectly by causing high blood pressure and unhealthy behaviors such as overeating and smoking. And, as a result of a surge in stress hormones, the shock of sudden, intense stress, such as the death of a partner, can quickly weaken the heart. The condition is known as broken heart syndrome.

According to Emeran Mayer, a gastroenterologist at UCLA, the brain and the digestive tract are constantly communicating. Chronic stress is linked to painful gastrointestinal problems, which is unsurprising. Some patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) have abnormal levels of cortisol and cortisol-stimulating hormones, according to Mayer’s research. Stress-related psychiatric disorders, such as anxiety and depression, are more common in people with IBS.

Nearly every cell has chromosomes, and each one is capped by a small piece of genetic material called a telomere; as a cell divides, the telomeres shorten. The cell dies when they run out. Chronically stressed people have telomeres that are unusually short, putting them at risk for a variety of age-related diseases. Researchers discovered in 2014 that disadvantaged 9-year-old boys’ telomeres were 19 percent shorter than those from more stable environments.

When we’re stressed, vaccines are less effective, and wounds take longer to heal. According to research from Carnegie Mellon University, stress makes us more susceptible to the common cold. The scientists discovered a possible cause in 2012: cortisol helps to suppress inflammation in a healthy body. However, because chronically stressed people have consistently high cortisol levels, their immune systems become resistant to it, effectively ignoring it. The inflammatory proteins known as cytokines, which are linked to the development of a cold, are then left unchecked.

Cortisol levels that are too high increase the amount of fat around the stomach. According to Antonio Convit, a psychiatrist at the Nathan Kline Institute for Psychiatric Research, extra abdominal fat may increase the risk of diabetes, which in turn may impair the brain’s stress response. In people with type-2 diabetes, the system in brain that inhibits cortisol does not work properly. When these patients wake up in the morning, they have lower cortisol levels, as well as damage to the hippocampus, a brain region with concentrated cortisol receptors that are particularly vulnerable to chronic stress.

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