Stress is Contagious: Your Body Releases Hormones When you See a Stressed Person

The Max Planck Society is Germany's most successful research organization. They recently conducted a study that found stress is contagious based on trigger reactions from participants who observed others mired in stressful situations.

Stress is America's number one health problem for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that there is no concrete definition of stress. "There is no definition of stress that everyone agrees on, what is stressful for one person may be pleasurable or have little effect on others. We all react to stress differently," according to The American Institute of Stress.

Through the experimental trials, the researchers found that simply observing another person involved in a stressful situation can force the body to release cortisol - a stress hormone. Even if you're not a stressed person, your body, depending on how stressful the observed event is, will release cortisol and cause you to become stressed.

"The fact that we could actually measure this empathic stress in the form of a significant hormone release was astonishing," said Veronika Engert, one of the study's first authors, in a news release.

The researchers conducted "stress tests" where the participants were asked to complete difficult mental tasks and interviews while being observed by behavioral analysts. The number of participants was not disclosed, but 26% of those who observed the test subjects were found to undergo a considerable increase in cortisol.

There were different ways the stressful situations were presented to the observers. Some viewed them from a one-way mirror, others saw them through a video transmission, and others were watching in person. Reported cortisol levels among the groups were 30%, 24%, and 40%, respectively.

The study concluded that no matter what kind of person is confronted with the strife and stress of another individual, he is at a higher risk of being affected by stress. They can be afflicted by the stress during that given moment or become more vulnerable in future stressful situations.