Before we explore exactly why some people are more easily stressed than others, we need to understand a little bit about what happens when our body gets stressed out.

To put it simply, our biological stress response is like a series of falling dominos. When our amygdala (the region of the brain responsible for processing emotions and memory) detects danger, it sends a signal to the hypothalamus (the command centre of the brain), which activates the ‘fight or flight’ response. Almost instantaneously, the hypothalamus sends a signal through the autonomous nervous system to the adrenal glands, which release adrenaline – the hormone responsible for the physiological changes we associate with stress, like a racing heart, sweaty palms and rapid breathing. If the brain still perceives danger after that, the HPA axis (which consists of the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands) is activated, leading to the production of the stress hormone, cortisol. That helps to keep the body in an activated state.

There is some research to show that genetics can play a role in how we deal with stress – so while everyone’s stress response might work in a similar way, some people just naturally have a more sensitive stress response system or can’t regulate cortisol in quite the same way as others. Experts also believe that mothers can pass on stress to their babies during pregnancy, potentially affecting the way we deal with stress in later life.

Do ‘stressy’ people exist? How everything from our genetics to our life experiences affect how we respond to stress