Cortisol: Destroying web developers one fat cell at a time

While it’s true, web developers aren’t saving lives or hiding out in enemy territory — one false step away from being shot, they do face a lot of stress, which can lead to an increase in cortisol levels which brings a whole host of problems.

Consider the following:

Many web developers work for startups, a lot of which are one month away from having their doors closed. Thus many web developers face an uncertain job future.

Clients and employers demand 24/7 uptime. Try telling your employer you’ll get the site back online tomorrow morning.

Web developers must constantly evolve. More so than any other field, if you’re not moving forward, you’re falling way behind. Even when you’re not working, as a web developer, you’d better be busting your ass learning to stay on top of the latest trends and technologies. Look at what Silverlight developers are facing now. They picked the wrong horse, and now that Microsoft has announced that HTML5/Javascript is their stack of the future, they face a four-year catch up period to the ones who picked the right horse.

Web developers have the blessing and the curse of being able to work from just about anywhere. That means that, if you’re not careful, you can find yourself working 60,80, 100 hour weeks. Sure your’e not at the office, but just because you’re in your home or at Starbucks in front of a computer doesn’t make the stress of working a lot go away.

So what does all this mean?

It means that web developers have to worry about cortisol.

Cortisol is a steroid hormone that the adrenal gland produces in response to stress and a low level of blood glucocorticoids. It increases blood sugar through gluconeogenesis; suppress the immune system; and aids in fat, protein and carbohydrate metabolism.

Whether you’re stressed from constant, crazy work demands or from actual danger, your body responds like it’s about to be harmed and needs to fight for our lives. This is called “fight of flight.” In response to this need, you experience a burst of energy, shifts in metabolism and blood flow, and other changes, which can initially benefit a web developer, but ff you remain in this state for a prolonged amount of time due to chronic stress, your health suffers. Aside from a host of other dangers, chronic stress can also cause weight gain.

This is because:

• Your metabolism slows down.
• Your fat storage increases.
• Your blood sugar levels increase.
• Your food cravings increase.

For companies and web developers, this is bad news.

Unhealthy employees equal unproductive employees.

So how can web developers fight cortisol?

Some suggestions include:

• deep-breathing techniques
• massage
• yoga
• Neuro-linguistic Programming
• meditation
• self-hypnosis
• moderate aerobic exercise
• attitude changes
• rest
• low glicemic diet (Sugar handling stress increases cortisol levels.)

A lot of this falls on the web developers shoulders, but employers can help, too with a strong benefits program and incentives for working out.

So go bust up that cortisol and get back to work!