Not surprisingly, a number of mental-health-related issues, including panic disorder, depression, bipolar disorder, and the mood-related symptomology of PMS are characterized by lower-than-average levels of GABAergic activity.

having a blunted stress response could also harm emotional well-being in more indirect ways through its negative impact on our ability to absorb emotionally meaningful events from our environments.

Somewhere, somehow, we’ve all agreed that it’s okay for ourselves and for other women to live with mental health problems, as long as no one is getting pregnant unexpectedly. This is—quite literally—complete insanity.

Having dynamic bursts of HPA-axis activity is one way that our brain knows that we are living meaningful lives. It helps us process emotionally complex information and embed it into our long-term memories. When it’s not functioning properly, meaningful, emotional events in our lives—both good and bad—are less able to become a part of who we are.

Rather than relying on the biological processes that have been shaped by millions of years of evolution to help guide partner choice, pill-taking women may find themselves having to rely more exclusively on reason-based decision-making when it comes to picking partners. This could lead them into relationships that “look good on paper” but lack sexu

This is what stress should do, because one of cortisol’s jobs is to transfer emotionally charged events from our short-term into our long-term memories.

Too much cortisol exposure is bad news for the brain. It can cause structural and functional changes in areas of the brain like the hippocampus, which can mean bad news for women’s cognitive and emotional health.

HPA-axis dysfunction can wreak havoc on your brain, your moods, and your immune system, and may even sap you of your joie de vivre.

Even though stress seems bad, I promise you that lacking a stress response is decidedly worse.