As the years pass, trends and fads come and go, and with them comes new, unique vocabulary. “67” was Dictionary.com’s word of the year in 2025, and it was “demure” in 2024. Both of these words directly correlated to trends that surged in their respective years. This year, it seems, the new trendy word is “cortisol.”
By definition, cortisol is a hormone that is produced and released by one’s adrenal glands. Colloquially, it’s known as the stress hormone, but don’t let this term fool you. Cortisol is a very important hormone that has an impact on virtually every organ in the body. One key example of this is how it regulates glucose use for energy.
Despite this, cortisol retains the reputation of stress hormone, with users on the popular social media platform TikTok claiming high cortisol levels in stressful situations, while touting low cortisol levels in relaxing situations.
Even though the trend was heavily popularized on TikTok, it has since expanded to other short-form video platforms, like Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts. Regardless of what medium the videos are posted on, they all have a common denominator in the song used: “Ai đưa em về” by Tia and Lê Thiện Hiếu.
The trend has also had an influence on South Windsor High School students, as its informal title of stress hormone has given them a new word in their vocabulary to describe their experiences at school and in life overall. For example, junior Logan Wagner shared instances of high cortisol moments in his life.
“Whenever I’m at my work or just whenever I have to do something that my parents make me do, like chores, that’s pretty high cortisol,” Wagner told The Prowl.
On the other hand, senior Hamza Ghori described how he maintains low cortisol in his life.
“I have low cortisol because I’m always stress free,” Ghori commented. “I don’t take things too seriously, which allows me to relax really successfully.”
Teachers have also analyzed the impact of high and low cortisol situations in their classes, including English teacher Michael Webb.
“The midterm, midterm review, and AP exams are always high end,” Webb said. “I have five classes, and I’m getting four assessments this week alone in all my classes. Those are always high yield. It’s hard, as a teacher, but certainly I know for a fact that kids, they deal with that.”
As Webb said, when students are faced with multiple assessments, as well as the looming reality of AP exams and finals, it may result in a “cortisol spike” for them.
Even though this trend may be seen as humorous and amusing, there should be one key takeaway from it. One should strive to maintain a level of “low cortisol” by keeping one’s cool and remaining calm in the face of adversity. There will always be taxing situations, but one need only remain calm and let it pass, lest they fall into stress and gain the undesirable quality of “high cortisol.”
