Unlocking the Impact of Stress on Cognitive Function

Do you find that when you're overwhelmed, that remembering the littlest thing becomes a major hurdle?

That's because under stress, the body releases a cascade of hormones, including cortisol, the body’s primary stress hormone. While cortisol is helpful in short bursts, chronic exposure can wreak havoc on the brain impacting our cognitive function, which is how our brains process information – how we think, remember, and make decisions.

Long-term stress not only leads to the shrinking of areas in the brain associated with memory and decision-making, but it also hijacks the neural pathways responsible for retrieving memories, making it more difficult to retain and recall information accurately. As you can imagine this can have a significant impact on your work performance and productivity as the cognitive fog of stress makes it difficult for you to:

• focus and complete tasks efficiently

• think rationally

• make decisions quickly and effectively

• concentrate for long periods

• poor judgement

• difficulty planning for the future

So, its not you being lazy, its stress doing what it does on your body and mind. If this continues, at some stage it can impact both your mental and emotional well-being.

The good news is that with self-care stress management techniques you can break free from the grip of stress.

Stress may be an inevitable part of life, but its impact on your brain doesn’t have to be. By learning how to manage stress effectively, you can reclaim your cognitive abilities and improve productivity and performance. Research: Stress and cognitive function

Rosanna Commisso - Founder, StressCare Solutions

Championing Workplace Wellbeing | Mental Health & Trauma Advocate

As the Founder of StressCare Solutions, my passion for helping organisations navigate the growing challenge of stress and trauma in the workplace, is personal.

With over 30-years’ experience spanning health, training and community services, and my own lived experience with mental health, burnout and trauma—I bring both professional insight and ‘lived experience’ understanding to my work.

My mission is simple: to empower organisations, and their staff, with the tools they need to recognise, manage, and reduce stress before it leads to burnout, and to implement trauma-informed practices to support their staff.

Through engaging, evidence-based workshops, impactful speaking engagements, and trauma-informed workplace support, I help teams build resilience, improve wellbeing, and thrive.

Let’s build healthier workplaces—together.

📩 rosanna@stresscare.com.au | 🌐 www.stresscare.com.au