Your stress response not only energizes you. In many situations, it also forces you to connect with other people. This side of stress is controlled mainly by hormone oxytocin
Oxytocin has become widely known as the "molecule of love" and "hormone embrace," because it really is produced by the pituitary gland when you embrace someone. However, in fact, the functions of oxytocin are much more complicated. This is a neurohormone that produces fine tuning of social instincts in your brain. Its main function is to create and strengthen social attachments, that is why it 
stands out when embracing, as well as when

sexual intercourse and lactation. Increased levels of oxytocin forces you to reach out to people. It gives rise to the desire for personal contacts - through touching, SMS or meeting over a mug of beer. In addition, oxytocin helps the brain better understand what other people think and feel. It strengthens empathy and intuition. With a high level of oxytocin, you are more likely to trust and help people who care about you. Oxytocin makes the brain more susceptible to social contacts and thereby enhances the warm feeling that you have when caring for others

But the functions of oxytocin are not limited to the social sphere. It is also a hormone of courage. Oxytocin suppresses the fear reaction in the brain - an instinct that makes you freeze in place or run. This hormone not only encourages you to seek someone's embrace; it makes you brave

Oxytocin is just as much of a stress response as adrenaline, causing your heart to pound furiously. During stress, the pituitary gland produces oxytocin to stimulate social connections. This means that stress makes you better without additional investment in personal growth and socialization trainings

Standing out in a stressful reaction, oxytocin makes you turn to those who can support you. It also helps to strengthen the most important links for you, making you more responsive. Scientists call this the reaction of caring and friendship. Unlike the reaction "hit or run", which is associated primarily with the instinct of self-preservation, this reaction forces you to protect those who care about you. And what is very important, gives you courage
When you want to talk with a friend or a loved one, this stressful reaction encourages you to seek support. If something bad happens and you immediately think about your children, pets, relatives or friends, this stressful reaction encourages you to protect your "tribe". When someone acts dishonestly and you are eager to stand up for the defense of your team, your company or your community, all this is part of the prosocial stress response

Oxytocin has another amazing quality: this so-called love hormone has a beneficial effect on the cardiovascular system. In the heart there are special receptors for oxytocin, which promotes the regeneration of cardiac muscle cells after micro-injuries. If your stress reaction involves the production of oxytocin, stress literally strengthens your heart. Usually we hear that stress can cause a heart attack! Yes, stress-induced heart attacks do sometimes happen, and they are usually caused by a sudden release of adrenaline
but not all stressful reactions cause damage to your heart. I found one study in which it was shown that if rats are subjected to stress, and then try to cause a heart attack by chemical means, they show very significant resistance to cardiac trauma. However, when the rats were given a substance blocking the release of oxytocin, stress no longer had such beneficial effects on them. This study reveals to us one of the most amazing aspects of stress. It turns out that a stress reaction is our innate mechanism of maintaining stability, which forces us to take care of others, but at the same time strengthens our heart