"The big, bad stress hormone dictates our perception of stress in our world. Cortisol release is initiated from any stressful event. Cortisol is like the sun: rising in the morning and setting in the evening. Too much cortisol at the wrong time (night time) is bad as it blunts growth hormone and melatonin production. Too little cortisol (in the morning) is difficult as we need cortisol to help us get up, do what we need to do and function. Nowadays we are mismanaging our cortisol from our perceptions of stress (sitting in traffic, being late to a meeting, going too long in between meals) and
some dysfunction of cortisol results."