In her book, “Black Woman Redefined,” author Sophia A. Nelson, describes what she calls a “cortisol rich environment.” She states that this is an environment that creates high stress emotionally and physically. As a result of these “high stress” surroundings, a person’s body that is subjected to these types of environments will release stress hormones.

According to Nelson, the routine release of stress hormones, can create a harmful biological and emotional cycle. In, “Black Woman Redefined,” she states:

“When we are traumatized emotionally and for sustained periods of time, the body washes itself with cortisol to prepare for a ‘fight or flight’ response. However, our bodies are not good at self-regulation and can go into overdrive. After a while the adrenal glands stop producing enough of certain hormones. More disturbing is that people…will usually continue to seek out high-stress environments (such as unhealthy relationships or high-drama friendships) that feed the stress hormones- it’s like a drug addiction.”