Can Stress Be Both Helpful and Harmful?
Everywhere we look, there are articles on how to reduce stress. Of course, we want to reduce stress. Stress is not good for us, right? Maybe yes, maybe no. According to psychologist Kelly McGonigal, author of the book The Upside of Stress, a significant piece of research from the University of Wisconsin-Madison shocked many people. The study on 29,000 people over eight years found that how you view stress impacts your health far more than the stress itself. Think of it this way. Your body will respond positively if you believe an upcoming meeting is exciting. If you think the conference represents a scary situation, you will have an adverse reaction.
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Hans Selye discovered the dangers of the stress response and coined the terms eustress and distress. He emphasized that all stress is not bad. Eustress is a positive experience, the stress you feel when you’re having fun on a roller-coaster or a ski slope. It is also described as an optimal amount of pressure (Trbovich & LeFevre, 2003). It is a healthy response to a stressor and is associated with positive emotions. Distress is when you are frightened or upset and tell yourself that you don’t like the feeling or experience you are having.
It's also essential to distinguish between short-term and long-term chronic stress. Chronic stress has a negative impact, while small doses of short-term stress may be proper for you. Short-term stress can boost your immune system, make you more social, and improve learning and memory (Vesa et al., 2016).
Recent research shows that people who experience fewer daily stressors report better emotional stability and overall health (Charles et al., 2021). This same study also showed that people who reported no stress were likely to have scored lower on cognitive tests equaling more than eight years of aging. Furthermore, no stress participants also said they were less likely to give or receive emotional support and less likely to recognize positive things happening during the day. The researchers concluded that small, daily stressors could benefit the brain even if these stressors are annoying or inconvenient. For example, these daily stressors might include troubleshooting your computer, working through a conflict, or being stuck in traffic. Experiencing daily stressors is a consequence of actively engaging in life.
Your mindfulness practice can help you become more aware of your automatic responses to situations and help you choose how you view them. Exciting or threatening? Thrilling or life-threatening? Learning to manage and experience the “right” amount of stress while reducing the levels that harm us physically and mentally, is essential. Learning to shift our perspective and see the bigger picture when faced with stressful situations is a trainable skill... and one that’s necessary to learn to thrive.
For help in stress management, download our Levelhead for Real Life app for simple practices that can make a big difference in your life.
References
Charles, S. T. Mogle, J. Chai, H. W., & Almeida, D. M. (2021). The mixed benefits of a stressor-free life. Emotion, Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10/1037/emo0000958
Trbovich, P. L., & LeFevre, J. A. (2003). Phonological and visual working memory in mental addition. Memory & Cognition, 31(5), 738-745.
Vesa, N., Liedberg, L., & Rönnlund, M. (2016). Two-week web-based mindfulness training reduces stress, anxiety, and depressive symptoms in individuals with self-reported stress: a randomized control trial. International Journal of Neurorehabilitation, 3(3).