Stress

Today in PSE we watched this video on stress. The talk was given by Kelly McGonigal and was titled ‘How to make stress your friend’. I found the talk to be quite interesting as she explained how viewing stress as a bad thing, is what made stress harmful to your health. However, if you change your view about stress, it can, in fact, be beneficial to you.

Before the video, I did not view stress with having positive connotations. This is mainly due to the fact that people only get stressed in situations where they feel uncomfortable and/or overwhelmed. Not to mention that we hear of so many stress-related deaths whether it induces a heart attack or leads someone to take their own life. So how could one assume that it is in fact positive?

However, after finishing the video, Kelly McGonigal’s point made sense. She mentioned that we should view stress as a positive thing. A drive that forces you to perform better in uncomfortable situations. E.g. your heart pumps faster in order to get more oxygen to your brain to help you focus and think carefully. She cited a cited that showed how stressed people who viewed stress as a negative reaction had an increased chance of death by about 43%. Yet, people who were stressed who viewed stress as a positive reaction had no more of an increased chance of death than people who weren’t stressed at all.

Finally, she mentioned how stress can bring out our empathy and emotions for others (increased levels of oxytocin). Our body wants us to share our thoughts with others in times of stress. Our body wants us to be able to identify when others around us are feeling down so that we can lend a hand and help. Changing our thinking in this matter is important as not only does it help us control and manage our stress, but it also helps us make more meaningful connections to those around us.