BLOG 8: STRESS ISNT AN ENEMY

By: Harrie C. Singson Que

September 15, 2021

---

STRESS ISN’T AN ENEMY

Have you been feeling stressed recently? I definitely have and I’m sure you have too. All of us undergo stress because it is our body’s way of telling us that we are experiencing pressure. Now stress can sometimes be good since it provides a burst of energy which could help us in certain situations like running a marathon or finishing a job quicker. This kind of stress is called acute stress. But in our daily lives, most of us undergo a different kind of stress called chronic stress. Chronic stress is a prolonged or continuous feeling of stress that negatively impacts our brain and health. It may cause depression and anxiety or even certain mental illnesses like Alzheimer’s. I’m sure all of us have been trying to think of ways to get rid of our stress by distracting ourselves with others activities such as playing games or eating food. These activities do reduce stress by a moderate amount but in most cases, the stress keeps coming back. Now, what if I told you that the way to not get affected by the negative effects of stress is by accepting it instead of trying to get rid of it? You may seem a bit confused right now, but I promise you that if you keep reading, you will uncover the true way of getting rid of stress.

Whenever we are stressed, we undergo physical changes which may include breathing heavily, having our heart pound at an accelerated rate, or even breaking into a sweat. We interpret these effects as a sign that we aren’t coping well with stress, but what if I told you that changing our perspective towards them also changes how our body copes with stress. This is exactly what was instructed to the people who participated in a study conducted in Harvard University. They started to view their stress response as helpful which not only made their mental state much happier and healthier it even changed their physical stress response. Usually, our stress response causes our heart rate to go up and our blood vessels to restrict. Yet surprisingly, those that viewed stress response as being helpful actually maintained a stable heart rate and had blood vessels that weren’t a constraint. This causes a healthy cardiovascular profile, similar to when we feel moments of joy. All of this proves that how you think and act is the difference between a good or bad stress response.

​ I find it so fascinating how something as simple as changing the way you think towards something changes the effects it has on you. Now that you have discovered the secret to handling stress, I hope you all realize that it doesn’t matter what life throws at us, as long as we stay optimistic and never give up, we are able to face all these challenges one stress at a time.

SOURCE:

Kelly McGonigal: Can We Reframe The Way We Think About Stress? (2019, August 2).

Delaware First Media. https://www.delawarepublic.org/post/kelly-mcgonical-can-we-reframe-way-we-think-about-stress