Your Stress Response

A client recommended a book called The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good For You And How To Get Good At It. It opens with a question: “If you had to sum up how you feel about stress, which statement would be more accurate: A) Stress is harmful, and should be avoided, reduced, and managed or B) Stress is helpful, and should be accepted, utilized, and embraced.” Several years ago, the author would have answered with option A and now she is absolutely convinced that option B is correct. The rest of the book argues that how we relate to stress is the central determiner of how harmful it is, rather than how much stress we experience. 

Here’s a quick summary of the original study that first challenged the author’s perspective. Thirty thousand adults were asked how much stress they had experienced in the past year. They were also asked a simple question: “Do you believe that stress is harmful to your health?” Eight years later, the researchers looked through public records to see which of the participants had died. High levels of stress did in fact increase the risk of death by 43%, but the increased risk only applied to people who had also responded that stress was harmful to their health. In a surprising twist, the group who reported high levels of stress, but did not believe that stress was harmful were not more likely to die. Quite the opposite. They were the least likely to die of any group in the thirty thousand—even lower than those who reported low levels of stress. It appears that the combination of stress and the belief that stress is harmful is what is most damaging. 

As I read more of the book, I’ll share what I learn. This week, I invite you to examine: 

How much stress have you experienced this last year? How do you relate to this stress? In what new ways could you think about your stress that might make it less harmful? 

God bless,
Dan