WHAT
We all know that stress is bad for you...right? Stress has been linked to all six leading causes of death: heart disease, accidents, cancer, liver disease, lung ailments, and suicide. However, research shows that it’s the way you think about stress that impacts your health, more so than the actual stress itself.
WHY
Researchers at Yale University have found that shifting your stress mindset can curb negative outcomes and even lead to positive ones. Individuals who look at stress as a growth opportunity report having better health, fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety, higher levels of energy, greater workplace performance, and greater overall satisfaction with life than those with a more negative mindset on stress.
HOW I CAN USE THIS
Stress researcher, Kelly McGonigal, offers several tips for how to build a positive or “stress-is-enhancing” mindset.
Think about a recent stressful experience and take a careful look at the symptoms of stress to see if they may have actually been helping your brain and body in that moment.
Notice your bodily senses. In your stressful experience, were your senses heightened? Was your heart pounding? Were you sweating? Was your breadth quickening? Was your attention focused on the sources of stress? If so, your heightened senses were reminding you that you care, while giving you the energy, motivation, and focus to rise to your challenge and do what needed to be done. Notice you can view your body’s stress response as either debilitating anxiety, or as energizing excitement.
Notice if you felt like connecting with others. In your stressful experience, did you have an urge to be near your friends or family? Did you have an extra sensitivity to others’ emotions? If so, your stress was nudging you towards connecting with others, what researchers call a “prosocial reaction.” Notice how stress can function to bind us closer with others, dampening our individual fears and increasing our courage to protect, support, or defend those we love.
Notice if you learned. At the end of your stressful experience, did you still feel mentally energized and full of emotion, even after your body started to settle down? Did you replay the event in your mind, analyze it, try to make sense out of it, or seek out a sounding board to talk the event through? If so, your stress was helping you to process and integrate what had happened, helping you to learn and grow while restoring your nervous system back to balance. Notice how you can choose to view ruminating thoughts as part of the growth process.
HOW I CAN HELP OTHERS
There are two competing stress mindsets. When you look at colleagues, friends or family, which mindset do they seem to identify with? Tell people about the two mindsets and see which statements they agree with. Share your own example of a stressful experience and how it actually helped you to rise to the challenge, connect with others, or learn and grow.
Stress-is-enhancing mindset: You look at stress as an opportunity for growth, and see the potential for stress to have a positive impact. You tend to agree with statements like:
Experiencing stress facilitates my learning and growth.
Experiencing stress enhances my performance and productivity.
Experiencing stress improves my health and vitality.
The effects of stress are positive and should be utilized.
Stress-is-debilitating mindset: You look at stress as, well, stress. You believe that stress has negative consequences and tend to agree with statements like:
The effects of stress are negative and should be avoided.
Experiencing stress depletes my health and vitality.
Experiencing stress inhibits my learning and growth.
Experiencing stress debilitates my performance and productivity.
Resources:
The Upside of Stress and TED Talk by Kelly McGonigal
Podcast with Stanford professor Alia Crum, “Are Your Mindsets Stressing You Out?”
Podcast with health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, “Can You Flex Your Stress Mindset?”
Authors:
Eudaimonic by Design is a global network of consultants, facilitators and systems thinkers who share a passion for the science of well-being and believe that organizations must be designed to enable it. We harness the best of scholarly thought and years of practical experience to help people be truly engaged, act ethically and pursue excellence.
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