How to Make Stress Work for You
By Sandy Schroeder
Let’s face it, many of us live in a 24/7 world of stress. Our family, job and countless other responsibilities conspire to keep us on edge most of the time. Some of us take stress to another level as we worry about what stress may be doing to our health. That might be seen as the perfect stress merry-go-round, but there is a way to stop the music.
Heidi Grant Halvorson, PhD, explored the other side of the stress picture in HuffPost recently. She said, “This might sound a little crazy, but what if it’s the very fact that we assume stress is bad that’s actually making it so bad for us? And what if there were another way to think about stress -- a way that might actually make it a force for good in our lives?”
Then she answers her own question, providing an alternative answer in a book called The Happiness Advantage by Alia Crum, Peter Salovey, and Shawn Achor.
The authors say our mindset about stress may be the most important predictor of what stress does to us. If we think stress is bad for us it may become a debilitating mindset. If we think stress may motivate us in positive ways it can become an enhancing mindset. Crum and his colleagues studied 400 employees of a financial institution and found the ones who believed stress enhanced them had better health, life experiences and work performance.
How It Plays Out
We may believe chronic stress can make us sick and impact our immune system. But Crum’s study participants showed stress can also enhance immunity as it gets us moving and motivates us to keep going.
Others may believe stress leaves us lethargic and depressed, but studies show stress can also create a mental toughness that results in more confidence, clear thinking and recognition of one’s blessings.
Views of Stress Can Change
If you have been living with the belief that stress is debilitating, research shows you can switch your view. Crum and his colleagues showed three-minute videos to their study group that explained how stress could be positive. The ones who saw the videos reported improvement in well-being and work response.
Try Seeing Stress Differently
Crum and his associates concluded we may not need less stress if we just learn how to look at it differently, making it work for us. If this makes sense to you, you could do your own study, noting when you are stressed and deliberately making an effort to see the positive side. Over time, you can see if this approach to stress works for you. If it does, keep it up. In our stress-loaded society, you will have just found a major advantage.
To learn more about your health, wellness, and fitness, see your local chiropractor at The Joint Chiropractic in Pearland, Tex.