Transforming Stress into a Positive Force

Can Stress Be Helpful for Us?

We know what stress is and how it can affect people, but can stress be helpful for us? Can we make stress our friend? How?

(Video: How to make stress your friend)

Stress is a physical and mental condition that occurs when we adapt to the environment. There are some events that produce this internal state, such as work pressure, marital problems, financial problems, travel, dating, or getting a new job. Stress can be a major behavioral risk if it’s severe or prolonged, but it is not always bad. In this way, we know what stress is and how it can affect people, but can stress be helpful for us?

The Impact of Long-Term Stress

On the one hand, long-term stress produces maladaptive changes. Its impact can be understood by examining the body's defenses and responses to stress, a pattern known as the General Adaptation Syndrome. There is a series of bodily reactions to prolonged stress, which are:

• Alarm reaction
• Stage of resistance
• Stage of exhaustion

In this way, the heart rate goes up and blood vessels constrict, which can produce cardiovascular disease. We can see this in some studies. For example, according to a study of 30,000 Americans, people who feel much stress over the course of a year and view stress as negative have a 43% increased risk of dying. Moreover, they elevate the likelihood of everything from the common cold to cardiovascular disease.

The Benefits of Short-Term Stress

On the other hand, short-term stress produces adaptive changes that help individuals respond to stressful stimuli. Thus, the dangers of stress may be prevented by understanding how the symptoms of stress can be beneficial. For example:

• Accelerated breathing carries more oxygen to the brain.
• A pounding heart allows for faster reaction times.
• Stress releases oxytocin, which is an anti-inflammatory hormone that also makes people more sociable.

Those who believe in these advantages of stress stop feeling its negative symptoms. Furthermore, their blood vessels relax, their heartbeats maintain a healthier cardiovascular profile, and their risk of death is significantly reduced.

Changing Your Perspective

To sum up, we can see that if we change our minds about stress, we will change our bodies’ response to it. We should, therefore, take stress and make it our friend; it is not always an enemy.