Stress has been getting some pretty good press lately. A number of recent books and articles have been selling its benefits and urging us to embrace it as our friend. Is that possible?
A pounding heart, tense muscles, quickened breathing . . . stress is the automatic ‘fight or flight’ survival response that happens in your body when there is a perceived threat. It heightens senses and reaction times, speeding up your ability to think, and boosting strength and stamina.
From exams and presentations, to competitive events and a myriad of daily challenges, everybody experiences moments of stress at some time in their lives. It’s your approach to stress that really matters. The adrenaline that courses through your body when you’re scared is the same as when you’re excited. It’s how you interpret this feeling that determines what you experience.
Learning to respond positively to stress can help you manage it and improve your performance. So, in the context of a well-balanced life, short bursts of stress can be beneficial.
However, everyone responds to stress differently based on their situation, characteristics and experiences. What may be a minor stressor to one person can provoke a much greater response in another. Constant worries about work, money, relationships and other perceived problems can leave you emotionally and physically drained, unable to concentrate, and prone to anxiety and depression. Extreme and prolonged periods of stress accompanying major life changes and challenges can be both psychologically and physically debilitating.
In these cases, chronic stress has a negative impact on your ability to perform, your mental and physical health, and your general enjoyment of life—probably not what you’d want from a friend.
Is stress stopping you from living a healthy life? You can overcome this barrier by getting support to identify the behaviours and situations that are contributing to your stress levels, and by learning techniques to manage your stress effectively.
If the ways you currently cope with stress in your life aren’t helping, we can.
written by Prue Foster and Wendy Roncolato
