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Positive And Negative Stress: 7 Tips To Take Control And Make Your Stress Work For You
April 26Th 2016
It’s perhaps most common to think of stress as a negative thing that makes people feel bad and can contribute to health problems. However the truth is, stress is a necessary part of life, and can be beneficial in a number of situations. Here’s the rundown on the difference between stress that leaves you feeling crushed and stress that helps you through a tough task.
In 1936, Hans Selye began a series of studies that would lead to him being considered the forefather of modern stress research, and is credited with coining the term stress, as well as “eustress” and “distress.”
Eustress is what would be considered “good stress.” It can provide extra bursts of adrenaline, give a sense of motivation and prepare the body to complete tasks, from last-minute test cramming to survival.
Distress would be considered “bad stress.” Distress is commonly defined as stress reactions that do not go away when they are no longer helpful to the body, or as stress reactions that are not helpful at all.
In presenting Dr. Selye’s treatise, The Nature of Stress, the International Center for Nutritional Research notes that this difference largely centers around how one handles the stress reaction, and dismisses it when it is no longer needed.
A simple example is a student who is stressed because he has forgotten a term paper due tomorrow. In his stressed state, he may either find the burst of adrenaline that keeps him awake and allows him to finish a passable paper before the morning’s class begins. Alternately, he may get so upset he forgets much of what he has studied, or even finds himself physically ill.
Hence, learning to use your stress positively and ‘turn it off’ when it is no longer helpful is one key to managing stress. To that end,here are some tips for making your stress work for you instead of against you.
1. Determine What Is Truly At Stake
In 1984, Doctors Lazarus and Folkman proposed a a model known as the “Theory of Primary Appraisal.” This theory says that when faced with a stressor, people immediately assess two things about it: how much of a threat the stressor poses, and how able the individual is to deal with it.
In the first assessment, it’s easy to misjudge. We find ourselves assessing that term paper and thinking, “If I don’t get it in on time and perfectly, I’ll fail, drop out of school, never get a job, and die hungry before I’m 22.”
That isn’t a reasonable assessment. Stopping to re-think, and realize, “If I get it in on time and less than perfect, I might have to work a little harder for the rest of the semester, but I’ll be okay.” This can ease the stress enough to get the books open and the pencil moving.
2. Recognize Your Abilities
This brings us to the second stage of assessment Lazarus and Folkman proposed: the ability to handle the stressor. Here, one determines what one needs to minimize or eradicate the risk, and whether one has it.
Being aware that you are able to successfully make it through the stressful situation can often be enough to turn the stress into a motivator rather than a brick wall. Take a moment to think back on times you’ve successfully made it through a similar situation, and realize that doing it this time is well within your skill set.
3. Break Tasks Into Manageable Parts
To decrease the stress connected to a seemingly insurmountable task, break it into parts that can be handled individually. Focus on each part at its own time, and keep your mind on having the mental, physical or other resources to complete the portion of the task at hand. In the term paper example, focus on one page or section, and then the next, knowing that even a partially completed assignment is better for your GPA than no paper at all.
4. Recognize And Accept Your Limits
Know when to stop fighting it. There are things you cannot do, and that is okay. Going to your mother-in-law’s house with an intention of changing her views on political issues will be extremely stressful, because you are setting yourself an impossible task. Discarding that as a goal and visiting with, instead, a goal of changing the subject to food or the weather every time politics arise replaces an impossible task with a merely difficult one, and can cut the stress of the situation before you even enter it.
5. Allow The Body Time To Repair
When you commit to an exercise regimen, you must regularly take off time for your body to repair. The National Institute for Mental Health recommends allowing the same type of healing after stress reactions. They warn that repeated stress experiences, without a break, can lead to physical problems.
6. Use Up Your Stress In Physical Activity
One way to distance yourself from stress is to engage in sports or other physical activities to use up all of that extra adrenaline. Getting physical stretches muscles and relieves the tense, tight, ‘ready to spring’ feeling that stress produces. As a bonus, a sport that requires mental focus can distance you from your stressors temporarily, allowing you to return to them refreshed and ready to face them.
7. Ease Your Stress By Taking Time Out To Relax
If sports and physical activity sound like an additional stress to you, that’s okay. Choosing something that helps you relax and feel happy is another way to break the stress cycle. Play a video game, read a book, spend time with a friend, get a massage or whatever it is that you enjoy and that helps you to relax.
Stress may be an important part of life, but large amounts of distress aren’t necessary. Take control of your stress. Recognize when you can use your stress to further your goals, and when it’s time to take a step back from your stressors and reassess what they mean to you and what you can realistically do about them.
Then you’ll be able to focus on attacking the stress situations that matter and the tasks that are surmountable, and let the others go.
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