The One Type Of Stress That’s Actually Good For You
It’s International Stress Awareness Week, but did you know that not all types of stress are the same? Some can even be beneficial, as FIORELLA VALDESOLO explains
A Gallup poll conducted last year found that 60 percent of Americans reported feeling stressed on a daily basis. And it has, over the course of the pandemic, become an ever more frequent topic of conversation; a reason cited for everything from thinning hair and libido loss to insomnia and acne. We have such an immediately negative knee-jerk reaction to the very idea of stress that we’ve become fearful of it. “I had an influx of clients reaching out to me not just experiencing fear of the pandemic itself, but who had been reading that being stressed about the pandemic was going to lower their immune function and leave them more susceptible to the virus,” says Dr. Deepika Chopra, a California-based professional psychologist and host of the Looking Up podcast. “There’s been an elevated level of stress about stress,” she adds, with many now stressed out by the very idea of experiencing it.
Separating the bad stress…
The first thing to understand about stress (the physiological response to a certain stressor) is that there is a spectrum: chronic stress, acute short-term stress and good stress. The former is what has been widely cited as the most detrimental. “All stress affects the mind and body, but chronic stress persists, not allowing the body and mind to relax for significant lengths of time,” explains Dr. Lilli Link, a board-certified internist and functional medicine practitioner at Parsley Health. The sleep deprivation and poor food choices that accompany chronic stress can lead to insulin resistance, decreased immunity, inflammation and increased blood pressure, says Link. “Chronic stress also causes a shrinking of the part of the brain associated with memory and executive function; it can increase the size of the amygdala, which is involved in fear, anxiety and aggression; and it can cause depression and cardiovascular disease,” she adds. While the body’s cortisol levels surge and remain high with chronic stress, with acute stress, they rise and fall rapidly instead. “In the short term, heart rate, breathing and blood pressure go up,” says Link, adding that because acute stress is short-lived, the body can return to its relaxation state fairly quickly.
…from the good stress
So attuned are we to the negative effects of stress, it seems almost incomprehensible that stress could have a positive impact, too. Indeed, a low level of stress is normal; an expected part of simply being human, while certain types of stress are even considered healthy. “Good stress, or eustress, is a type of stress we feel when we are excited,” says Chopra, adding that the physiological signs of it, like sweaty palms, stomach butterflies and an elevated pulse, are often the same. “But the caveat here is that we are not under threat or in danger, and there is no real notion of fear. This type of stress can actually help us – get us motivated, give us energy – and be somewhat invigorating.” Indeed, a 2013 UC Berkeley study found that small amounts of stress can push you to an optimal level of behavioral and cognitive performance. “Stress, like a deadline, can be motivating,” adds Link. “It can help us get focused and productive, and getting through a stressful situation can build confidence.”
Finding a balance
While there are instances of good stress that happen naturally (like that aforementioned deadline), there are also small lifestyle behaviors that can help nudge the body in the same direction. For example, adding an ice-cold rinse to the final 60 seconds of your shower (which briefly releases a surge of good-stress hormones) has been shown to ease anxiety and benefit skin by decreasing redness and puffiness. Short, high-impact workouts can also unleash good-stress hormones, as can intermittent fasting. The real key for evolving our response to stress may be shifting how we think about it to begin with and understanding that not all stress is created equal. “So much of stress is about perspective,” says Chopra. “If you can look at some of the ‘bad stress’ as a point of growth, a challenge, or with curiosity, you are actually ahead of the game in terms of allowing it to tip into the detrimental sphere.” Most importantly, recognizing your stressors, both bad and good, rather than ignoring them is essential, says Chopra. “I always encourage people to get to know their stressors and stress response intimately, rather than try to avoid it altogether and pretend it doesn’t exist.”
STRESS-BUSTING BUYS
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