“We are not passive receivers of stress,” Jamieson explains. “We are actually active agents in creating our own stress response.”
Jamison says the stress you feel in difficult situations can be the fuel you need to cope with the demands you face. For example, an increased heart rate helps deliver more oxygen to the brain and muscles.
“Oxygen really helps us process information quickly,” Jamison explains. It also helps people perform.
Humans have long faced threats from predators and have evolved fight-or-flight responses to survive these dangers. However, the types of stressors we face today are changing. In modern times, some of our stress comes from challenges, which Jamison says can be seen as “opportunities for growth.” Job interviews, presentations, TV appearances.
“To truly innovate and accomplish difficult things, the stress response exists to optimize performance,” he says.
When it comes to stress, “context matters,” says researcher Wendy Berry Mendez, a professor of psychology at Yale University. There are different types of stress reactions and different types of stress.
She points to Scandinavian research dating back decades that found stress hormones are associated with improved performance in students taking tests.
“Increased levels of catecholamines (including epinephrine and norepinephrine) on the morning of the test were associated with better test performance,” she says.
But here’s the challenge. Not everyone reacts to stressors in the same way. Test anxiety is real for some people and can negatively impact performance. Part of the equation depends on how well the student knows the material or how well prepared they are to take the test. Another part is how we perceive stress.
Jamieson points to evidence that people can be taught to “re-evaluate” stress. He and his collaborators studied community college students who were preparing for a math exam. When students were given information about the “functional benefits” of stress before a test, their performance improved.
“By letting people know about the benefits of a stress response in situations like this, they get the idea and I can surrender to my own stress,” Jamison says, adding that it’s important to make it important. You can use it to do things.
Students who were taught to “reevaluate their stress as a resource” not only achieved better grades but also had less anxiety about their writing.
When good stress turns bad
So even if a challenge or opportunity causes stress, it can be helpful in the moment. But problems arise when the stress response keeps activating when it doesn’t need to be.
Let’s say you have a big presentation that’s still three days away. The preparations are complete, but the anticipatory stress begins. Just imagining myself giving a presentation makes me nervous. You can feel your stress response increasing.
Breathing becomes shallow, and you feel irritable or irritable. If you use a wearable device like the Oura ring or Apple Watch, you may experience lower levels of heart rate variability, which indicates more time in stress mode.
“Your body goes into overdrive before you need it,” says Mendez. And this can exhaust your physiological systems. “Imagine running as fast as you can across the savannah trying to escape a lion,” Mendez says, but the lion doesn’t show up for three days. That’s not sustainable.
Also, there is no point in worrying after the performance is over. “There’s no need for your body to overreact anymore,” says Mendez, but worrying keeps your stress response activated.
This can lead to fatigue, moodiness, and burnout. Chronic stress can make you feel like you’re under constant attack. It’s linked to everything from increased risk of heart disease to depression, headaches, and sleep problems.
All of this suggests that strategies to manage stress are key. We can’t avoid the difficult situations we face in life, but we can improve our ability to manage and learn skills to bounce back and grow.
The editors of Stress Less are Carmel Wroth and Jane Greenhalgh.
