Stress. Just seeing or hearing that word might evoke a reaction out of you, for most of us this is not a new topic, in fact, it is an issue that we are all too familiar with. Whether you are overworked, underpaid, bogged down with school or bills, young or old, we all deal with stress in our life. Stressful events carry with it a lot of negative side effects that most of us are aware of, such as: stomach aches, migraines, trouble sleeping, irritability, anger, anxiety, depression and so on. While most of us do our best to avoid stress, we are not always able to. Is it possible to make stress work to our advantage? We spend a lot of time talking about all the negatives associated with stress, but did you know that small amounts of stress can actually be beneficial?
For one thing, stress can help our brain to focus, it allows us to react to potential dangerous situations and keeps us alert; this in turn can help increase our endurance (i.e. stress releases adrenaline and speeds up our metabolism which can help our reactions and reflexes). Some doctors have even been able to help patients struggling with post-traumatic stress to build on those sorts of strengths; even athletes will find their performance improved when positive stress is present.
It may sound counter-productive to use the term “positive stress”, but it is a real thing. Endocrinologist Hans Selye, also known as “The Father of Stress” coined the term “Eustress” which refers to a positive response to a stressor; it is how we perceive our given situation and respond. In other words, it has nothing to do with the stressful event, but rather our response to it that can have a potential negative or positive impact. This is where self-efficacy is important, the higher a person’s self-efficacy than the easier it will be to see a stressor as a positive rather than a negative and thus use it as healthy motivation. The goal then is to increase our self-efficacy in order to increase our Eustress. Eustress can fuel positive psychological experiences, increase hope, motivation and overall perception of life.
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