How do you define ‘stress’? And why do we talk about it as if it’s necessarily a bad thing? What impact does this have on our interpretation of the situation we’re in when we experience stress? And what impact does that interpretation and experience have on our long-term health?
What is ‘stress’ anyway?
One of my professional coach mastermind groups has been having a fascinating discussion the past few days around the concept of stress. What has emerged most clearly from this discussion is the recognition that everyone has a different definition of the concept of ‘stress’ – and depending on their definition, a different take on whether it’s necessarily good or bad.
It appears there is good reason for this: the term ‘stress’ has been used so broadly that it now misleadingly lumps together a whole range of elements, from the things that cause it, to our body’s reaction to it, to our emotional experience of it. Let’s start with the more neutral definitions:
- In 1936, Hans Selye defined ‘stress’ as “the non-specific response of the body to any demand for change.”
- According to Psychology Today, “Stress is simply a reaction to a stimulus that disturbs our physical or mental equilibrium.”
- The National Institute of Mental Health says, “Stress can be defined as the brain’s response to any demand. Many things can trigger this response, including change. Changes can be positive or negative, as well as real or perceived. They may be recurring, short-term, or long-term…”
There are also many definitions that lean toward blending our biological and psychological responses to what we presume are negative events, for example:
- According to Simply Psychology, “Stress is a biological and psychological response experienced on encountering a threat that we feel we do not have the resources to deal with. A stressor is the stimulus (or threat) that causes stress, e.g. exam, divorce, death of loved one, moving house, loss of job.”
Why is coming up with a definition so challenging? According to the American Institute of Stress (AIS), “Stress is difficult for scientists to define because it is a highly subjective phenomenon that differs for each of us. Things that are distressful for some individuals can be pleasurable for others. We also respond to stress differently. Some people blush, some eat more while others grow pale or eat less. There are numerous physical as well as emotional responses…” (check out the AIS’s list of stress effects for some familiar signs and symptoms, and for more on this definition discussion, check out their great article What is Stress?).
Is stress necessarily bad?
If you jump straight to thinking that stress is a bad thing – something to be avoided – you are not alone. Many people associate stress with fear, anxiety, worry, frustration, and feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness. In addition, corporate trainers, professional health and wellness organizations, and psychologists have long espoused the need to reduce and manage ‘stress’ in our lives lest we die early from one of several related health disorders or conditions, so it’s a widespread message.
Some of this negative association came about in the 1940s, when the term ‘stress’ was being coined in its present-day usage, which positions the term as synonymous with ‘distress.’ What this fails to recognize, however, is the fact that ‘stress’ (a demand on the body/mind to meet a challenge or adapt to change of some kind) can also be helpful, positive, and motivating. As Sue Shellenbarger notes in her Wall Street Journal article When Stress Is Good for You, stress “can propel you into ‘the zone,’ spurring peak performance and well-being.”
The form of stress Shallenbarger refers to is known as ‘eustress’: “a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional well-being.”
Researchers have found that acute (vs. chronic) stress, in particular, has the potential for positive effects. Daniela Kaufer, associate professor of integrative biology at the University of California, Berkeley, comments that “stress can be something that makes you better, but it is a question of how much, how long and how you interpret or perceive it.”
The power of words
As with so many things in life, when we lump too many elements under one notion without truly differentiating the nuances, we are left with little room to move in our own thinking. When we start teasing apart the knot, however, we begin to see that there is a whole spectrum of options available to us.
If we start with the concept of a stressor as simply a challenge or change…
- add in our attitude toward or belief about that stressor…
- recognize that our attitude then informs our interpretation and experience of the situation or event…
- know that these in turn influence our emotional, mental, and physical response (all interconnected in our complex physiology)…
…well, suddenly there is all sorts of room to shape our experience of the world.
The power of changing how we think about stress
While it’s tempting to point to things like a demanding workload, the strain of taking care of children and aging parents, or particularly challenging life events and define these as stressful in a bad way, we may be doing ourselves a grave disservice by doing so.
As psychologist Kelly McGonigal discusses in her illuminating TEDTalk How to make stress your friend, studies have shown that the real issue isn’t the stressors themselves: it’s our attitude toward them that determines their impact on our health and wellness.
Researchers have found that the perception that stress negatively affects physical and psychological health increases the probability of reporting poor health and psychological distress by four to five times, respectively. When this perception was combined with a high amount of self-reported stress, the risk of premature death increased by 43%.
What does this mean? According to McGonigal, it means that changing how we think about stress might just be one of the healthiest things we can do for ourselves. In her TEDTalk, she cites studies that show that people who change their perspective on stress to view their body’s reaction to it as positive – the body helping them to get ready to meet a challenge, for example – showed signs of positive physiological changes in response to stressors minus the negative changes typically associated with health disorders linked to stress.
Similarly, happiness guru Shawn Achor and Yale researcher Alia Crum performed a study based on simply exposing managers to information and training about the positive impacts of stress, for example that “stress can cause the human brain to use more of its capabilities, improve memory and intelligence, increase productivity, and even speed recovery from things like knee surgery. Research indicates that stress, even at high levels, creates greater mental toughness, deeper relationships, heightened awareness, new perspectives, a sense of mastery, a greater appreciation for life, a heightened sense of meaning, and strengthened priorities.”
The result of their study? “When an individual thought about stress as enhancing, instead of debilitating, they embraced the reality of their current stress level and used it to their advantage. The negative parts of stress (distress) started to diminish, because the fight-or-flight response was not activated, and the individual felt more productive and energetic, as well as reporting significantly fewer physical symptoms associated with distress…” Life satisfaction scores also increased.
What to do with this information about stress
Does this mean we should stop our efforts to reduce and manage chronic stress in our lives? Absolutely not! Mindfulness-based approaches in particular have been demonstrated to have a significant positive impact on people’s emotional and physical health.
What it does mean, however, is that for the stressors that are unavoidable or inevitable, how we think about and perceive them and their role in our life can make a big difference in how we respond, both at a physiological level and at a mental and emotional level. Think of your attitude and outlook as additional tools in your stress management toolbox.
The National Institute of Mental Health has some great suggestions for coping with stress, and the Harvard Business Review article Turning Stress into an Asset contains guidelines for reframing your thinking around stress.
It’s also important to look for opportunities to find meaning in our decisions and experiences. As McGonigal says in response to a question at the end of her TEDTalk, “One thing we know for certain is that chasing meaning is better for your health than trying to avoid discomfort. And so I would say that really the best way to make decisions is go after what creates meaning in your life and then trust yourself to handle the stress that follows.”
This article is the second in what I’m thinking of as my “Discomfort Series.” The first was Frustration: The Invisible Trigger, which is available on my blog. Why a Discomfort Series? I’m a big believer in self-awareness, and taking a mindfulness approach toward life means coming to a place of peace with our full range of human emotions, including the uncomfortable ones. In this series, I plan to take a look at some of the emotions that can give us a hard time when it comes to truly being our whole self. I welcome your feedback and input as I develop this series! Please drop me a line any time.
