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The Positive Effects of Stress

BY SUSAN KNOWLTON | STRESS | RATING:

If you asked people what emotion they think they could do without, then it would be no
surprise if a large number of individuals named stress as their least favorite.
Stress is a highly unpleasant and even debilitating emotion that can make us feel like things
are getting too much for us, like the world is stacking up against us, and like we can't cope.
Stress is known to lower the immune system making us more likely to become ill, it has been
known to negatively affect our decision making abilities so that we make bad judgment calls,
and it is linked with many other unpleasant emotions such as depression and anxiety. When
we are in a situation where we are placed under pressure and need to concentrate, then this is
often when stress arises and it is of course in these scenarios more destructive than it is
helpful, leaving us unable to concentrate and causing us to stutter and choke.
However every emotion exists for a reason and
of course we adapted to feel stress through
evolution, so of course it must offer some kind
of benefit and indeed it is not without its
positive points. In fact sometimes focusing on
the positive aspects of stress can be enough to
help us turn stress around and to make the
most of it. Here we will look at what some of
the positive effects of stress are so that we can
maybe start to work with it on occasion
instead of constantly working against it.
It's Motivating
First and foremost, stress is positive in that it can be a great motivating force at times and this
is partly probably why we developed stress in the first place. In fact it's often easy to see how
stress can be a useful motivating factor by looking at every day examples. You may
remember for instance being at school and revising for exams. Here some people will have
revised very hard and started very early and this was an important as a good way to prepare
for any exam. Other people however will have waited until the last night and then crammed
as quickly as possible to learn it all in a night or they may even have decided to skip this
phase and to just hope that they remembered enough from classes. Of course the people who
revised harder and longer were the ones who would have performed better in the exams and it
was of course this group who were the more effected by stress. If you're stressed then you go
about trying to rectify the problem, and you go about trying to prepare/plan/fix.
Of course this is a very good example of how stress is good but only in small doses because
you may also remember those students from school who were forced to work in separate
rooms because they experienced too much stress. They may have been prone to panic attacks,
or may have just broken down crying when they were expected to work in the main hall. This
stress is crippling and that is enough to make us effectively useless in a range of
circumstances. The trick then is to be able to control, monitor and ultimately harness stress so
that you feel only positive amounts and are able to benefit from this rather than suffering for
it.
Psychologist Hans Seley is often called the 'Father of Stress' due to his extensive research
into the topic. He called these smaller amounts of positive stress 'eustress'.
It's a Cognitive Enhancer
The people who felt that eustress may also have experienced more success in their exams for
other reasons too because the stress might have actually improved some aspects of their
intelligence. Incredible though it may sound, stress is actually a cognitive enhancer which can
boost several aspects of our mental prowess and so help us in professional and academic
capacities.
First of all this is because stress helps our brain to focus. Stress developed to help us to react
to potential dangerous situations in the wild and this might mean for instance trying to
escape from a predator. That's not going to be any good if you are spending the whole time
thinking about what you're having for dinner that night, and so stress can help you to narrow
your attention and to focus on the task in hand. Meanwhile stress has also been shown in
some studies to help increase memory and recall so a little stress while revising for an exam
or a presentation can help you to remember what it is you've read on the big night. This is
supposed to be a result of slightly higher levels of cortisone though again moderation is key
as levels of cortisone that are too high have been shown to cause damage to the hippocampus.
It's Physically Enhancing
As well as improving your brain function, stress can also increase your physical performance
and endurance. This is because it causes the release of adrenaline which speeds up your heart
rate and so your metabolism. This can then result in increased reactions and reflexes, while
also acting as a painkiller meaning that you can have better endurance. This may have once
helped us to run for longer when being chances, but today it might help us in a physical
confrontation, or during a sporting event. A bit of stress for an athlete then is a great thing.
Adrenaline can also help to fight tiredness and fatigue.
This also shows another distinction between good stress and bad stress however and that is
that 'good' stress should be acute and not something that exists over a prolonged period. This
is because an increased heart rate and lack of tiredness or pain might increase your endurance
over short amounts of time, but over a long period of time the stress to the body can be too
great and damage your immune system/cause heart problems.
How to Harness Stress
This is all very good and well, but it doesn't distract from the fact that in an interview or
before giving a speech stress can be enough to turn you into a nervous wreck and have you
shaking and stuttering and unable to perform optimally. The trick then is in these situations to
try and harness that nervous energy and to direct it into something a little more positive and
effective. One way to do this is to try and 'gee' yourself up in order to make sure that when
you have a 'fight or flight' response you are more suited to the former rather than the latter.
Try listening to some up-beat and positive music, use positive affirmations, or try doing a bit
of a workout. This will help to psych you up and rather than trying to suppress the stress you
can instead embrace it and use it to motivate you to success.
When Eustress Becomes Stress
In some cases though you will want to control stress particularly when it starts to become
unhealthy. As mentioned stress that lasts for very prolonged periods can begin to take a
serious toll on your immune system and on your heart and this can cause you to get ill and
put you at risk of high blood pressure and other problems.
In these scenarios you need to address your stress and that means finding ways to bring it
under control both as it arises and over time. If you are suffering chronic stress then seeing a
therapist, or trying to address the causes of your stress is important. Meanwhile for short term
stress, you may want to try meditation or other relaxation techniques to try and bring your
pulse back under control.
Stressful Events
When we think of stressful events we tend to think of examples such as exams in our youth,
and now perhaps things like interviews or speeches. This is partly why we think of stress as
entirely a bad thing. However in the right circumstances stress can be perceived as the 'spice
of life' and can be what creates challenge, suspense and excitement. For instance some of the
most important and happiest moments of your life were probably also very stressful your
first day at work, your marriage, your first child (and any subsequent children), going
traveling, moving home... all of them were highly stressful but this was just because they
represented exciting positive life changes. A complete lack of stress in your life might
suggest that you haven't had any such major changes in your life and that might suggest
likewise that you are not challenged in your life and not moving forward.

http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/15537/1/The-Positive-Effect
The Importance of Eustress:
Rethinking How We Look at Stress
By Jody Smith HERWriter

michaeljung/Fotolia

Even good things will cause your body to go through its stress response paces.
Healthy stress is also known as eustress.

What is Eustress?
Eustress results from positive situations and opportunities, clinical psychologist
Melanie Greenberg, Ph.D. said in an article on Psychology Today's website. And
unlike the sometimes harrowing aftermath of bad stress or distress, you will be more
likely to experience relief, pleasure and excitement if you are experiencing eustress
or happy stress.

According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary website, eustress is "a positive form of

stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance, and emotional
well-being."
When The Stress Response Goes On for Too Long
Where stress becomes bad, even if it started out as eustress, is when it is so
prolonged that the body's resources become depleted, and we aren't able to move
from fight-or-flight to the rest-and-recovery mode. Too much stress for too long can
lead to high blood pressure, breathing can become faster, and overall tension may
increase.

Some deal with chronic stress by eating too much, or not enough. Others drink,
smoke or lean on other vices. Sleeping problems, digestive problems, and
compromised immune systems are just a few of the other possible consequence of a
life without rest or recovery.

The Upside of the Stress Response

The stress response is of course often associated with scares, and threatening
situations, but if you can separate the body's reactions from the fear, some of them
are not bad.

Your heart rate, and the intensity of each contraction, spikes. This causes more
oxygen to be moved more quickly through your body, giving you more energy and
leaving you more able to tackle the challenges in front of you.

Your pituitary gland steps up. It ships out stress hormones, one of which is oxytocin
(the bonding hormone). Your ability to be courageous, empathetic, and intuitive
expands. Your mood is elevated and you are more responsive to social
commitments and relationships.

Your adrenal glands release adrenaline, cortisol and DHEA.

Adrenalin and cortisol enable you to deal more effectively with stress. DHEA makes
recovering after stress an easier transition.

Your senses are sharpened like Superman's ... well, maybe not quite like
Superman's. But you are more alert, and more on top of your game, better able to
wield some control over the situation. You are sharper, noticing what's around you
more than usual. Your eyes let in more light due to greater pupil dilation. Your
hearing becomes more acute.

Your gut, specifically your enteric nervous system reacts to stress hormones. You
may have gentle butterflies of anticipation.
Rest and Recovery
Having your senses and abilities amp up to be equal to an unusual situation is
actually something we perhaps don't appreciate enough. To be able to stretch and
act out of a place of strength and increased stamina helps us roll with the stressors,
both good and bad, in our lives.

When the stressors never seem to let up, that's when the deterioration on the mind,
body and emotions can take a toll.

The idea that we can live without stress, or that we should aspire to do this, is
unrealistic. Instead, it might be more useful to learn new and better coping
mechanisms to move out of fight-or-flight and into rest-and-recovery as quickly as
possible.

Sources:
Rethinking the Way We Look at Stress. Psychologytoday.com. Retrieved Jan. 24,
2016.
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-mindful-self-express/201404/ret...
Definition of eustress. Merrian-webster.com. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2016.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/eustress
Eustress vs Distress. Brocku.ca. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2016.
https://www.brocku.ca/health-services/health-education/stress/eustress-d...
Why stress can be good for you no, really. Thestar.com. Retrieved Jan. 24, 2016.
http://www.thestar.com/life/2015/06/02/why-stress-can-be-good-for-you-no...
Visit Jody's website at http://www.ncubator.ca
Reviewed January 25, 2016
by Michele Blacksberg RN

http://www.empowher.com/stress/content/importance-eustress-rethinking-how-we-look-
stress?page=0,1
Stress as a positive: Recent research that
suggests it has benefits
Posted by: Dani Grodsky September 4, 2013 at 1:13 pm PDT

Aerialist Nik Wallenda looks down and sees the 1,500-foot drop to the bottom of the Grand
Canyon below him. All that stands between him and a lethal landing is the 2-inch tightrope
that he has decided to traverse on camera, the moment being broadcast around the world on
live television. If most people were to rank the most stressful events of their life, this would
very likely be near the top of the list. But Wallenda thrives on stress of this magnitude.

In June, Wallenda balanced his way across a quarter-mile gap in the Grand Canyon. And with
his feet firmly back on the ground, he shared how he is able to perform stunts like this: by
seeing the physical manifestations of stress as positives. Yes, the body will start to shake on
the tightrope. But this is not a sign of weakness; it is instead a natural response that is
preparing him for what is to come. In moderate amounts and perhaps this comes with
decades of training stress can be helpful in willing strength and focus when it is needed
most.

In todays talk, given at TED2013, health psychologist Kelly McGonigal reveals a similar
approach to stress. She shares a fascinating idea: that the harmful effects of stress may be a
consequence of our perception that it is bad for our health.
Can changing how you think about stress make you healthier? Here the science says yes,
says McGonigal. Your heart might be pounding, you may be breathing faster but what if
you viewed them as signs that your body was energized and its preparing you to meet this
challenge.

McGonigal says that a paradigm shift when it comes to stress could literally be life saving.
Inthis talk, she shares some of the research behind her conclusion. Below, weve rounded up
some of the studies she mentioned, as well as some further research that hints at some
surprising upsides of stress.

Stress may actually be correlated with longevityif a person doesnt view it as a

negative

The study: Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison asked almost 29,000 people
to rate their level of stress over the past year as well as how much they believed this stress
influenced their health a little, a moderate amount or a lot. Over the next eight years,
public death records were used to record the passing of any subjects.

The findings: People who reported having high levels of stress and who believed stress had a
large impact on their health had a whopping 43% increased risk of death. On the other hand,
those that experienced a lot of stress but did not perceive its effects as negative were amongst
the least likely to die as compared to all other participants in the study.
Further reading: Check out this paper, Does the perception that stress affects health
matter? And these two similar studies back up the idea: (1) Increased risk of coronary heart
disease among individuals reporting adverse impact of stress on their health: the Whitehall II
prospective cohort study (2) Meta-analysis of perceived stress and its association with
incident coronary heart disease.

A possible antidote to negative effects of stress: giving to others

The study: Lead author Michael J. Poulin of the University of Buffalo and his team
interviewed almost 850 people, ages 34-93, living in Detroit, Michigan. Participants were
asked to report stressful events they had encountered in the past year and how much, in the
same time period, that they had assisted others. Deaths that occurred within the group in the
next five years were tracked using obituaries and public death records.

The findings: Every major stress event increased an individuals risk of death by 30%. But,
overall, this increase was erased for those who reported high rates of helping others, even if
they additionally dealt with a lot of stress. The evidence suggests that giving to others
significantly reduces stress-induced mortality.

Further reading: Giving to others and the association between stress and mortality

Moderate stress can lead to cell growth in the brains learning centers

The study: In this 2013 study out of University of California, Berkeley, adult rats were
immobilized in a small space for three hours or left unchanged. Two days and then two
weeks later, the rats were given a fear-conditioning test, which evaluates the rats freezing or
avoidance behavior when in a context that last lead to a negative consequence such as a
shock. The measure is known as fear extinction memory.

The findings: The immobilized rats showed an increased level of the stress hormone
corticosterone (the rat equivalent of cortisol in humans) as well as an increased growth of
neural stem cells in their hippocampus, an important learning center of the brain. As
compared to the control group, these rats had similar results on the fear extinction memory
test given two days after the initial stressor, but showed significant improvement on the test
after two weeks. The authors put fourth that these newly proliferated cells, after taking
multiple days to integrate to fullest capacity, helped in learning at this improved level.
Overall, it suggests that moderate levels of stress enhanced neural function and learning.

Further reading: Acute stress enhances adult rate hippocampal neurogenesis and activation
of newborn neurons via secreted astrocytic FGF2

Stress can summon helper hormones to vulnerable areas

The study: A small amount of stress has previously been found to initiate the redistribution
of immune cells, which is thought to aid in survival by sending protection where stress is
occurring. Researchers at Stanford University set out to learn more about the shifting levels
of these cells, like white blood cells, over time and how different stress hormones trigger the
response. Rats were either restrained for a random period from two minutes to two hours or
injected with stress hormones (epinephrine and corticoterone) to mimic the effects of such an
event. Blood samples were collected throughout.

The findings: The restraint experience and the injection brought on consistent patterns of
mobilization in the rats. For example, after the actual stressor, the concentration of a majority
of immune cell types monitored followed a pattern of increase and then subsequent decrease
in the rats blood. Further, specific hormones stimulated unique reactions in a subpopulation
of immune cells. By understanding this system, researchers hope to crack the code that would
predict which hormone to administer in order to stimulate immune cell aggregation in a
specific vulnerable region, just as the body does naturally in response to acute stress.

Further reading: Read the study, Stress-induced redistribution of immune cellsfrom

barracks to boulevards to battlefields: a tale of three hormones. And watch the TEDx Talk
from the lead author called The positive effects of stress.
Stress can induce both good and bad habits

The study: Do you bite your nails, change your eating habits or fall back into addictive
dependencies when you are stressed? It is commonly thought that the pressures and anxieties
of life are a major initiator of such bad habits. Scientists from the University of California, in
the first of five experiments, asked 65 students to record what section of the newspaper they
read and what they ate for breakfast over a period of several weeks. Reports for the first three
weeks were used to determine habits to then compare data from the next four, a time when
the presence of exams lead to depleted willpower. A separate group of students rated
breakfast and newspaper options on a scale based on desirability (with the most desirable
being the goal), specifically based on which were healthier or more educational, respectively.

The findings: By comparing the students choices in more and less stressful periods to the
more desirable actions, it was observed that when willpower is depleted, people often return
to their habits regardless of its effect on reaching a goal. Importantly, however, the action that
became repeated for each individual could be either harmful or helpful it simply depended
on whether it sincerely is a natural tendency. This suggests that breaking a bad habit is most
successful when more willpower is maintained, but that times of less control may not be so
bad if there are some good habits to fall back on.

Further reading: How do people adhere to goals when willpower is low? The profits (and
pitfalls) of strong habits

A stress-is-enhancing mindset may have lasting effects

The study: Employees at a financial institution were asked to take a test on their stress
mindset before and after watching three videos over the course of a week that either
presented stress as enhancing or harmful. In a second study, students who had previously
taken a survey on their stress mindset were told in class that five of them would be randomly
selected to give a speech that would also be videotaped. For each student, mouth swabs were
taken to measure cortisol levels. Each was also asked to decide, if chosen to speak, whether
or not they would receive feedback from their peers and business school experts who watched
the footage.
The findings: In the first study, not only were many people influenced by the message of the
videos. Those that viewed the video that approached stress as enhancing reported better work
performance as well as less psychological complications. As for the students, those who
naturally saw stress as helpful had a more moderate cortisol response upon hearing about the
speech possibility and they were more likely to request feedback.

Further reading: Rethinking stress: the role of mindsets in determining the stress response

http://blog.ted.com/could-stress-be-good-for-you-recent-research-that-suggests-it-has-
benefits/