Could Stress Actually Be Good?
New Research May Change How You Think About Stress
Most of us know that stress is bad for us. It’s epidemic, costing business and industry in the US $300 billion annually (American Psychological Association). Nearly 80% of all doctors’ visits are stress-related.
And yet new research has come out that says stress may actually be good for you, in a few specific ways.
Dr. Kelly McGonigal of Stanford, in her widely viewed TED talk on stress, points to research that tracked 30,000 Americans over 8 years and found that much of how you react to stress has to do with how you view stress. If you view stress as negative and bad for you, you are more likely to get sick. But if you view stress as something that strengthens you, energizes your body and makes you feel more alive, you will react better to stress.
A University of Wisconsin-Madison study found that people who experienced high levels of stress but did not think it was harmful thrived. Apparently, your perception of stress makes a huge difference in its impact on your body. This is the same principle behind the Regulation element of the Leadership Resilience System: the nervous system responds to your interpretation of a moment as much as it responds to the moment itself.
Another positive result of stress is that it makes you more social, according to a 2012 study at the University of Freiburg. When you are stressed, your body releases oxytocin, a hormone that naturally pushes you to reach out and connect with others rather than withdraw.
Key Takeaways
- How you interpret stress changes how your body responds to it. Viewing stress as harmful correlates with worse health outcomes.
- People who experience high stress but do not believe it is harmful to them tend to thrive rather than decline.
- Stress can prompt connection, not just withdrawal. The body’s stress response includes a push toward reaching out to others.
- Reframing stress as fuel, not just a threat, is a practical resilience skill leaders can build deliberately.
What Does This Mean for You?
Start viewing stress as something that makes you stronger and more resilient. When you are stressed, look at the upside. What did you learn from it? What can you do differently? Your perception can make a huge impact on how stress affects you.
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If you want to build this kind of mindset deliberately rather than relying on willpower in the moment, that is exactly the work behind Leadership Resilience Coaching. For more practical, research backed tools, see Stress Management Strategies.
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