{"id":39800,"date":"2016-05-02T14:12:26","date_gmt":"2016-05-02T18:12:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/?p=39800"},"modified":"2021-05-17T05:00:40","modified_gmt":"2021-05-17T09:00:40","slug":"how-to-deal-with-stress-symptoms-benefits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/lifestyle\/how-to-deal-with-stress-symptoms-benefits\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Deal with Stress and Make It Work in Your Favor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"How
Photo: Pond5<\/a><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From wrecking your workouts<\/a> to sabotaging your sleep<\/a>, stress can wreak havoc on your life. But it can also be energizing, motivating and life changing \u2014 if you embrace it. That\u2019s the theory behind a new book called The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You and How to Get Good At It,<\/em><\/a> by Kelly McGonigal, PhD, a lecturer at Stanford University. Based on a course McGonigal teaches called the New Science of Stress, the book offers loads of stress-related research, along with mental exercises and personal stories to present a compelling argument that stress may not be so bad. \u201cIt\u2019s about seeing stress as a challenge rather than a threat,\u201d McGonigal says.<\/p>\n

She didn\u2019t always see it that way, though. \u201cI made a career out of telling people stress is the enemy and they need to reduce it,\u201d says McGonigal. But that all changed when she came across an intriguing study<\/a> published in 2012. It shows that, yes, stress increased participants\u2019 mortality. But there was one major catch: Stress only<\/em> increased mortality when people believed it was harmful to their health. \u201cWhen people had a lot of stress in their lives and didn’t hold that view, they seemed to be protected against mortality,\u201d says McGonigal.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>6 Scenarios That Stress You Out But Shouldn\u2019t<\/a><\/p>\n

If you sprint away from stressful situations like you\u2019re gunning for a medal, you probably see stress as a threat. \u201cWhen you view stress as inherently harmful, you shy away from things that are difficult and meaningful, whether that\u2019s repairing a relationship<\/a> or seeking out a promotion,\u201d says McGonigal.<\/p>\n

If, on the other hand, you welcome stress, you\u2019ll see it as an opportunity to learn and grow. Even better: Viewing stressors in a positive light may help you feel like you can overcome it. \u201cStudies show that people who think of stress this way are more likely to feel like they have the resources to handle it, such as self-efficacy and self-confidence,\u201d says McGonigal.<\/p>\n

How Do You Get Good at Stress?<\/strong> <\/strong><\/h3>\n

If you\u2019re thinking, \u201cOK, this is all well and good, but how do I actually<\/em> change my mind about stress?\u201d we don\u2019t blame you. The cultural thinking about stress is so deeply ingrained that it can be hard to shake loose, but McGonigal offers a few tips:<\/p>\n

1. Repeat This Phrase: \u201cI\u2019m Excited\u201d
\n<\/strong>When you start stressing, call on a motivating mantra. \u201cTell yourself you\u2019re excited,\u201d says McGonigal. In one study cited by McGonigal, researchers put participants through stressful situations, like mock job interviews, and evaluated their bodies\u2019 responses. Before the interviews, each participant watched one of two videos about stress. One presented stress as an \u201cenhancing\u201d chance to learn and grow, and as something that could be helpful to job performance<\/a>. The other video claimed that stress was more debilitating to both health and work-related performance than people thought. The purpose: To analyze how the videos affected participants\u2019 levels of cortisol and dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), two stress hormones.<\/p>\n

“People who had experienced the most stressful events were also the most likely to think they led meaningful lives.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Neither video affected levels of cortisol, which is associated with things like impaired immune function and depression when it\u2019s present in higher levels, says McGonigal. It was only when they did the mock interviews that cortisol levels went up. But when participants watched the video that presented stress as a positive thing, their brains released more DHEA, which can help reduce your risk of anxiety, depression, and alleviate whole host of other things that higher levels of cortisol (aka: stress) can bring about. Yup, positivity may literally change the way stress hormones react in your brain.<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>8 Signs You\u2019re Way Too Stressed (and How to Deal)<\/a><\/p>\n

2. Keep Your Eye on the Prize
\n<\/strong>When you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed, thinking of the long-term benefits of your situation might help. \u201cYou can deal with stressful life experiences with strength from past ones,\u201d says McGonigal. One study<\/a> out of Hope College showed that after two minutes of thinking of the positive outcomes of a tough experience, participants felt happier and more in control of their lives. So when you\u2019re freaking out about a presentation because you\u2019re certain you\u2019ll bomb, remember that you\u2019ll learn from the experience, no matter how terrible or awesome.<\/p>\n

3. Make a Stress Playlist
\n<\/strong>A group fitness instructor on the side, McGonigal loves making playlists<\/a> to help her power past rough patches \u2014 just like she does to help her get through a workout. \u201cExercise<\/a> is a way of practicing being good at stress. It\u2019s uncomfortable, but there\u2019s also the payoff,\u201d says McGonigal. Create a list of songs that would hype you up if you were an Olympic athlete<\/a> about to compete. \u201cIn the moment, when you\u2019re feeling overwhelmed by stress, put on one of those songs. Research shows music can shift the physiology of your stress response and increase your confidence,\u201d says McGonigal. Lady Gaga, anyone?<\/p>\n

RELATED: <\/strong>Is Your Race Training Giving You Anxiety?<\/a><\/p>\n

4. Remember That Stress = Meaning
\n<\/strong>Even though stress is scary, it helps make life more worthwhile. \u201cOne study<\/a> found that people who have meaningful lives also experience more stress, any way you want to measure it,\u201d says McGonigal. Researchers let participants define \u201cmeaning\u201d however they liked, but summed it up as a life with \u201cpurpose and value.\u201d The study authors found that people who had experienced the most stressful events were also the most likely to think they led meaningful lives. Sure, you could try to completely eradicate stress from your life, but you\u2019d also be erasing most of what\u2019s meaningful along with it. Instead, open your arms, embrace stress, and use it to your benefit.<\/p>\n

Originally posted May 2015. Updated May 2016. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You always thought stress was your enemy, but what if it\u2019s not? A new book argues that if you can embrace stress, you can make it work in your favor. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":62,"featured_media":39803,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,12,15],"tags":[159,187,282,341,360],"class_list":["post-39800","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle","category-mental-health","category-stress","tag-anxiety","tag-happiness","tag-stress","tag-tax1living-well","tag-tax2stress-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39800","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/62"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39800"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39800\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39803"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39800"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39800"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyburn.com\/life\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39800"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}