#collegestresslife
- sherilynmeier
- Aug 13, 2021
- 2 min read
For our whole lives, we have been taught that "stress is bad for you." We go through school, complaining about the amount of term papers, homework, and stress we recieve from them. At the end of the school year, most of us are exhausted, malnourished, and sleep-deprived, all because of the stress we receive. Wrong! What if stress is only harmful if we believe it is?
Psychologist, Kelly McGonigal, helps prove this theory in a TedTalk. She prefaces her idea with if people are taught to see stress as a good thing, there would be more positive outcomes. A study tracked 30,000 adults, and they asked two questions; "what amount of stress did you feel this year? and do you believe stress is harmful for your health (McGonigal)?"
After looking at public death records, they found that those who experienced a high amount of stressed had a 43% increase of dying, but it was only "true to those who believed that stress was harmful for their health" (McGonial). In fact, the ones who believed that stress was beneficial did not have any increase of risk of death. McGonial explained a study that those who believed stress was beneficial had their heart racing like normal, but their heart blood vessels were not constricting like those who believed otherwise. In fact, she compared this action of the blood vessels to the feeling of happiness! Throughout her lecture, she also revealed one last study that was particularly eye-opening. Throughout 1,000 older adults, even in the face of major stress, it was found that those who spent their time caring for others had a less of chance of death (McGonial)! This action of caring for others released a chemical called oxytocin, being called the "hugging hormone," it is one of the most popular and "feel-good" hormones in the business!
What can we conclude from this information? Well, I know that for myself, I have learned a few things.
Stress is only harmful if we believe that it is.
Use stress to your advantage.
Make sure to prioritize friends and family even in the midst of a stressful academic or emotional time.
I know it is soooo hard to not forget our friends and family in the midst of finals, but after listening to this video after a "break" in a class, it has helped me tremendously. We are naturally social creatures. Therefore, we need interactions like these in our hardest eras. This being said, remember your people. Remember those who love and care for you this school year.
Shey signing off! Remember to live life to the fullest! We are here to be a blessing to others!
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