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View stress as a ‘challenge’ and it will have a major effect on your health
Viewing stressful situations as a challenge opposed to a ‘threat’ can have major benefits to your physical and mental health, according to a new study.
Whether it’s from school, work, or home life; stress is a constant and frustrating part of our day-to-day lives, with each of us dealing with it in our own unique way. However, the impact on our minds and bodies can be helped with a fresh perspective; viewing stressful situations as a challenge can bring vital health benefits for long-term worriers and stress-heads alike.
How you view stressful situations changes the way your body reacts
Instead of viewing stress as a threat to your well-being, you should try to perceive stressful situations as challenges to overcome; over time, youll see major benefits to both your physical and mental health.
Thats the recommendation of scientists from the University of Bath, who recently published a fascinating new article in the Journal of Stress and Health about how your perspective can lead to both health benefits and consequences.
Co-author Dr. Lee J. Moore explained how weve speculated for the past 15 years that people who repeatedly believe they don’t have the resources to cope in stressful situations are putting their health at risk, but that theory had never been properly tested beyond anecdotal evidence. Until now.
To study the link between our perceptions of stressful situations and the impact on our health, the team recruited 395 willing participants who completed various surveys on how they view stress within their work and/or personal lives.
We found a convincing link between mental and physical ill-health, and the way a person typically views stressful situations,” revealed Dr Moore.
“The more you’re able to appraise [appreciate the value of] a stressful situation as a challenge, the more likely you are to report good health and wellbeing.”
To put it in laymans terms, if you are faced with stressful situations and constantly think of them as a direct threat to your own well-being, you are more likely to suffer physical and mental health consequences.
These can range from experiencing more headaches and sleepless nights to increased cold and flu symptoms, as well as heightened rates of anxiety or depression.
However, if you get into the mindset of viewing stress as challenges or tests to overcome, youll see a notable boost to both your physical immune system and mental health status.
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The hope is that this research can help doctors to identify those people who are more at risk of stress-related health problems and that in turn, we can help teach those people better coping strategies in the long-term.
Most people will fluctuate in the way they appraise a situation, depending on the details of the specific situation, however, some people are far more likely to appraise all stressful situations as a threat, and this study shows that this tendency is associated with poorer health and wellbeing.”
So, if you find yourself feeling overwhelmed by stressful situations, working on changing your perspective can have an enormous impact on both your physical and mental health. It may take time, but reducing potential illnesses and anxiety is always a worthwhile end goal.
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The research was conducted by scientists from the UKs University of Bath, with a link to the full article here. Whilst all 395 participants involved were all sports performers, the researchers believe that their results apply equally to non-athletes, and those working in a professional environment.
