Author: Erika Kawamura, Psy.D
Stress is commonly associated with a negative connotation, but that is not always the case. In fact, it is a normal and functional part of life. In essence, stress is a person’s perception of whether one can meet the demands one is confronted by. Brief periods of stress can motivate a person to take action, perform well on a task or activity, work toward achieving their desired goals, adapt to changes that are desirable or chosen (e.g. new job, moving, having a baby, getting married), or make quick decisions or actions to avoid dangers or threats. These types of stress are referred to as “eustress,” or optimal levels of stress, and commonly related to peak performance or being in the “flow.” The first step to stress management is checking-in with yourself and gaining self-awareness of where your stress level lies so you can work toward managing it more effectively and in a healthy way; ideally, the goal is to respond when you start to notice your stress creeping up in the earlier stages instead of reacting when you suddenly realized that it compounded to detrimental levels.
One way to conceptualize stress and its impact on your emotional and physical health is on a bell curve from Open University that they adopted from the Yerkes-Dodson Law, which is a psychological principle that suggests that moderate levels of stress can facilitate better performance whereas excessive or low levels of stress can impair performance:
As you can see from the graph, too little stress is not necessarily desirable either. While these experiences may be welcomed in certain times, such as carving out time to recharge at the end of the day or unplugging during a vacation on a tropical island, remaining in the “underload” state for a prolonged period can lead to boredom, apathy, lack of motivation, and inactivity.
On the other hand, too much stress or in more severe cases that can lead to burnout or even “breakdown,” leads to various physical, emotional, and mental consequences, such as those listed in the above graph. When you reflect on the times when you were starting to feel overwhelmed and your stress becoming moderate to moderate-high level, what have been the typical signs of your stress reactions? Tired? Difficulty relaxing or unwinding? Feeling physically and emotionally tense? Easily irritated, annoyed, or cranky? Feeling on edge, fight/flight or “adrenaline rush” feeling? What about those times when that stress level rose to a higher level and/or became chronic where the “end” of the source of stress seemed uncertain? Do you tend to start to feel physically, mentally, and emotionally drained? Feeling as though you’re going through the motions, or feeling like a shell? Feeling numb or lack of care? Isolating yourself and/or difficulty feeling joy or interest? Experiencing more frequent physical symptoms, such as headaches, migraines, GI issues, or elevated blood pressure?
Being aware of your personal set of stress reactions that you typically experience when your stress level is in the moderate/moderate-high level vs high and/or chronic level can serve as important red flags to encourage you to pause and incorporate healthy strategies to manage your stressors and stress reactions.
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