Healthy Stress Responses When You Feel Overwhelmed

You’ve been told that stress is a horrible enemy, ready to rob you of your peace of mind, and even attack your health. However, before you go through your next stressful situation, consider a new perspective that might actually turn your stress from foe to friend.

Physical Response

A study that was conducted on 30,000 adults over an eight-year time span changed a lot of minds in the world of psychology. The study examined the relationship between stress and the mortality rates of the participants using public death records. The research found that people with high stress levels in the past year had a 43% increased risk of dying during the study.

However, the rest of the findings were unexpected. Participants who faced significant stress but did not view it as harmful had the lowest risk of early death, even lower than those with minimal stress.

The findings suggest that stress itself is not inherently dangerous, but your perception of it can determine its impact on your health. Your pounding heart as you await results? That’s just your body preparing for action. Your quickened breath before the big meeting? That’s your body sending more oxygen to your brain. When you start to view your stress response as a God created tool, and not a threat, everything changes.

Healthy Stress Responses

According to a Harvard study, people with a healthier and more positive mindset toward stress often experience what’s called the “challenge response.” This reaction still affects the cardiovascular system, but instead of tightening blood vessels and increasing inflammation like the typical stress response, a state, which if prolonged, can be linked to cardiovascular issues, it allows for better blood flow.

This reaction is similar to the body’s response to exercise, joy, or courage. Instead of causing a negative effect on your body, this response actually helps you stay focused, energized, and confident. This reaction explains why some people feel excited rather than panicking under pressure.

Another more positive stress response, “tend and befriend,” can also be triggered with a mindset shift. Tend and befriend is a social coping strategy that triggers you to seek out others for support and comfort in times of threat.  This response can often be seen during major tragedies, such as 9/11 or a natural disaster.

People instinctively reached out to loved ones or found ways to support their community. Instead of allowing stress to further damage them, those with the tend and befriend mindset used stress to bond them together. When this response is activated, it releases oxytocin, a hormone that strengthens social bonds and builds resilience within the people involved.

How to Befriend Your Stress

Knowing that stress doesn’t have to be viewed as an insidious enemy is one thing but learning how to harness this information in a practical way is another. The good news? You have the power to shift your mindset and tap into these healthier stress responses. God created your mind to be beautifully complex, capable of embracing new ideas and promoting new responses. So how can you reframe stress to work for you?

Challenge Response:

• When your heart starts to race before a big event, remind yourself that this is just the way God created your body to gear up and give you more energy.
• If you’re feeling nervous, don’t fear it. Instead, ask yourself if you’re feeling this way because you’re passionate about what you’re doing. That connection to your values can help turn stress into motivation.

Tend and Befriend:

• If you’re feeling overwhelmed, do something kind for someone else. A small act of generosity can trigger a mental boost.
• Strengthen your social networks because caring for others increases your own resilience.
• Keep the bigger picture in mind. Stuck in traffic? Remember that you’re there because you’re taking your child to school, which is a reflection of your love and commitment as a parent.
• Don’t pretend that stress doesn’t exist. Ask yourself what you’re learning from it and how it can make you stronger. Look for ways to connect your stress to something positive like social connections or a deeper connection with God.

Seeking God, Seeking Others

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but your mental and physical response to it is completely within your control. Turn your pessimism, fear, and anxiety over to God. Let Him help you change your relationship with stress. View the pounding heart and sweaty palms as the tools that God has created to help you deal with the stress you’re facing, rather than the symptom and cause of a greater issue.

Also, make a determined effort to reach out to others when you feel overwhelmed. Let your stress draw you closer to important people in your life, rather than isolate you. You may have trusted allies you can turn to during stressful moments. However, it is important to seek professional help from a Christian counselor. Having a professional therapist in your corner can make all the difference in how you process stress.

Your Pal, Stress

Making subtle shifts in your mindset and reaching out to God and others, can help you view stress as a tool rather than a burden. What’s even better is that your physical body will not experience the destruction of stress if you learn to manage your perspective. Plus, your relationship with God and others will blossom. Isn’t it just like God to turn everything, even our stress, into our benefit?

If you are ready for that next step of working with a Christian therapist, reach out to our offices today. We will match you with a therapist on our team that would make a good fit. Do not hesitate to call our offices today.