Good Stress, Bad Stress

How do you tell the difference between good stress

and bad?

Feeling stressed can feel perfectly normal, especially during exam time.
You might notice that sometimes being stressed-out motivates you to
focus on your work, yet at other times, you feel incredibly overwhelmed
and can’t concentrate on anything. While stress affects everyone in
different ways, there are two major types of stress: stress that’s
beneficial and motivating — good stress — and stress that causes
anxiety and even health problems — bad stress. Here’s more on the
benefits and side effects of stress and how to tell if you’re experiencing
too much stress.

Benefit of Stress

According to experts, stress is a burst of energy that basically advises

you on what to do. In small doses, stress has many advantages. For
instance, stress can help you meet daily challenges and motivates you
to reach your goals. In fact, stress can help you accomplish tasks more
efficiently. It can even boost memory.

Stress is also a vital warning system, producing the fight-or-flight

response. When the brain perceives some kind of stress, it starts
flooding the body with chemicals like epinephrine, norepinephrine and
cortisol. This creates a variety of reactions such as an increase in blood
pressure and heart rate. Plus, the senses suddenly have a laser-like
focus so you can avoid physically stressful situations — such as jumping
away from a moving car — and be safe.

In addition, there are various health benefits with a little bit of stress.
Researchers believe that some stress can help to fortify the immune
system. For instance, stress can improve how your heart works and
protect your body from infection. In one study, individuals who
experienced moderate levels of stress before surgery were able to
recover faster than individuals who had low or high levels.

Side Effects of Stress

Stress is key for survival, but too much stress can be detrimental.
Emotional stress that stays around for weeks or months can weaken the
immune system and cause high blood pressure, fatigue, depression,
anxiety and even heart disease. In particular, too much epinephrine can
be harmful to your heart. It can change the arteries and how their cells
are able to regenerate.

Signals of Too Much Stress

It may be tough to tell when you’re experiencing good or bad stress, but
there are important ways that your body lets you know that you’re
struggling with too much stress. Watch out for the following warning
signs:

• Inability to concentrate or complete tasks

• Get sick more often with colds
• Body aches
• Other illnesses like autoimmune diseases flare up
• Headaches
• Irritability
• Trouble falling sleeping or staying awake
• Changes in appetite
• More angry or anxious than usual

What You Can Do

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but you can improve the way you
respond to stress and avoid or change some of the situations that create
negative stress.

Managing Stress
Helpful tips on how to manage every day stress.

College can be a stressful time for anyone. Some stress pushes you to
meet goals by studying more, working harder or sticking with a
challenging task. But sometimes stress reaches an unhealthy level that
can prevent you from functioning well and meeting your goals. Recent
research from The Jed Foundation and mtvU found that over half of all
college students had been, at times, so stressed that they couldn’t
function during the last year. Your health, school performance and social
life can all suffer when stress becomes too much to handle. That’s
because stress can affect your mood and ability to think clearly. It can
also weaken your immune system and make you more susceptible to
getting sick.

Chronic stress can lead to — or worsen — serious health problems,

including high blood pressure, autoimmune illnesses, digestive issues,
depression and anxiety. So it’s important to manage stress, prevent
negative stress levels and speak up if you are feeling overwhelmed.
Here are some tips for managing stress while in college:

• Watch out for signs of stress overload. Symptoms of too much

stress can be physical, emotional, mental and behavioral. While
everyone is different, some common signs are: memory problems,
trouble concentrating, racing thoughts, irritability, anger, sadness,
headaches, frequent colds and changes in sleep or appetite.

• Know your stress triggers. Stress and its triggers are different for
everyone. Certain people, places or situations might produce high levels
of stress for you. Think about what causes you stress, and brainstorm
solutions. If public speaking or presentations make you stressed, start
researching early and practice several times. If there are friends or social
situations that cause extreme stress, you may want to avoid them when
you are already feeling tense or overwhelmed.

• Exercise. All forms of exercise reduce stress hormones, flood the body
with feel-good endorphins, improve mood, boost energy and provide a
healthy distraction from your dilemmas. Plus, exercise may make you
less susceptible to stress in the long run. Find physical activities that you
enjoy and try to devote about 30 minutes to them each day.

• Relax. While it’s impossible to eliminate all negative stress from your
life, you can control the way you react to stress. Your body’s natural
fight-or-flight response can take its toll. When you’re faced with a
stressful situation that your mind perceives as a threat, it sends various
chemicals, like adrenaline and cortisol, throughout your body. As a
result, heart rate and breathing speeds up and your digestion slows
down. This tires out the body.

Relaxation techniques are a huge help in calming you down, boosting

mood and fighting illness. Try a variety of techniques — like yoga,
breathing exercises, meditation and visualization — to see what works
for you, and schedule a relaxation break every day.

• Manage your time well. Time can seem like a luxury in college, but
there are various ways to manage it effectively. First, focus on one task
at a time. Multitasking rarely works. Jot down everything you need to do
in a calendar or a task management app/program, prioritize your list and
break projects into single steps or actions.

• Be realistic. Pulling yourself in different directions will only stress you

out, so try not to over-commit yourself or do extracurricular activities
when you’re super busy with school.

• Curb your caffeine. Caffeine might help you study in the short term,
but it interrupts sleep and makes you more anxious, tense and jittery.
This obviously ups your stress level. Try and drink no more than one
caffeinated beverage a day.

• Don’t self-medicate. Some students drink, take drugs, smoke and use
other unhealthy behaviors to cope with stress. However, these
behaviors can exacerbate stress by negatively affecting your mood and
health.

• Reach out. If you’re stressed out, talk to your friends and family. If you
feel like you can’t handle the stress on your own, schedule an
appointment with a counselor on campus.

Stress and Stress Management.

Key Vocabulary

Stress is an unpleasant state of emotional and physiological arousal that

people experience in situations that they perceive as dangerous or
threatening to their well-being. The word stress means different things to
different people.

Some people define stress as events or situations that cause them to

feel tension, pressure, or negative emotions such as anxiety and anger. Others
view stress as the response to these situations.
This response includes physiological changes -such as increased heart
rate and muscle tension- as well as emotional and behavioural changes.

However, most psychologists regard stress as a process involving a person's

interpretation and response to a threatening event.

Stress is a common experience. We may feel stress when we are very busy, have
important deadlines to meet, or have too little time to finish all of our tasks.

Often people experience stress because of problems at work or in social

relationships, such as a poor evaluation by a supervisor or an argument with a
friend.

Some people may be particularly vulnerable to stress in situations involving the

threat of failure or personal humiliation. Others have extreme fears of objects
or things associated with physical threats -such as snakes, illness, storms, or
flying in an airplane- and become stressed when they encounter or think about
these perceived threats.

Major life events, such as the death of a loved one, can cause severe stress.

A person who is stressed typically has anxious thoughts and difficulty

concentrating or remembering. Stress can also change outward behaviour.
Teeth clenching, hand wringing, pacing, nail biting, and heavy breathing are
common signs of stress.

People also feel physically different when they are stressed. Butterflies in the
stomach, cold hands and feet, dry mouth, and increased heart rate are all
physiological effects of stress that we associate with the emotion of anxiety.

If not managed appropriately, stress can lead to serious problems. Exposure to

chronic stress can contribute to both physical illnesses, such as heart disease,
and mental illnesses, such as anxiety disorders.