We hear over and over
again that stress is unhealthy. And all that talk makes us, well, stressed.
Here's how a little short-term anxiety can actually benefit your brain and
body.
Amanda MacMillan
We hear over and
over again that stress is unhealthy. And all that talk makes
us, well, stressed. But getting worked up isn't always a bad thing, says
Richard Shelton, MD, vice chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry at
the University of Alabama Birmingham; after all, the body's fight-or-flight response
is meant to be protective, not harmful.
It's only when
stress becomes chronic, or when we feel we're no longer in control of a
situation, that it negatively affects our health and wellbeing.
Here, then, are
five reasons you should rest easier when it comes to everyday stress—and how a
little short-term anxiety can actually benefit your brain and body.
It helps boost
brainpower
Low-level
stressors stimulate the production of brain chemicals called neurotrophins, and
strengthen the connections between neurons in the brain. In fact, this may be
the primary mechanism by which exercise (a physical stressor) helps boost
productivity and concentration, Dr. Shelton says. Short-term psychological
stressors, he adds, can have a similar effect, as well. Plus, animal studies
have suggested that the body's response to stress can temporarily boost memoryand learning scores.
It can increase
immunity—in the short term
"When the
body responds to stress, it prepares itself for the possibility of injury or
infection," says Dr. Shelton. "One way it does this is by producing
extra interleukins—chemicals that help regulate the immune system—providing at
least a temporary defensive boost." Research in animals support this idea,
as well: A 2012 Stanford study found that subjecting lab rats to mild stress
produced a "massive mobilization" of several types of immune cells in their bloodstreams.
It can make you
more resilient
Learning to deal
with stressful situations can make future ones easier to manage, according to a large body of
research on the science of resilience. It's the idea behind Navy SEAL training,
Dr. Shelton says—although you can certainly benefit from less extreme
experiences, as well. "Repeated exposure to stressful events gives [SEALs]
the chance to develop both a physical and psychological sense of control, so
when they're in actually combat they don't just shut down," he says.
This idea may even
hold true at a cellular level: A 2013 University of California San Francisco
study found that while chronic stress promotes oxidative damage to our DNA and
RNA, moderate levels of perceived daily stress actually
seem to protect against it and enhance "psychobiological resilience."
It motivates you
to succeed
Good stress, also
known in the scientific community as eustress, may be just the thing you need
to get job done at work. "Think about a deadline: It's staring you in the
face, and it's going to stimulate your behavior to really manage the situation
effectively, rapidly, and more productively," says Dr. Shelton. The key,
he says, is viewing stressful situations as a challenge that you can meet, rather
than an overwhelming, unpassable roadblock.
Eustress can also
help you enter a state of "flow," a heightened sense of awareness and
complete absorption into an activity, according to research from psychologist
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. Flow can be achieved in the workplace, in sports, or
in a creative endeavor (such as playing a musical instrument), and
Csikszentmihalyi argues that it's driven largely by pressure to succeed.
It can enhance
child development
Moms-to-be often
worry that their own anxiety will negatively affect their unborn babies—and it
can, when it's unrelenting. But a 2006 Johns Hopkins study found that most
children of women who reported mild to moderate stress levels during pregnancy
actually showed greater motor and developmental skills by
age 2 than those of unstressed mothers. The one exception: the children of
women who viewed their pregnancy as more negative than positive had slightly
lower attention capacity.
