Stress can be good for you

It seems common sense to state that stress is something which is negative. After all, we tend to avoid stressful situations, and being under stress isn't something we naturally enjoy.

However, there are actually several ways in which the body can respond to stressful circumstances, and some of them might be surprisingly useful. Psychologist Kelly McGonigal posits the idea that if you feel challenged when stress takes hold, it can actually help you shift into a state wherein the body has increased blood-flow to both your muscles and brain. This, in turn, allows the brain to pay better attention to everything in your environment, which is better than the tunnel vision experienced in a fight or flight response. To be terse, you're basically smarter with a challenge response to stress.

So, in the future, don't become anxious when you see your sweat, and don't try to calm down when your heart beats faster. View your stress as a resources, see the stressful event as a challenge, and you will enter a state which is superior.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IaVKXx767rw)

The downsides outnumber the upsides.

Can you stop following me around and making braindead, worthless posts?

Thanks.

Instead of thanking me to re-live your dull lonely thread, you accuse me of following you. ROFL. Who the hell do you think you are?

If you were a bit more intelligent (or empathic) you would realise that I meant it's not worth going through stress, despite of the fact that stress migh be useful at times. Yeah, stress can help us resolve problems, but in the long run it can degrade our health. And I can confirm that because I have been suffering from gastritis precesily due to the constant stress at work.

No, stress is not worth it, especially to people who take things seriously.

Il Diavolo

I agree to some degree.

1} There exist studies of heart showing that over long period of times that the hearbeat is chaotic and not regular and this a sign of good health,

2} there is small group of New Englanders who keep themselves hungry all the time i.e. they eat as little as possible to supply nourishment and health, yet always on verge of being hungry. Their practice stems from studies showing that when body is starving ergo under stress, its genes will kick in these super hormones, chemicals Resveatrol{?} to give them a boost of energy.

The latter #2 may be closely related to the one you mentioned.

It is like many old sayings,

move it or loose it,

use it or loose it,

no pain no gain

It is always a question of balance { Moody Blues 1970 LP LINK } of all the above.

It is also a bit like making sure kids/childer are exposed to bacteria and virus when younger to help them build their immune systems.

What does not kill us, will most often will make us stronger.

I suppose people,

Stress the body when exercising, 

Stress the mind when problem solving.

Though one doesn't want to stress 'all the time and 'break their body or mind.

. . .

I suppose one stresses emotions,

But unlike physical or mental problem solving, I'm not sure that many people do emotional workouts.

. . . People 'already around others a fair bit, already often bend.

. . . . . . But then I suppose there are people who are emotionally stunted, rich or influential people, who might get no pushback, or little kids who get no pushback, people who get isolated in shipwrecks on islands, or emotionally abused by others, empathy/compassion fatigue for caregivers.

. . .

Most people though, probably stressing their emotions regularly through normal interactions, humans so social, not something we really work at.

Hmmmmmm.

Just musing.

Stress is one of those words that covers a whole raft of physiological experiences.

But tends to be associated with any event that stimulates some level of mental anguish.

Physical stress is generally self imposed, and for a variety of reasons may stimulate mental anguish.

On the other hand, self imposed physical stress can stimulate mental positivity.

I think that we can also define self imposed mental exercise as being generally positive, though the opposite is likely to stimulate negative stress.

So broadly speaking, stress is either positive or negative, and is therefore likely to correspondingly result in either positive or negative outcomes.

Less calories to live long an prosper.

.." Adaptive starvation...Indeed, some aspects of the starvation response may account for the paradoxical beneficial effects gained from caloric restriction, including longevity, which appear to be conserved across diverse species (2). Whether the remarkable ability of humans to survive extended periods of starvation is adaptive or maladaptive, however, may be context dependent. The more common scenario in the developed world is now a state of nutrient excess and obesity, which may be exacerbated by the same responses that enable survival during starvation. Therefore, understanding the physiology of starvation may reveal mechanisms underlying the obesity epidemic and reveal pathways involved in longevity."...

Again saw program of these small group of new Englanders who keep themselves hungry all the time, --ergo stress{?}--  by eating less, and this causes adaptive starvation super chemicals to be released.  I forget which chemicals were cited. Maybe ketone and others. I forget