Stress is bad for your health, and can even increase your risk of an early death – but only if you believe it can.
Stress is bad for your health, and can even increase your risk of an early death – but only if you believe it can, new research shows.
In a recent study of 30,000 adults, researchers found that people who experienced a high level of stress in the past year were 43% more likely to die in the next eight years. This was only true, however, if the participants held the belief that stress was bad for their health.
Participants that had a high level of stress, but didn’t view stress as a harmful experience had a lower risk of death even than those who had experienced relatively little stress in the past year.
It’s estimated that over the eight years the study took place more than 180,000 people died prematurely in the US - not from stress, but from the belief that stress I bad for you, making this the fifteenth biggest killer in the United States, above skin cancer, HIV and homicide.
Public speaker and health psychologist Kelly McGonigal says simply changing the way you think about stress can make you live longer and work better.
“For years I’ve been telling people stress makes you sick, it increases the risk of everything from the common cold to cardiovascular disease. Basically, I’ve turned stress into the enemy, but I’ve changed my mind about stress,” says McGonigal in a recent TED Talk. “I no longer want to get rid of stress; I want to make you better at stress.”
In another study conducted by Harvard University, participants were put through an experiment designed to increase their stress levels.
First, however, some of the participants were taught to view stress as a positive, natural reaction to help them prepare for their next challenge. Those that went through this process didn't experience the constriction of blood vessels that usually occurs during stress and which links stressful experiences to heart disease.
“Over a lifetime of stressful experiences, this one biological change could be the difference between a stress-induced heart-attack at age 50 and living well into your 90s,” said McGonigal.
Not only can the act of embracing stress neutralise it's negative effects, it can actually help to counteract any health problems from past stressful experiences.
Oxytocin, playfully referred to as ‘the cuddle hormone’ because it is released while hugging, is also produced in large volumes when the body experiences stress.
The hormone not only acts as a natural anti-inflammatory and helps to stop the contraction of blood vessels, it also helps to regenerate and heal any form of stress-induced damage on the heart.
The hormone also drives you to undertake actions that strengthen close relationships, says McGonigal, a desire that many people under stress ignore - to their detriment.
“When oxytocin is released in stressful situations it is motivating you to seek support. Your biological stress response is nudging you to tell someone how you feel instead of bottling it up. Your stress response makes you want to notice when someone else in your life is struggling so that you can support each other when life is difficult.”
Another study in the US found that every major stressful life experience can increase the risk of dying by 30 per cent - but not for everyone. For those participants that spent a significant amount of time caring for others, however, this risk disappeared.
“The harmful effects of stress on your health are not inevitable. How you think, and how you act, can transform your experience of stress. When you choose to view your stress response as helpful, you create the biology of courage. When you choose to connect with others under stress, you can create resilience.”
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