Humans are more stressed than ever, with demands to be working around the clock and 24/7 access to email, phones and social media.
Today, on so-called ‘Blue Monday’, the mounting pressure reaches a peak. The holidays are over, work is in full swing, and our new year joie de vivre is waning.
However, new research suggests that stress does not have to be as crippling as we often feel.
Researchers at the University of Mannheim in Germany found that changing your stress ‘mindset’ can help people benefit, rather than be harmed, by workplace stress.
Looking at how a group of workers’ felt through a usual week at work, they found employees with a positive stress mindset were able to approach their workload in a different way. This meant they felt energized rather than completed stressed out and exhausted at the end of the week.
But how did they do it? Here, Dr Megan Arroll, leading psychologist with Healthspan, explains simple ways to shift your mindset and to use stress as a fuel rather than a weight.
Is all stress bad?
‘Stress’ is nothing new and in fact our body’s stress response is beneficial to us as it keeps us alert in times of danger.
This physiological response to stress is the same now as it was when our ancestors were hunting and gathering. Back then, the ‘fight or flight’ response to stress was very important because when faced danger (say, a predatory animal like a lion), we needed our bodies to be as strong as possible to either run or counter-attack.
In this sense, stress is a good thing – it has helped us survive as a species. Even now in everyday life, our bodies are very good and fast at dealing with difficult situations – is someone swerves in front of your car, your body will immediately switch on its stress response to allow you to instantly react.
Why does stress get such a bad name then?
To help us react this quickly and almost unthinkably, vital neurochemicals and hormones (adrenaline and cortisol) will pump though our brains and bodies.
The problem we have now is this same cascade is triggered when we are faced with a difficult situation at work or needy family member – and if you think about it, we can come across such ‘stresses’ many times a day.
If we don’t cope with these stresses well, our bodies don’t get the opportunity reset themselves physiologically. This is why constant stress that pushes us beyond our limits can be bad for our health.
What is a ‘stress mindset’?
But it’s not like we can simply get rid of stress – for many people, life is filled with a constant daily onslaught of pinging emails and smartphones alert, continual demands from work, family pressures and other commitments.
But we can change our stress mindset.
A positive stress mindset is where you see something stressful as an opportunity to be embraced because it may provide learning and achievement. This can boost motivation for a difficult task and give you the focus needed to complete it.
A negative stress mindset is when a stressful event or task is viewed as unpleasant, debilitating and even threatening.
The study at University of Mannheim looked at 171 workers in jobs such as education, health and social care, and IT to see if this mindset made a difference. These employees were asked to fill out a diary three times a day.
In the morning they were asked about their expected workload for the day. After work, the diary recorded whether the workers had taken any constructive steps in their day to cope with workload. For example, planning the day’s work, scheduling tasks and viewing difficult work as a learning opportunity.
Finally, before bed, the employees were asked how well they thought they’d performed during the day and how energized they felt.
People that had a more positive stress mindset accepted a heavy workload and welcomed the challenges at work. They were able to meet the demands of tasks with appropriate behaviours, such as careful planning and preparation.
But those who had a negative stress mindset used less proactive tasks when workload was high and said they felt tired. They used avoidance as a way of coping.
Good news is, we can all change our stress mindset – here’s how
This research shows us how important it is to take a proactive approach to demanding situations. This can be done in all areas of life, not just work.
- When something feels difficult and stressful, see what you’ll be able to learn from it. You probably can do more than you think, as T.S. Eliot famously said: ‘If you aren’t in over your head, how do you know how tall you are?’
- Be compassionate to yourself – always. We are generally much harder on ourselves than others, so if you do face a challenge and trip a little, treat yourself as you would a good friend. With kindness and compassion.
- Remind yourself every day about all the challenges you have overcome – this will strengthen the connections in your brain about accomplishments, so that when a new challenge arrives you’ll be able to see it as an exciting experience, not an overwhelming stress.
- But this doesn’t mean you should say yes to everything – set boundaries and stick to them, whether at work, home or with friends and family.
What if I feel stressed and I don’t know why?
Stress happens in response to some sort of threat – those life-threatening predators in early man’s time or an important presentation at work now. In other words, we can identify what’s causes the feelings of stress.
However, if you feel stressed and there doesn’t seem to be a particular threat present you may be suffering from anxiety.
Constantly worrying about the future or ruminating about the past are characteristic of anxiety. Even though these things aren’t happening right now, the worry and rumination triggers the stress response and this chronic state of stress can damage health.
If you think you may be suffering from anxiety, see your GP who may suggest a course of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). In many areas CBT programs can be accessed via self-referral.
Final word
Feeling that we need to eliminate sources of stress in our lives can become stressful in itself! Because for many of us, this simply isn’t possible – we still need to earn money, deal with heavy workloads, appease relatives and juggle the whole lot.
That’s why it’s reassuring to know that a shift in our perspective can reduce stress levels. It might take a bit of practice, but it is possible to re-frame demanding situations so that we cope as well as possible with the challenges that we face.
