Kelly McGonigal has been a health psychologist for 10 years which means she is most likely credible and knows what she’s talking about. Her ideas about tricking your body into believing stress is a good thing sounds easier said than done. When people say they’re stressed, it always a negative thing, it means they are going through a hard time, have to much on their mind or plate, etc. People always express sorrow when they hear someone is stressed, it’s a societal idea that stress is bad. It seems strange that just a simple adjustment of how we perceive our stress can change our health. I’m not sure how easy is it to take a moment when you’re stressed to tell your body that it’s a good thing when you know you don’t really believe that.
The other piece of information about oxytocin makes a little more sense to me. Everyone craves sympathy or supports when they feel stressed and it’s nice to hear that it’s a natural thing to want and can help your body cope with stress. It makes sense that telling someone about your stress can help while bottling it up hurts the person more. I always thought that was just psychological but it’s neat that it also effects people physically.
These two ideas seem easy enough to switch to in life. Next time you feel stressed, you can either tell someone about it or can treat it like a good, healthy challenge to have. I don’t think looking for stress just to do this would be wise but since most people experience relatively high stress often, it should be easy to find and implement in daily life. Whether tricking your body into believing stress is good works or not, maybe constantly telling yourself that will eventually trick you. Once your body react positively to stress, go tell someone your problems and you’re right as rain in the stress department, according to MGonigal.
We were asked to take four different free personality tests and compare the results to our personal perception of how we present ourselves.
As you can see, I score high in extroversion, agreeableness, and intellect/imagination. I’d have to approve. In general, I’m an extroverted individual who has a natural disposition for maintaining friendships, and I’m always open to new experiences. The weirder the better, especially if I’ve got a friend by my side. Additionally, my low scorings in emotional stability and conscientiousness didn’t come as a surprise. I’m easily swayed by my moods, and I’m a disorganized mess. Didn’t really learn too much new.
