Stress is a common word we used when we run into complicated things and we cannot cope with it. It is a dreaded word, yet we keep on saying that unmindfully because it feels like we live as is stress is like the air we breathe. But stress is bad for us. We keep on hearing experts saying that we need to lessen our stress because it can lead to physical, emotional and psychological problems. Stress can even cause addictions, weariness, anxiety and even depression.

What is stress? According to Fr. Roger Champoux, SJ, “Stress is a condition or feeling experienced when a person perceives that demands exceed the personal and social resources that one is able to mobilize”. But this definition has a subjective context. It is related to the perception that one has about the difficulties and challenges that one encounters and one’s ability to cope with that. It is about the demands that is put on someone and how they see them. This means that stress is a threat and stress can lead to burnout. Burnout is a state of emotional, physical, and mental exhaustion caused by excessive and prolonged stress. It occurs when you feel overwhelmed, emotionally drained, and unable to meet constant demands. Stress may even detach us from people because it may take away our capacity to empathize with others even with our family and friends. Stress is indeed bad and yet it is so present in our lives especially during this time of the pandemic.

Shall we then settle with stress and just let it a getaway? Of course not! There’s also the upside of the stress according to Kelly McGonigal, Ph. D. Based on her study she realized that stress does not always harm us and kill us. A study was conducted to prove this claim. The first study was conducted on 30,000 people for 8 years. They were asked the following questions; (1) How much stress is there in your life? (2) Do you think it is harmful to you? (3) In the past 8 years, how many died prematurely from the belief that stress was bad for them? The result of the study was very surprising. Indeed, stress increases the risk of death by more than 40% which is threatening. But with one condition, stress kills you only if you believe that stress is harmful to you. However, if you don’t see stress as harmful there is less risk of death. With this result, we can say that it is all in the mind.

Another study was conducted at Harvard University to prove the prior result. People were tested in a highly stressful situation. One group was told that the various signs of stress such as perspiring, butterfly feeling, and chest-pounding were all positive signs of energy to meet the challenge that they will encounter in the test. The result was that this group was able to accomplish the challenges in a positive manner despite the physical manifestation of stress. The researchers also discovered that the pituitary gland secretes not only the adrenaline glands for action or for energy but as well as oxytocin or the love, cuddle, and social instinct hormone. In other words, stress can increase our energy and our bond with other people. Such hormones can strengthen the heart and reduces the risk of heart attack caused by stress.

One thousand people were subjected to another study for a year and were asked the following questions; (1) How much stress in your life this last year? (2) How much time did you spend helping others? (3)  In the past 8 years, how many died prematurely from the belief that stress was bad for them? The result shows that every stressful moment increases the risk of death by 30%. But this risk did not happen for those who spend time caring for others. We can therefore say that caring increases resilience. This means that our reaction to stress is both in the mind and in the heart. If we don’t see stress as harmful and if we spend time helping and caring for others therefore stress gives us energy and resilience and strengthens our bonds with people.

Now, what does it says for us with all these findings? According to Emily Smith that positive psychology should not focus on the quest for happiness. She said that the search for meaning has more power than the quest for happiness. People who find meaning in life live longer, work better, and are happier. For us to find meaning in life we must allow ourselves to go through the give and take process. We give help and reach out to people and allow them to do the same for us. We go beyond our human limitations. This going beyond is what we call transcendence. It opens us to the beyond and gives us inner peace. Transcendence reminds us that all is well, and all will be well. It takes us out of the daily grind and gives us the send of inner wisdom. It can be prayer or course, or music, poetry, nature handicrafts, or any other human experience that enriches our spirit.

Stress therefore can be good news for us. If only we see it as something not harmful for us but as a chance to produce energy that will drive us to help others to connect to them and to ourselves and therefore find meaning in life. In this way, we may see stress as grace because we all know that stressful events are inevitable, but we can avoid harmful stress. We can do so if we see in stress the very biology of courage and love. So, therefore, Stressed can really read like Desserts and we can enjoy the sweetness it brings to our lives.

By: Camille Rose M. Tacazon, MASE | Teacher I | Olongapo City National High School | Olongapo City