The Upside of Stress on the Brain

Feeling irritable all day because of your slight mistakes? Or perhaps, getting overwhelmed and lonely? These everyday situations are the signs that you are stressed out. The hidden side of stress, however, is more than meets the eye. The way we respond to stress determines how the stress works in our brains. 

Stress is a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation. It is a common phenomenon that urges us to confront the challenges and threats in life. Whenever we are under extreme pressure, it might cause physical and mental health problems. Not only affecting memory and many other brain functions, excessive stress also causes inflammation. 

Then you might wonder, ‘How does stress truly start?’ To answer that, we must look into how the brain works. It begins with the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal(HPA) axis, a succession of interactions involving the endocrine system and the central nervous system regulating the hormone response to stress. When the brain detects an annoying situation, the HPA axis is immediately activated and releases a stress hormone to provoke your instant action. 

This process could lead to severe diseases including high blood pressure, heart disease, digestive problems, and depression. Yet, in a sense, the hormone response also acts as a signal to improve cognitive thinking and concentration. Not only boosting your memory, research reveals that a little stress makes people more cooperative when they engage in social relations.

Furthermore, the way we think about stress can have a huge impact on the way it affects us. Dr. Alia Crum, the Associate Professor of Psychology and Medicine at Stanford University, found out that your body shows an unusual physiological response whenever you perceive stress as helpful. Thus, if you think about stress as a challenge, it will increase the efficiency of everyday work. 

“Life is about perspective and how you look at something. Ultimately, you have to zoom out.” – said Whitney Wolfe Herd, an American entrepreneur, founder, executive chair, and former CEO of Tinder. As her message tells us, instead of focusing on the negative sides of stress, it is important to think about how we would control it effectively.