Stress in some form will always be a part of your life. It is completely inevitable. This is a huge challenge because repetitive or chronic stress can wreak havoc on your body and mind.
There are countless studies that indicate that persistent stress contributes to the development of heart disease, asthma, obesity, depression, intestinal problems and much more.
So how do you protect your health from the effects of stress if it’s a given? Is it even possible? Well, a recent study suggests that a lack of stress resilience is the reason stress is bad for your health, not stress itself.
This is good news because while you can’t change the stressful events that happen, you can build your resilience to stress, reducing the impact stress has on how you feel and your long-term health.
What is stress resilience?
Think about the last time you felt stressed about something. Maybe it was a missed deadline at work, a stressful interaction with a coworker, or an argument at home. Did you shake it off quickly, or did you dwell on it for hours or even days afterward?
Your ability to quickly return to normal after a stressful event is called resilience. Fixating on what caused the stress and letting it fester into deeper negative emotions causes a single stressful moment to have a ripple effect, and it’s this kind of chronic stress that’s the problem.
Why Resilience Matters
A recent study published in Psychological Science suggests that your level of resilience can determine whether stress will cause long-term damage.
The study interviewed more than 1,000 adults about the stressors they face on a daily basis (such as at work, home, or school). Then, the scientists asked them how long the stressors typically affected their mood.
Nearly 10 years later, scientists interviewed the same people again. They asked them about their physical health, chronic diseases, and how much they felt their health interfered with their daily activities. This was to assess how stress resilience affects a person’s health.
When the results came in, the scientists noted a fascinating relationship between persistent stress and health outcomes, noting that “higher levels of persistent negative effects are associated with a greater number of chronic conditions and worse functional limitations 10 years later.”
This suggests that those who focus on stress are significantly more at risk of developing health problems in the future.
It’s worth noting that small amounts of stress are normal and healthy. Think about your body’s response to an immediate threat: a release of adrenaline provides the boost of strength and speed needed to act quickly.
The researchers even commented by saying, “certain amounts of stress are helpful in just pushing you to the level of optimal alertness, behavioral and cognitive performance.”
But when stress becomes chronic, that is, persistent and affects you over a long period of time, it becomes a problem.
How Resilience Works
Let's say you were stuck in traffic for an extra half hour this morning. Then, when you got out of the car, you spilled your travel mug full of coffee all over the passenger seat.
You have two choices here: either you can let what happened hang like a dark cloud over everything that follows that day, or you can take 8 deep breaths and say to yourself, “Well, this sucks, but I still have a whole day ahead of me. I shouldn’t let this sabotage the rest of my day.”
While it’s tempting to get angry and ruminate over stressful events, it usually doesn’t help. On the other hand, acknowledging your feelings and then releasing them so you can move past them is an example of strong resilience. Sure, stressors are still unpleasant, but this way they won’t ruin your day.
Resilience is what keeps short-term stress from becoming chronic and harmful. It is the path to greater happiness and better emotional health.
5 Ways to Improve Resilience
Of course, you can’t just snap your fingers and magically develop the resilience of a well-trained spiritual guru. It’s a skill that has to be practiced. But there are some simple tricks you can use to develop your own resilience.
1. Daily Meditation
Meditation has numerous health benefits, including helping you gain control over your emotions. It allows you to be in the driver's seat rather than your emotions dictating how you react to the world. You may feel like you don't have time to meditate, but even a few minutes can help calm your mind. By focusing on presence, stress can melt away.
2. Focus on the good
Bad things happen all the time. But so do good things. When you're dealing with something stressful, make a list of the good things that are happening in your life. Practicing gratitude, even for the smallest things, helps shift our perspective and focus our attention on something hopeful.
3. Take 8 deep breaths
The next time you notice yourself stressed, step back and take 8 deep breaths. Studies have found that counting your breaths taps into the emotional control regions of the brain. This can help you stay calm while you’re stressed so your emotions don’t get the better of you.
4. Learn stress management techniques
While it’s impossible to eliminate stress entirely, you can decrease your sensitivity to stressful events. And that’s exactly what stress management techniques do; they reduce the burden of stress so it seems less overwhelming. These include daily exercise, good nutrition, and enough sleep. Laughter is important. If it helps, watch funny cat videos.
5. Practice self-care
There’s a reason airplane safety drills tell you to put on your oxygen mask first. If you don’t take care of your own well-being, you can’t be in a position to help others. By taking care of yourself, whether through hobbies or maintaining close friendships, you’ll be more fulfilled and better able to deal with whatever stress comes your way.
The bottom line
If you practice changing your perspective on life and put these tips into practice, you can improve your resilience to stress. In turn, this can prevent you from becoming chronically stressed, so that stress doesn’t harm your health in the future.
Resilience is the inner strength you can draw upon to bounce back from stressful situations. This makes resilience the missing piece of the puzzle in managing stress. With greater resilience, you will learn how to be happier and thrive so that nothing holds you back.