Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
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Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
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Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#2I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.”
How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read number of medical definitions and they all sound vague and unsatisfactory.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#3I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
Can’t one define ‘useful’ and ‘useless’ stress? For example, stress experienced when learning something challenging would be useful stress, while ruminating about issues we have no control over would be useless stress.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#4I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
Can’t one define ‘useful’ and ‘useless’ stress? For example, stress experienced when learning something challenging would be useful stress, while ruminating about issues we have no control over would be useless stress.
I never feel stressed about a really annoying and thorny programming problem, no matter how frustrating it is or seemly insurmountable it is. Ditto for learning anything new.
Yet, I would feel stressed about grades and passing, which is entirely different from actual mastery.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#5I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
Can’t one define ‘useful’ and ‘useless’ stress? For example, stress experienced when learning something challenging would be useful stress, while ruminating about issues we have no control over would be useless stress.
I’ll give it a shot.
Useful stress is something you can relieve through action. You study and learn the thing, and pass the test. Or you have that difficult conversation. Once you go through it, you feel a sense of pride and accomplishment (sorry).
Useless stress is what you feel when you’ve think you’re going to lose your job, or a loved one is sick, or a brush fire is burning a mile away from your house. It’s out of your control and the stress you’re under can’t be harnessed in a useful way. It just sucks.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#6I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
This article gives a fairly scientific exploration of the biology of stress: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2844123/
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#7There is physical and emotional stress, the levels of physical stress upon the body has in this century become less so due to automation and working conditions/standards. Though whilst we have reduced physical stress, we have offset that with emotional stress. One which for some they manage to reduce via going to the gym, exercising and other forms of physical stress.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#8I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
Can’t one define ‘useful’ and ‘useless’ stress? For example, stress experienced when learning something challenging would be useful stress, while ruminating about issues we have no control over would be useless stress.
This... plus there’s a time element too.
New challenges that one faces might be physiologically stressful, but if they are within your scope to meet and overcome, can also be incredibly motivating - aka ‘good stress’.
In my view they become ‘bad stress’ if they are either prolonged (thereby wearing your resilience down) or due to your circumstances you have no power or opportunity to meaningfully meet and overcome them.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#9I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
Actually in psychology there is exactly that distiction between two types of stress: Eustress and Distress.
The first, eustress is what you could call 'positive' stress, stress that you can cope with and that induces change, growth, and learned experience.
The second, Distress is stress that is too much for you to cope with either in type or intensity, it's the type of stress that would likely trigger a physical flight or fight response and all the health issues associated.
The distinction is tenous but the point is stress is sort of needed, just has to be in a dosage that you at an individual level can cope with.
Re: Long-term stress is the default mode of the 21st century
#10I’ve never been satisfied with the definition of stress. My dad always said “If things are going good, that means you’re not trying.” How do you reconcile normal challenges and hardships in life with what is defined as “stress”? In some ways, life without stress is boring and uneventful. At the same time stress is a negative thing that affects your health. It’s not clear to me what is defined as stress - I’ve read nu…
Good point. When I learned about the concept of “eustress” and how it contrasts with “distress”, it gave me a better understanding of how I handled varying types of difficult situations.
Eustress is basically stress that improves your performance.