Hello my friends,
Welcome back to your weekly mental health check! This week’s topic: how do we protect ourselves against burnout – and actually thrive in a stressful environment? In my own research, I explored how people experience negative emotions in stressful situations and, crucially, how they interpret and regulate them. I proposed the concept that some individuals interpret these negative emotions as helpful and facilitative – what I labeled anxiety motivation and anger motivation. These people transform emotions that are typically experienced as distressing into fuel. They gain energy from stress, instead of being drained by it. Remember: stress per se is not a bad thing — only the way we react to it. Without any stress, our lives would be extremely boring. It’s only when the stressful situation becomes chronic, or when we insufficiently regulate ourselves in response to stress, then it can have a detrimental effect on our health. Our bodies have evolved to handle stress well. From an evolutionary perspective, our species wouldn’t have survived to this day, if it wasn’t for the fight or flight response. Because of our heightened vigilance, heightened senses, and energy, we are able to outrun wild animals or fight them. Sadly, this beautiful response is to outdated stressors. What we deal with today, is completely different to wild animals. We can’t make a run when things at work get sticky, and we can’t pick up a fight when our manager has too many tasks in store for us.
The Beauty of Stress or The Beauty of Life?
But, what I did find in my research, is that is useful to channel these emotions instead of trying to suppress them. I myself experience this whenever I have to give a talk in front of a large audience. I always get nervous, but I need that “stage fright” in order to be concentrated (and creative when people ask questions!). One powerful tool for experiencing emotions as energising is, what psychologists call, “clarity of feelings”. This simply refers to being able to clearly pinpoint and name the current emotion we are experiencing. Sounds easier than it really is. So this week, pause and ask yourself: what emotion am I actually experiencing during a stressful situation? Am I anxious because the situation feels out of control? Am I angry because others are not reacting the way I would like? Now, feel the energy that emotion is providing. These emotions activate your stress-driven fight-or-flight response. Use it. Your body and your mind want you to thrive and succeed. Work longer on that assignment or that task, channel that energy and that focus. Confront someone who is sabotaging your goals. You will have time to rest later – and be proud of your achievements. Remember, stress is what makes our life beautiful. Having kids, building a home, achieving a great career, anything – those are all stressors, but what would our life be without the stress?
Check out my research on this:
Stay tuned for next week, where we will look at how the corona pandemic has changed us, and we are not even aware of this.
Take care – and take charge!
See you next week,
It’s me, Jules, your biggest fan
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