Little Amount of Stress is Good for the Brain [Study]

A study revealed that little daily stress could have potential benefits to the brain, despite the feeling of inconvenience and discomfort.

In connection to this, an OrissaPost report said that research specified that in New York, some people reported they were not feeling any stress at all although there may be disadvantages to this feeling of feeling consistently ultra-charged.

The said study revealed that people who said they experienced no stress were more inclined to experience better daily wellbeing and lesser chronic health conditions. Nevertheless, they were more likely to experience lower cognitive function, too.

According to Penn State's David Almeida, a researcher, it is possible that experiencing stressors creates opportunities for an individual to solve problems, for instance, maybe fixing the computer that has suddenly broken down prior to an important virtual meeting.

Therefore, the researcher continued, experiencing these stressors may not be satisfying although they may force one to solve a problem and this might contribute to cognitive functioning, especially as one grows older.

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(Photo: andreas160578 on Pixabay)
The key, according to an expert, is viewing stressful conditions as a challenge that can be met, instead of an overwhelming, unpassable roadblock.

Link Between Stress and Many Adverse Effects

In their study, investigators said that a large number of past research have linked stress with a higher risk for a lot of adverse effects such as chronic illness or worse emotional wellbeing.

But Almeida said that while it may make sense to believe that the less stress a person is experiencing, the healthier he will be, he elaborated that little research has looked further into that assumption.

For this study which the APA.orf published (Emotion), the study authors used data from more than 2,700 participants. Before the beginning of this research, the volunteers were asked to complete a short cognition test.

Then, the study volunteers were interviewed every night for eight consecutive nights. During the interview, they answered questions on their mood, chronic conditions they may have suffered, the physical symptoms they experienced like coughs, sore throats, or headaches, and their activities during the day.

After the analysis of the data gathered from interviews, the study investigators discovered that there did seem to be benefits for the participants who reported no stressors throughout the study, which comprised roughly 10 percent of the participants.

Lower Performance on Cognition

The said 10 percent of the participants who reported no stressors were found to be less likely to have chronic health conditions and have better moods throughout the day.

Nonetheless, those who reported no stressors also showed lower performance on the cognition test, within the difference that equaled over eight years of aging.

In addition, they were less likely to report giving or receiving emotional support, as well as possible to go through positive things happening within the entire day.

Good Stress

In 2019, Health.com came out with a report saying that a so-called 'Good Stress,' also identified in the scientific community as 'eustress' may be just the thing needed to get a job done at work.

According to Richard Shelton, MD, vice chair for research in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Alabama Birmingham, if one is to think about a deadline, it's "It's staring you in the face," and it is going to trigger his behavior to really handle such a situation effectively, promptly, not to mention, more productively.

The key, he elaborated, is viewing stressful conditions as a challenge that can be met, instead of an overwhelming, unpassable roadblock.

Additionally, Eustress can help one enter a state of 'flow', as well, a heightened sense of awareness and total absorption into a single activity, psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi indicated in a study. 

In this particular research, the psychologist contended that flow can be achieved in the workplace, a creative endeavor, and in sports, driven greatly by pressure to succeed.

The University of California Television's YouTube video below shows important information about 'good stress' and 'bad stress.'

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Check out more news and information on Stress in Science Times.