Healthy Stress: What Is It and Why Do We Need It?

Many often say that stress is a silent killer. While this can be true, especially regarding untreated or unmanaged chronic stress, there is such a thing as healthy stress. Do we need this healthy stress? Does it add any value to our lives? How can we differentiate between good and bad stress? More importantly, how can we manage unhealthy stress in a way that helps us achieve optimal wellness? 

Learning to manage chronic stress is critical, especially if we need healthy stress. West Coast Recovery Centers can help you do that. Intervention may be vital if you or a loved one is struggling with the added stress of substance use or other mental health conditions. Visit our website to learn more about how our San Diego facility and addiction and mental health programs can help you today. 

What Is Stress?

The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH) describes stress as a “physical and emotional reaction that people experience as they encounter challenges in life.” Our body reacts to stress by releasing hormones, producing a fight-or-flight response. The physiological response can impact one's heart rate, breathing rate, and blood pressure, even causing individuals to sweat or their muscles to tense. 

In other words, stress is how we naturally respond to challenges or distressing situations. We experience a spectrum of stress day to day. The demands of work, personal life, and familial responsibilities can all weigh down on us. However, these are all natural reactions. It's when stress becomes chronic and unmanaged that problems can arise. 

Identifying Chronic Stress

So, if stress is a natural response, why do many people call it a silent killer? As mentioned, stress becomes a problem when it's chronic or unmanaged. Chronic stress can last for weeks, months, or years. It can be caused by many factors, including: 

• Routine stress from the demands of work, school, family, and life 
• Situational stress caused by divorce, losing a job, being diagnosed with an illness, or other intense life changes
• Traumatic stress caused by experiencing a natural disaster, accident, or other distressing events 

As mentioned, how the body responds to challenges is natural. However, chronic stress can put a person's body into a state of hypervigilance. Our bodies aren't meant to be in a state of fight-or-fight for an extended period of time. When this happens, the consequences can be detrimental. 

Understanding How Stress Impacts Our Lives

Again, stress is a natural physiological response to life challenges. That means, as mentioned above, it causes physical changes in our bodies. For that reason, we must understand how stress impacts our lives mentally and physically, especially if we hope to prevent the consequences of untreated chronic stress. 

Unmanaged stress can be dangerous, leading to: 

• Cardiovascular troubles, increasing one's risk for stroke and heart disease 
• Changes in reproduction health 
• Difficulties with cognitive functioning 
• Hormonal imbalances 
• Increase in food consumption as a stress response 
• A weakened immune system 
• The development of mental health conditions 

Identifying Healthy Stress

So, how do we differentiate between bad or chronic stress and health stress? Stress is unavoidable. However, if we can identify healthy stress, we can better reduce unwanted stress. 

We can identify healthy stress by paying attention to the sense of excitement or motivation that comes with it. These feelings are typically short-term and individuals can feel that the stress is moving them toward a positive outcome. Examples of healthy stress may include the stress that comes with: 

• Getting married 
• Preparing for a trip 
• Engaging in physical activity
• Starting a new job 
• Going on a first date 

Healthy stress functions by helping us learn new things and motivating us to perform well and accomplish goals. Achieving success, developing life skills, and building resilience becomes more difficult without it. 

Tips for Managing Healthy Stress, Unhealthy Stress, and Everything in Between

Another excellent way to differentiate between healthy stress and chronic stress is by taking measures to eliminate bad stress. Doing so will look different from one person to the next, but for you it may consist of: 

• Eliminating stress where you can by learning to say no and avoiding people, places, or things that cause unnecessary stress, worry, and anxiety 
• Changing your mindset to welcome healthy stress, such as when starting a new job or entering into a new relationship 
• Thinking more positively by looking for the silver lining or upside in every difficult situation, which is much easier said than done, but is achievable with practice 
• Surrounding yourself with a support system of friends, family, and professionals who can support your journey toward reducing chronic stress 
• Prioritizing your physical health by eating nutritious foods, being mindful about what you put in your body, and moving your body 
• Adding mindfulness, self-care, and relaxation techniques into your day-to-day 
• Accepting that there will be things out of your control

Of course, there will always be instances where we experience bad or chronic stress. How we respond to it will determine how we manage it. Call West Coast Recovery Centers for more information about healthy stress, its influence, and the benefits of managing stress for your mental health today. 

Many people think of stress as our generation's silent killer. With physical illness, mental health conditions, and substance use on the rise, it's hard to imagine it as anything else. However, not enough people know the differences between bad and healthy stress. We need healthy stress. Achieving success, developing life skills, and building resilience becomes more difficult without it. It's chronic and unmanaged stress that can lead to physical health complications, addiction, and the development of other mental health conditions. We can improve our well-being by differentiating between bad and healthy stress, reducing unnecessary stress, and embracing good stress. Call West Coast Recovery Centers at (760) 492-6509 to learn more today.