Is all stress bad?
How to tell the difference between good and bad stress
Overwhelm. Anxiety. Burnout. Stress has got a bad rep. But is there another way to look at it?
From bad bosses to bad breakups, stress is an inevitable part of life. Most of us learn to live with it, and as we’re about to find out, a little stress can be a good thing.
What’s important is being able to tell when stress has gone too far, so that you can respond appropriately and find the best way to support yourself.
What happens to your body when you’re stressed?
If you’ve been following Fuck Off Russell for a while, you’ll know we love to nerd out on the autonomous nervous system. That’s because it’s the control desk for our body’s responses to feelings and emotions.
When we’re feeling stressed (which often coincides with our inner critic getting louder), our Sympathetic Nervous System (SNS) is activated and triggers our body’s fight or flight response.
The SNS tells the adrenal glands to release our stress hormones, adrenaline and cortisol. When this happens, the rest of the body gears up to either fight off the perceived threat, or run away from the enemy (in this case, that email from your boss asking for “a quick chat” 👀).
All systems are go, so you might notice:
Your heart beating faster
Shortness of breath
Feeling hot or sweaty
Digestive trouble
Low blood sugar (feeling faint or dizzy)
Once the “threat” or “enemy” has gone away, your Parasympathetic Nervous System (PNS) steps in to restore your body to its normal state. Think of it as the yin to the SNS’s yang.
Feel like you’re back in GCSE biology?
Well, although it might all seem a bit technical, it’s really helpful to understand the science behind stress. Recognising when you’re feeling stressed is especially helpful when it comes to good vs bad stress, as the former can be harder to identify.
What is good stress?
Stress is an important part of a happy, healthy life.
Yep, you read that right.
Think about it — without stress, you wouldn’t be able to do a lot of the basic things that help you hold down a job, pay the bills or stay fit. A little stress can help us complete tasks, meet our goals and rise to a challenge. In fact, adrenaline and cortisol are what get you up in the morning.
Stress is often a completely normal and appropriate response to difficult or confronting situations, like a big, scary presentation in front of management, or a first date.
Hopefully, you wouldn’t cancel either of these events to go home and meditate. In fact, stress can be a good motivator to push yourself to achieve something positive.
What is bad stress?
Bad stress and good stress have the same physical symptoms. What’s different is a) how you feel about the stress and b) whether the stress continues.
For example, you might feel a little stress before your first date, but it’s the excited, butterflies-in-your-stomach kind. Or you might leave that big, scary presentation you smashed on a real high as the adrenaline courses through your body.
Bad stress, on the other hand, results in negative emotions — like exhaustion, overwhelm, anger, fear, irritability, or sadness. Bad stress might only be fleeting, and if you can shut it down fairly quickly, it won’t do any lasting damage. However, repeatedly feeling bad stress can take a huge toll on your body and even turn into chronic stress.
The symptoms of chronic stress include:
Headaches
Difficulty sleeping or insomnia
Low energy
Brain fog
Weight loss or gain
Anxiety
Aches and pains
High blood pressure
Changes in behaviour or emotional responses
Turning to alcohol or drugs for relief
How to lean into good stress and avoid bad stress
Step 1: Recognise the symptoms of stress.
Whether it’s good or bad, being able to spot when you’re stressed is a really valuable skill. So start by paying attention to those moments when your heart rate quickens or your palm starts to sweat. What is your body trying to tell you?
Step 2: Use good stress to your advantage.
Feeling pumped? Recognising when your body is facing a challenge can help you channel all that energy positively. It can be helpful to simply accept a normal response to a difficult situation, and give yourself credit for rising to the occasion.
Often, all that adrenaline and cortisol charging around our bodies is the thing that helps us focus and meet that deadline or get up on stage and sing our hearts out.
Step 3: Whether good or bad, make sure your body can “come down” from an episode of stress
If unchecked, both good and bad stress can lead to long term problems. Even if you’re riding high on the back of a week of awesome meetings and getting sh*t done, it’s only a matter of time before you crash.
Try working with your PNS to relax your body and deactivate that fight or flight response. That could mean booking a calming activity, like yoga or painting, at the end of a busy week, or finding a quiet place to do some breathing exercises after an intimidating meeting.
Over to you
Do you struggle to know the difference between good stress and bad stress? How do you make sure you find the right balance? We’d love to hear from you in the comments.
We’ll be back same time, same place next week with some more tips on managing stress. So if you haven’t already…