Manage stress like a surgeon

Achieve what seems impossible by embracing challenges, turning pressure into action, and by thriving under pressure.

What is stress?

Stress is your body's response to any demand or stimulus.

That’s it. By definition, everything that has any impact on an individual causes “stress”. Stress is necessary, desired and beneficial, as it allows individuals to live, learn and operate in the real world.

Because “stress” is defined as every thing that has any impact on us, it can’t be thought of in the categories of being either good or bad.

Think of “stress” as your automatic reaction to any change in your environment.

Somehow, society has managed to demonise stress and monetise “solutions” that help people “not to feel stressed” or “manage stress”. While I am sure those are great money makers - it is all bulls*it.

Eustress vs Distress

There are two commonly defined (or advertised) “types” of stress, which we can use here to operationalise our thinking about stress.

Typically, in popular psychology and on social media, what is presented as “stress”, is in fact a “distress”.

Let’s take a closer look:

Distress

A distress is a negative perception or interpretation of demand or stimulus that typically feels overwhelming and reduces one's ability to cope with demands or stimuli.

Distress typically stems from adverse or unpleasant interpretation of events or circumstances, leading to feeling of anxiety, depression, and decreased performance or health as a consequence.

Eustress

Eustress is a positive interpretation of a demand or a stimulus that feels motivating or fulfilling. It's associated with feeling of being in control, or being “comfortable in a discomfort”. It contributes to improved performance, focus, and feeling of excitement towards an activity or goal, and has a positive impact on health.

Now here is the catch: Biologically and physiologically, this is exactly the same process. The only difference is in the subjective interpretation of the experience.

Therefore you can define stress as a buildup of emotional pressure as a result of external or internal factors (such as deadlines, or own thoughts)

Stress on it’s own is neither good nor bad

What matters is how we think when we feel the symptoms of stress.

The ONLY aspect of how stress impacts an individual depends on his/her thoughts and interpretation of the feeling of stress.

So let’s learn how this works and what we can do to use stressors to move forward in life!

What does stress do to your body, and how does this feel?

Typical biological response includes: