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SHORT-EVERYTHING SHORTS PODCAST
Listen and fill in the blanks:
OK, it's unrealistic to think you're going to eliminate stress in your life, but we can manage .
Sometimes that means reframing how we think about .
As part of our Stress Less series, NPR's Allison Aubrey set out to answer this question - when can stress be good for ?
There's no doubt that chronic stress is bad for our health, but acute stress in the moments amid a challenging situation is .
You know that feeling when your palms get a little clammy and your heart rate speeds up, just before you do something that you're nervous to ?
Dan Harris describes this is the way he felt before a recent TV .
DAN In the seconds before I went on, just kind of pacing around backstage, still nervous, just reminding myself over and over again stress and anxiety are totally .
The appearance went .
And that's probably not a surprise given all his .
Harris is a former TV reporter and now hosts a podcast, "10% ."
So why did he experience some of the classic signs of a stress response? Well, he's come to think of sweaty palms and nerves as his body's way to prepare him to .
Instead of telling yourself a story that you're having crippling anxiety, you can tell yourself a more empowering story, which is, I'm .
Interpreting these physiological signs of stress as a kind of excitement puts a more positive spin on acute .
And researcher Jeremy Jamieson of the University of Rochester says stress can have real functional .
It can be a source of .
Increasing our heart rate, the purpose of that is to get oxygenated blood to our brain and to our .
Oxygen is very good for helping us process information .
It's very good helping us .
Humans have long faced threats from predators, and our fight-or-flight response developed to help us handle these .
But the kinds of stressful situations we face today have .
Jamieson says some of our stress comes from situations or challenges that can actually be growth opportunities, say, a job interview, asking someone out on a date, giving a .
These are contexts where we have to do .
Maybe we have an exam; we have a job interview, and we have to marshal our .
Our stress responses are going to help us take on those .
In those situations in particular, you actually use your stress to help you drive .
Research going back decades suggests that stress can boost performance in students taking .
Researcher Wendy Berry Mendes of Yale University points to studies from Scandinavia where they measured students' stress .
Those who had a greater increase in catecholamines - that's your epinephrine, norepinephrine - the greater the increase in catecholamines the morning of the test was associated with better performance on that .
Here's the .
Not everyone responds to stressors in the same .
Test anxiety is real for some, and this can work against .
So Jamieson says one workaround is to help people reappraise their .
In his research, he and his collaborators studied community college students who were told about the potential benefits of stress before they took a .
Then they actually tended to do .
By informing people about the benefits of stress responses in these settings, they latched on to this idea that I don't need to waste this time and resources dampening my . I can lean into my stress. I can use my stress, actually, as fuel that's going to help me do important things.
It's a lesson Dan Harris has learned from .
What I love about this idea is that even just knowing that there's such a thing as good stress is .
It's an opportunity to flip the script and reappraise a stressful situation as an .
Allison Aubrey, NPR .
Answer Key:
- 1. it
- 2. it
- 3. you
- 4. different
- 5. do
- 6. appearance
- 7. normal
- 8. great
- 9. experience
- 10. Happier
- 11. perform
- 12. excited
- 13. stress
- 14. benefits
- 15. fuel
- 16. periphery
- 17. quickly
- 18. perform
- 19. threats
- 20. shifted
- 21. presentation
- 22. something
- 23. resources
- 24. challenges
- 25. forward
- 26. tests
- 27. hormones
- 28. test
- 29. challenge
- 30. way
- 31. performance
- 32. stress
- 33. test
- 34. better
- 35. stress
- 36. experience
- 37. empowering
- 38. opportunity
- 39. News
Transcript:
You're absolutely right! I keep forgetting the third part of the task. I apologize for the oversight. Here's the original text formatted with paragraph tags:OK, it's unrealistic to think you're going to eliminate stress in your life, but we can manage it. Sometimes that means reframing how we think about it. As part of our Stress Less series, NPR's Allison Aubrey set out to answer this question - when can stress be good for you?
There's no doubt that chronic stress is bad for our health, but acute stress in the moments amid a challenging situation is different. You know that feeling when your palms get a little clammy and your heart rate speeds up, just before you do something that you're nervous to do? Dan Harris describes this is the way he felt before a recent TV appearance.
DAN In the seconds before I went on, just kind of pacing around backstage, still nervous, just reminding myself over and over again stress and anxiety are totally normal.
The appearance went great. And that's probably not a surprise given all his experience. Harris is a former TV reporter and now hosts a podcast, "10% Happier." So why did he experience some of the classic signs of a stress response? Well, he's come to think of sweaty palms and nerves as his body's way to prepare him to perform.
Instead of telling yourself a story that you're having crippling anxiety, you can tell yourself a more empowering story, which is, I'm excited.
Interpreting these physiological signs of stress as a kind of excitement puts a more positive spin on acute stress. And researcher Jeremy Jamieson of the University of Rochester says stress can have real functional benefits. It can be a source of fuel.
Increasing our heart rate, the purpose of that is to get oxygenated blood to our brain and to our periphery. Oxygen is very good for helping us process information quickly. It's very good helping us perform.
Humans have long faced threats from predators, and our fight-or-flight response developed to help us handle these threats. But the kinds of stressful situations we face today have shifted. Jamieson says some of our stress comes from situations or challenges that can actually be growth opportunities, say, a job interview, asking someone out on a date, giving a presentation.
These are contexts where we have to do something. Maybe we have an exam; we have a job interview, and we have to marshal our resources. Our stress responses are going to help us take on those challenges. In those situations in particular, you actually use your stress to help you drive forward.
Research going back decades suggests that stress can boost performance in students taking tests. Researcher Wendy Berry Mendes of Yale University points to studies from Scandinavia where they measured students' stress hormones.
Those who had a greater increase in catecholamines - that's your epinephrine, norepinephrine - the greater the increase in catecholamines the morning of the test was associated with better performance on that test.
Here's the challenge. Not everyone responds to stressors in the same way. Test anxiety is real for some, and this can work against performance. So Jamieson says one workaround is to help people reappraise their stress. In his research, he and his collaborators studied community college students who were told about the potential benefits of stress before they took a test. Then they actually tended to do better.
By informing people about the benefits of stress responses in these settings, they latched on to this idea that I don't need to waste this time and resources dampening my stress. I can lean into my stress. I can use my stress, actually, as fuel that's going to help me do important things.
It's a lesson Dan Harris has learned from experience.
What I love about this idea is that even just knowing that there's such a thing as good stress is empowering.
It's an opportunity to flip the script and reappraise a stressful situation as an opportunity.
Allison Aubrey, NPR News.
