To illustrate this point, Dr. McGonigal brings up a 2013 study done at University at Buffalo that tracked 1000 adults aged 34 to 93. The researchers started the study by asking how much stress have you experienced in the last year. They also asked how much time have you spent helping friends, neighbors, people in your community. And then they used public records over the next 5 years to find out who died. They found that for every major stressful life experience such as financial difficulties or family crisis that increased the risk of dying by 30%. But that wasn’t true for everyone. People who spent time caring for others showed absolutely no increase in stress-related increase in dying. This means caring created resilience. This once again shows that the harmful effects of stress on our health are not inevitable. How we think and how we act can transform our experiences of stress.
Ways to educate people about stress management techniques
One avenue of educating individuals of the symptoms of stress and stress management techniques discussed above is through the healthcare system, for example when people go into doctor’s offices for regular check-up Another is through mass communication such as posters in hospitals and physician’s offices, in public places sponsored by government bodies, as well as on the walls of workplaces. A third way would be through stress management sessions organized by employers for their employees and by community centers for people in their community.
Level 3: On the edge of the cliff
This level includes people who are experiencing some level of stress but who have not developed symptoms discussed in level 2 yet, but if not managed well may start to develop those symptoms. Intervention at this level includes the stress management techniques discussed in level 2. The difference between this level and level 2 is that it is a more proactive approach. Employers, governments and communities would be more preemptively educating people about how to incorporate stress management techniques into their daily lives, organize events that are aimed at stress reduction and even bring in cutting research such as those by Dr. McGonigal about viewing stress in a different way to make it more helpful and to make us more social and empathetic. For example, my company has organized health talks on stress management, positive psychology, and healthy eating. The company also sponsors employee groups such as the running club, photography club and baking club. It also organizes periodic group activities such yoga, aerobics classes, soccer games and cricket games. All these activities have the purpose of establishing stronger bonds among employees but also have the very important benefits of promoting healthy life style and reducing stress.
