Cognitive
Cognitive approaches include changing the way we perceive stress and stressful events. Researchers found that, when we are trying to manage stress, what matters more than the event itself is our thoughts about the event (Nordqvist, 2015). How someone sees that stressful event will be the largest single factor that impacts their physical and mental health. How one interprets the events and challenges in life may decide whether he/she finds them invigorating or harmful.
Perception of stress affects heart attack risk. For example, one research found that people who believe their stress is affecting their health in a big way are twice as likely to have a heart attack ten years later (Nordqvist, 2015). In a study done at Pennsylvania State University, researchers found that stress was not the problem, but rather how we react to stressors. It appears that how patients react to stress is a predictor of their health a decade later, regardless of their present health condition and stressors. Lead researcher, Professor David Almeida said “For example, if you have a lot of work to do today and you are really grumpy because of it, then you are more likely to suffer negative health consequences 10 years from now than someone who also has a lot of work to do today, but doesn’t let it bother her” (Nordqvist, 2015).
In a 2013 TedTalk and in her book the Upside of Stress Dr. Kelly McGonigal takes the perception of stress even further to say that stress can actually be helpful. She begins by citing a study that tracked 30,000 adults in the US over 8 years (McGonigal, 2013). The study found that people who experienced a lot of stress in the previous year had a 43% risk of dying; but that was only true for people who also believed that stress is harmful for your health. People who experienced a lot of stress but who didn’t believe that stress was harmful to their health had no higher risk of dying. In fact, they had the lowest risk of dying, including the people who experienced relatively little stress. Researchers estimated that in the 8 years that they were tracking deaths there were 182,000 Americans who died prematurely not from stress but from the belief that stress is bad for you. That is over 20,000 deaths a year, which if it’s correct, would make believing stress is bad for you the 15th largest cause of death in the US in 2012, killing more people than skin cancer, HIV/AIDS, and homicide.
