What is Stress?

Name: What is Stress?
Author: Karen Fabian

Learn the difference between good stress and bad stress and how to handle them

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Course: On-Demand

A recent survey conducted by the American Psychological Association found that 79% of employees experienced work related stress causing cognitive weariness, emotional exhaustion, and physical fatigue. In these lessons, you'll learn about the body's reaction to stress and how stress can act as a negative force or a positive one. Your ability to tell the difference can have a huge impact on your health, mind-set, and ability to progress in your life. Let's start with a little imagery exercise. Ready? To start out, close your eyes and imagine a place you love to visit. Imagine it in your mind. Imagine what it looks like. Notice the things you see, hear, smell, and how you feel. Now, open you eyes and determine how you feel right now. Now, take a deep breath in and out and close your eyes again. Imagine you need to give a presentation at work on a topic you love and that you understand very well. You might feel a little nervous. While you're not worried about your presentation because you know you're prepared, you still feel excited and energized by the idea of what might happen. Open your eyes again and ask yourself, what do you notice now in your body's response to that scenario? What stood out to you about that visualization? Would you consider either of these scenarios stressful? Certainly, the first scenario isn't stressful. You put yourself intentionally in a place and situation where you enjoy your surroundings and you get something positive out of it. It's nurturing and fun, and your body's response to being there is that you can see clearly, breathe easily, and you're aware of everything around you. In the second situation, the work presentation, you've got stress, but it's what you might call good stress. This is the sort of stress that's called performance stress. It's a feeling of anticipation, and even excitement, about what might happen. Athletes and stage performers talk about having feelings like this. This sort of stress helps you stay focused. It can affect your heart rate, body temperature, and even your mind-set. Good stress gives you focus and your less affected by distractions. Did you recognize that in each situation there were different feelings that came up, and each situation was different? In the first, there was a pleasant backdrop, something that was pleasurable and desirable to you. In the second scenario, there was a challenging situation, but you were up for the challenge. So the feelings you noticed were almost expected and not unpleasant. Both situations are examples of good stress.

Essential Provider : Karen Fabian 6 Lessons · 13m in Arabic, German, English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Chinese

Course Description

Stress can come from a variety of sources and while we can’t control all the situations that cause stress, we can control how we react to them. If you’re unprepared to deal with stress, we’re often caught in a cycle of reacting rather than managing it, which leaves us feeling anxious and frustrated. You’ll learn the difference between good stress and bad stress and how you body reacts to both. You’ll also learn how to use good stress to help you in performance situations and how to manage bad stress and keep its negative consequences from affecting your mental and physical health.

In “What is Stress?” you will learn how to distinguish between stress that can help you in certain situations, and stress that can negatively impact your health. You’ll practice a few visual imagery exercises to help you tune in to the different responses your body has naturally to stress. You’ll also learn how stress affects the body physically and mentally with steps you can take to help you manage some stressful of life’s situations.

What You'll Learn

Describe the different types of stress and how they affect you
Distinguish between good stress and bad stress and your body's reactions to each
Assess your current stress levels and recognize where you could benefit from stress management
Explain how stress affects you physically and mentally
Create a daily self-care routine
Identify ways to cope with life's challenges

Key Takeaways

While we cannot control all the situations that cause stress, we can control how we react to them.
There is a difference between good stress, which can help you in performance situations, and bad stress, which can negatively impact your mental and physical health.
Visual imagery exercises can help you tune in to the different responses your body naturally has to stress.
Stress affects the body both physically and mentally, and there are steps you can take to manage some of life's stressful situations.
Being unprepared to deal with stress can leave you caught in a cycle of reacting rather than managing it, feeling anxious and frustrated.

Frequently Asked Questions

What will I learn in this course?

You will learn to distinguish between stress that can help you in certain situations and stress that can negatively impact your health, how stress affects the body physically and mentally, and steps you can take to manage some of life's stressful situations.

Does this course include any practical exercises?

Yes. You will practice a few visual imagery exercises to help you tune in to the different responses your body has naturally to stress.

What topics are covered in the lessons?

The course covers an Introduction, the Definition and Types of Stress (Parts 1 and 2), how stress affects us physically, how stress affects us mentally, and a Test Your Knowledge section.

Will this course help me manage stress in daily life?

Yes. It helps you recognize where you could benefit from stress management, create a daily self-care routine, and identify ways to cope with challenges.