Essay on How to Make Stress Your Friend

In this Ted Talk essay on “How to Make Stress Your Friend” by Kelly McGonigal, the author states that unmanaged stress is a significant mortality and sickness cause in the world. While most individuals fear and avoid worry, some harness its negative implications to boost their mental achievement. McGonigal’s video reiterates that stress is valuable when taken positively. It illuminates my experiences with financial tension management, mentions the importance of embracing stress, informs a pressure-relieving approach through harnessing the resulting physical responses, and teaches that oxytocin is beneficial when battling anxiety.

The Main Theme of the Video

The video’s main point is that stress is a friend. For example, McGonigal details that one hundred eighty-two thousand premature deaths occurred in eight years due to the belief that stress is harmful (00:02:26 – 00:02:36). In other words, the victims made mental strain an enemy and were at higher risk of dying. Therefore, the video echoes that most stress-related demises can be attributed to people being easily overwhelmed by stress. Such persons adopt ineffective ways of avoiding anxiety rather than embracing and harnessing its energy.

Personal Experience

The short video relates to my personal experiences of dealing with financial stress. Major stressors like financial challenges increased mortality risks by 30 percent (McGonigal 00:11:30 – 00:11:40). Truly, one feels more pressure when handling economic encumbrances. For instance, my close cousin’s friend died after battling stress due to financial difficulties. Any time I get economic challenges, I remember such suicidal vulnerabilities associated with the worry. Consequently, I find ways to embrace and relieve my stress through constructive associations and borrowing from colleagues and family.

Importance

The video is essential since it reiterates the importance of embracing stress. For instance, about 60 percent higher death risks are associated with severe familial and financial anxieties (Taylor par. 1). This statistic is a warning of why I need to focus on finding healthy ways to deal with such extreme stressors. Accordingly, I should not accumulate any type of stress without finding a practical solution. This realization is vital since it encourages proactive and embracive measures against worry.

Applying the Information

I will apply the lessons to my stress-relieving approach by accepting the resulting physical responses. Stressed organisms have highly active biological functions demanding more neurotransmitters and energy release (Lehrer and Woolfolk 62). Thus, body functions, such as cardiovascular rates and vessel constriction, fluctuate. I will harness such responses by perceiving them positively. McGonigal says, “This is my body helping me rise to the challenge” (00:07:17 – 00:07:21). She says this to restate a stress-embracing approach that helps one control the apprehensive biological reactions. Indeed, I will master how my body responds to stress to harness the benefits of released neuro-hormones like oxytocin.

Interesting Fact

I was surprised to learn the role of oxytocin as a primary hormone associated with stress. Oxytocin production increases the tendency to be more compassionate and empathetic (Kucerova et al. 2). In this case, one becomes more charitable and sympathetic when under tension. McGonigal explains that individuals who care for others do not experience stress (00:11:46 – 00:11:54). It means that being a giver reduces the adverse implications of stress. Consequently, we should embrace empathetic interactions to improve our coping capabilities.

Summing Up

McGonigal’s speech expresses recent findings that indicate how one can utilize stress as a source of psychological strength. Many people dread and abhor stress, but others learn to exploit it as a drive towards success. In turn, I will master my physical stress responses to foster my resilience against anxiety and use the lessons to regulate my vulnerability to financial, familial, and other life strains.

Works Cited

Kucerova, Barbora, et al. “From Oxytocin to Compassion: The Saliency of Distress.” Biology, vol. 12, no. 2, 2023, pp. 1–23, doi: 10.3390/biology12020183.

Lehrer, Paul M., and Robert L. Woolfolk. Principles and Practice of Stress Management, 4th ed., The Guilford Press, New York, 2021.

McGonigal, Kelly. “How to Make Stress Your Friend.” TED, 2013, www.ted.com/talks/kelly_mcgonigal_how_to_make_stress_your_friend.

Taylor, Ashley P. “In Older Adults, Money Problems Linked to Higher Risk of Death Following Heart Attack.” Yale School of Medicine, 23 Feb. 2022, medicine.yale.edu/news-article/in-older-adults-money-problems-linked-to-higher-risk-of-death-following-heart-attack-study/.