The last few years have left us more stressed than ever and Americans are among the most stressed people in the world.
Beyond well-studied health effects, stress has other consequences, like triggering compulsive and escapist behaviors, such as eating poorly or watching too much TV. Any addict will tell you that few things can trigger a relapse as easily as stress.
That’s because stress is our warning and action system. It demands resolution. Instead of resolving it, people use coping mechanisms like shopping or drinking to temporarily quiet it and that only compounds the problem.
In a country racked by rising personal debt, obesity, and addiction, this is worth considering.
But even psychological stress can become hormetic and make us psychologically stronger. This is the process of building resilience.
The reality is that psychological stress is something we create in our minds. While outside events may trigger our stress, it is our own internal response that maintains it.
After Viktor Frankl survived 18 months in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1944, he came to an understanding that made him one of the most influential neurologists and psychiatrists of the 20th century, best known for his 1946 book, “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
“Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,” he wrote.
The power to control our own thoughts and attitudes is one of the most powerful abilities a human can gain. In some ways, it is the defining quality of a dignified human life. The more we exercise this power, the stronger our minds become.
It lets us escape the endless triggers of stress and find a better way to resolve difficult challenges—with the full benefit of our best mental capabilities.
