Stress can make you stronger: the science of the stress-is-enhancing mindset

What you believe about stress changes what stress does to you. People who see stress as something that can enhance performance tend to do better, in health and in results, than people who see it as purely harmful. The reframe can be learned in minutes. It does not make hardship good, and it does not protect against chronic stress that wrecks sleep.

Stanford psychologist Alia Crum found that the public message treats stress as uniformly harmful, while the research is mixed. Stress can sharpen focus, and hard experiences can lead to growth. After the 2008 financial crisis she studied bank employees facing layoffs. Nine minutes of video over a week, presenting true facts about how stress can enhance, shifted their mindset. They then reported fewer physical symptoms and better work performance. People who see stress as debilitating, she says, tend to react one of two ways: "they freak out or they check out". Her method starts from the idea that we only stress about things we care about. Acknowledge the stress, welcome it as a sign of what matters to you, and use the energy toward that goal. She adds that the mindset brings more positive emotion, not necessarily less negative emotion.

Health psychologist Kelly McGonigal describes a study of 30,000 adults in which stress was linked to higher mortality only among those who believed stress was bad for them. She suggests reading a pounding heart as energy, not panic.

Psychologist David Yeager pairs the stress reframe with a growth mindset, the belief that abilities can change. The common view leads to "being stressed about being stressed". The alternative is to see a racing heart as the body sending oxygenated blood to brain and muscles. He explains that the same demand produces a threat response when you judge it beyond your resources, and a challenge response when you believe you can meet it. Short lessons improved teenagers' grades, but the effects lasted only where the environment supported them.

Andrew Huberman describes the body's shift under the enhancing mindset: shorter cortisol release and better blood flow. A single 30-minute online session teaching both mindsets changed students' stress responses and results. He stresses that this involves no lying, because the enhancing facts are true.

They differ on whether to calm down or gear up. Yeager and Crum say to use arousal before a performance, not soothe it away. Huberman also teaches calming tools. The article reads these as fitting different moments. McGonigal is more sweeping about the benefits, Yeager more cautious.

The limits are firm. The evidence is strongest for short-term stress tied to a goal. Stress is largely beneficial except when it becomes chronic or disrupts sleep, and Huberman treats more than about three days of poor sleep as a warning. If stress regularly damages your sleep, or you are dealing with anxiety, depression or trauma, see a doctor or mental health professional.

What to do with it: name what you care about behind the stress. Relabel the sensations as readiness. Before a performance, prepare instead of distracting yourself. List the resources you have and build more. Treat struggle as growth. Watch your sleep. When stress brings loneliness, reach out.