None of us are strangers to stress. But its prevalence shouldn’t be a reason to overlook its impact — or vilify it completely. After all, the stress response, widely known as our “fight or flight” response, evolved as a way to keep us alive.
By reframing our approach to stress, we can discover new opportunities for joy, connection and fulfillment in our everyday lives.
“Not all stress is bad stress,” says Glen Ledbetter, MD, chief medical officer, Baylor Scott & White DFW Central Region, and the lead of Baylor Scott & White Health’s Wellbeing in Medicine program. The American Medical Association recently recognized Baylor Scott & White Health as a Joy in Medicine™ organization, a distinction granted to organizations that demonstrate a commitment to preserving the well-being of clinical care team members through proven efforts to combat work-related stress and burnout.
As Ledbetter explains, stress can be both the energizing rush propelling creativity and the debilitating weight that leads to distress.
Stress can be deceptive, too. Its physical symptoms can masquerade as depression, anxiety, and a host of other conditions. Some common symptoms of stress include difficulty concentrating, lack of motivation, physical issues like stomachaches or headaches, and even impaired memory. “People may think it’s other things that are making them have sleep issues or feel lethargic,” shares Ledbetter. But high levels of stress can manifest as physical symptoms just like any other condition.
Stress can produce dramatic physical changes in us, partially because it can be strong enough to affect our physiology. “Long standing periods of stress can affect your blood sugar, blood pressure, muscles, joints and even your immune system,” Ledbetter says.
Of course, a heightened awareness of the impact stress can have may leave us, well, more stressed. Take a deep, slow breath and read on to discover some fresh perspectives on how to cope with — and prevent — seasons of high negative stress.
Aim for harmony over balance
Work is a critical aspect of our lives and often our purpose. And it’s not just paid work. When it comes to work stress, caregiving for children or adult family members certainly counts, too. Ledbetter advocates for a paradigm shift away from the elusive notion of “work-life balance” to a more sustainable approach: integration. “You can’t balance work and life consistently, but you can integrate them,” he says. Striving for that elusive balance can leave us more burned out than when we started, feeling professionally deflated and personally disillusioned. To move toward integration, clarify your personal values and identify the non-negotiable aspects of your life outside of work. Consider how the skills you refine at work can enrich your hobbies, passions or volunteer work — and vice versa.
Fresh idea: Take the pressure off and stop trying to endlessly balance your work and personal lives. Instead, aim to integrate them in a way that allows you to be both the healthiest and most effective version of yourself.
Customize your coping strategies
When stress creeps in, we all have strategies that we use to cope with the pressure. These strategies might be intentional or automatic, behavioral or cognitive, and positive or negative.
Why do we reach for coping strategies? “When you get stressed, you’re going to try to find a way to turn down the noise,” Ledbetter says. “You may leverage those bad coping strategies and it only perpetuates a negative cycle of more distress.” Coping strategies that don’t help in the long run are called maladaptive coping strategies — and we all engage in them at times. They can include substance abuse, over-caffeination, avoidance, perfectionism, overeating and negative self-talk.
Coping strategies can also be a powerful way to leverage bad stress for good. Adaptive coping strategies — being active, calling a friend, treating yourself to a relaxing bath, or just making time to sit and enjoy an interesting podcast — can effectively turn down the noise. Distracting your brain is not necessarily a bad thing.
Fresh idea: Take charge of your coping strategies. Choose a few positive ones to do regularly that work for you. What helps you feel your best? Books? Baths? Boxing? Customize your coping strategies to your needs and be sure to make time for them in your schedule.
Cultivate meaningful connections
The U.S. Surgeon General’s 2023 advisory on social connection stated we are in the midst of an epidemic of loneliness, citing that people across the country of all ages and socioeconomic backgrounds “felt isolated, invisible, and insignificant.” The advisory goes on to state that the effects of loneliness are associated with a greater risk of cardiovascular disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety and premature death.
This report was eye-opening to many, and the findings are sobering. But there’s a bright side and a clear call to action that is in reach for everyone: Build more connected lives. Reach out to neighbors. Share a meal. Call a friend. Get involved locally. There are endless ways to connect with those around you.
Additionally, deep personal relationships can help you rebound in times of immense stress. “When you look at social wellbeing, it’s fostering and developing deep friendships, connections with family, places that are safe to be vulnerable,” says Ledbetter. “You can share a distress that you’re dealing with at work or some other situation, and that brings you back to that sense of wellness.” Supportive relationships help ground us in stressful times.
Fresh idea: Make it easy to connect with new or old friends by finding ways that don’t take much time or money. Send voice memos back and forth or quick check-in texts to friends, or find time to take a quick walk or grab a coffee with a co-worker.
Despite the overwhelming presence of stress in our lives, we have remarkable opportunities to take control and mitigate its impact. By integrating work into the broader context of our lives rather than treating them as separate realms, we can begin to envision ourselves as committed and integrated contributors. We can purposefully select coping strategies tailored to our individual triggers and needs. And fostering more meaningful connections can help remind us of our greater purpose and simply add moments of joy to our days.
These proactive measures help us reclaim agency over our stress and cultivate a fulfilling life.
The takeaway? While stress shouldn’t be underestimated, neither should our capacity to overcome it.