Can Stress Ever Be Good for Me?

If you have ever felt the motivational push of stress, you’ll know it can have its benefits. There’s a fine balance to be kept between “good” and “bad” stress, however.

The natural “stress” hormones your body produces, and their effects on the body), are vital in providing you with the energy, strength, and single-mindedness to overcome physical and mental challenges. If your body can’t produce enough cortisol to sustain you, then you’ll be weak and fatigued. Without cortisol, your blood pressure and blood sugar will drop, you will be thirsty, and a sudden injury, infection, or bout of strenuous exercise could even lead to sudden death.

Not only is a stress response key to keeping you alive, but moderate pressure in daily life can do you good; regular pulses of adrenaline and cortisol when you’re excited, motivated, or exercising improve concentration and provide small boosts in your mood.

However, constant and extreme demands will always be harmful (see How Can I Deal with Constant Stress?), and if you’re always falling ill when away from the stressor (see Why Am I Always Ill When I Stop Working?), then that stress is doing you no good at all.

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balanced demands

When life is manageable, the stress response is invigorating and sustaining. But when your demands seem to exceed your capacity, the stress response is ever-present and damaging.