Stress has become part and parcel of our daily life. IT comes to us n various forms, be it the stress caused by traffic or increased workload. It could also be due to some external happening. It is hard to come across people who do not experience any stress at all. And because of this, most of us hope to live a stress-free life.
Surprisingly, according to reports, some people always feel super-charged and stressfree most times. Though in any other situation, these people would be the most envied. Researchers have found that there are downsides to feeling no stress at all.
Study shows that people with lower stress levels were more likely to experience daily well-being and fewer chronic health conditions. But according to the study based on stress-free people, such people were more likely to show lower cognitive functions.
So as it turns out, daily stressors have potential benefits for the brain. "It's possible that experiencing stressors creates opportunities for you to solve a problem, for example, maybe fixing your computer that has suddenly broken down before an important Zoom meeting," said researcher David M. Almeida, from Penn State.
"So experiencing these stressors may not be pleasant but they may force you to solve a problem, and this might actually be good for cognitive functioning, especially as we grow older," Almeida added.
Through previously studies have always focused their attention on the negative aspects of stress such as the risk of chronic illness, emotional wellbeing and mental health. Almeida's study puts the attention on the some-what positive aspect of stress.
The study was published in the journal Emotion, and was based on the data collected from 2,711 participants.
The participants took a short cognition test, prior to the study.
Following this, the participants were interviewed for eight consecutive nights. They were asked to answer questions about their mood, chronic conditions they may have, their physical symptoms -- such as headaches, coughs or sore throats -- and what they did during that day.
Upon acquiring the data, the researcher analysed that there were benefits for those who reported no stressors, which was about 10 per cent of the participants. These participants were less likely to have chronic health conditions and experience better moods throughout the day.
However, those who reported no stressors also performed lower on the cognition test, with the difference equalling more than eight years of ageing.
Additionally, they were also less likely to report giving or receiving emotional support, as well as less likely to experience positive things happening throughout the day.
(With inputs from IANS)
