Starting at a very early age, we are taught that adult life is ‘stressful.’ In this mindset, adulthood requires responsibility and achievement, which we accomplish by challenging ourselves and feeling stressed.
This traditional view of stress implies that if we are not stressed, we are not striving to become our best selves.
Until the ‘50s, stress was not an object of scientific attention. The golden age of the welfare state brought increased leisure time and growing criticism towards work. Thus, the Western world acknowledged stress only recently.
Because stress impacts our minds and bodies, it is crucial to study.
This article hopes that by understanding stress and how we perceive it, we can change the narrative of “all stress is bad for you.” As it turns out, associating stress with negativity can intensify our experience of stress itself.