The stress we have in our day to day lives which has been on a peak in the last 2 years due to covid, wars and global uncertainty. Almost 70% of adults have experienced extreme stress ever since the pandemic.

Chronic stress can cause severe physical, mental and emotional problems.

But we not only have negative stresses but we also have stresses that's good for us.

Felice Martin, MS, NCC, LPC, Certified Professional Counselor Supervisor, NeuroCoach+ NeuroLeader, Behavioral Health Associates of Georgia, LLC, explained about the good stress and she said that “Eustress is a great thing. Eustress could be starting a new job, having something exciting happening, moving into a new home… It’s a good stress".

Good stress can aid us in defending the body that's against oxidative damage, and it impacts aging and disease. This can also improve brain function and can even lessen the possibility of mental health conditions, as per the new study.

As we check into how good stress can reduce down the risk of mental health problems and also how it can protect against the future stressful situations.

The researchers also analyzed the participants neurocognitive abilities, which includes memory, attention and the ability to switch between the tasks.

Assaf Oshri, PhD, Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Science at The University of Georgia. Dr. Oshri is the lead author of the study, explains that, “Most of the research on stress and adversity is focus on the negative effect it bears on people. Although stress is often harmful, in certain context and in a measured way, it may have some protective benefits for cognitive functioning and mental health that may help us cope with future stress".

“Lower levels of stress are associated with elevated levels of [cognitive] functioning (for example, working memory) whereas high levels of stress start to be harmful … as they are associated with reduced [cognitive] functioning,” Dr Oshri notes.

Sources- Verywell Mind