doing damage is not the stress but the emotions we face

Not all stress he comes to harm. To damage the brain they are actually the negative emotions we experience when we face a problem. This is evident from a study conducted by Oregon State University on the effects of stress on the cognitive decline of the elderly.

Stress and emotional reactions

The researchers involved 111 people aged 65 to 95 who were followed for two and a half years in this study. In particular, every six months, the volunteers answered a series of questionnaires to measure their cognitive abilities.

For example, it was asked what emotions they badociated with stressful situations lived alone, or with friends or family. Volunteers had to quantify these emotions on a scale of varying intensity including both positive and negative emotional responses.

At the end of the information gathered, it appeared that people who reacted to stressful events with more negative emotions had greater variability in their abilities. mental performance. In particular, they achieved lower cognitive scores.

Therefore, those who address the problems and difficulties of life with negative emotions risk a deterioration of brain function compared to more optimistic and positive.

Stress: it's not always negative

In fact, the stress in itself, it is not negative because it indicates a response of adaptation of the organism to a situation perceived as excessive. We must therefore learn to manage the symptoms that indicate it, because it is not possible to avoid it. Cultivating positive emotions in adversity can also help to ensure that stress does not take over the brain and does not damage it.