You can pick up negativity
just like secondhand smoke."
- Shawn Achor
By now we all know that secondhand smoke is dangerous to our health.
But how about stress? Is stress contagious? Is there such thing as secondhand stress?
The answer to this question is YES.
We can pick up negativity, stress and uncertainty like secondhand smoke.
How about the person at work that gets agitated because he/she is not being able to do everything on their to-do list. How about the person that gets frantic if he/she is missing a phone call or a text and can't answer it right away. Or the person that is going through a nasty divorce or is having some financial difficulties and they desperately need you to listen to every tiny detail.
Secondhand stress is also more contagious from a romantic partner than a stranger.
How do you feel after spending time with these people? A little on the agitated yourself?
According to research, the negative effects of stress, like increased levels of the hormone cortisol can actually be triggered merely but observing a person who is wound up.
If someone in your visual field is anxious and highly expressive, either verbally or non-verbally, there is a big chance that you will experience these emotions as well and unfortunately it will negatively impact your brain's performance.
They have found out through experiments with mice that if a mouse is getting a light electrical chock the other mouse will react with alarm.
Like if you watch a co-worker getting chewed out by the boss, you will get knots in your stomach. You are not getting chewed out yourself but you know exactly how it feels.
We know that prolonged stress is bad for our health. It weakens the immune system and it will also increase the risk for heart disease, high blood pressure and sometimes even death.
I am a highly empathic person and sometimes this is causing me a lot of pain and loss of energy.
If you are a empathic person it's easy to want to get away from highly stressed people and situations to avoid being totally drained by the stress and negativity. On the other hand we don't want to completely lose our compassion for others, but at the same time we don't want our compassion to cause us pain.
The key is to recognize what is our own stress and what is someone else's stress.
When we are calmer and more relaxed we are better able to recognize secondhand stress and we are also better able to separate other people's stress from our state of being.
When you can recognize other people's stress and realizing what is yours and what isn't, then you are in a better position to help others.
A Few Tips!
One of the best tools against picking up other people's stress is a stable and strong self-esteem. The higher your self-esteem, the more likely you will feel that you can deal with whatever situation you face.
Exercising is a great way to build your self-esteem. When you exercise your body releases endorphins.
Endorphins are morphine-like chemicals produces by the body that help diminish pain while triggering positive feelings.
How are we going to protect ourselves in the future from other people's stress and negativity?
In order to be able to protect ourselves from other peoples stress is to improve our own emotional immune system.
Our own mindset affects not only ourselves but also other people.
"Adapting the right attitude can convert a
negative stress into a positive one."
- Hans Selye
www.karinglannstam.com
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