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A review by lilyevangeline
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonigal
4.0
I hesitate to use the phrase "life-changing" in regards to anything, but reading this book has actually been a pretty significant experience for me and initiated rather a shift in my mental landscape, especially as I've been trying to sort through my own anxiety, dread, and a variety of other feelings, good and bad, that I have with regards to my own adequacy or lack thereof while preparing to apply for school. I've been told med school is "living hell," and so as busy as my life is now, it seems probable that my life will only get more stressful from here on out.
The time has come to deal or keel. Thus. This book.
I first learned about Kelly McGonigal after watching her 2013 TED talk, How To Make Stress Your Friend, and while what she presented in that talk was intriguing, it wasn't until I read the book that I felt I really accepted/believed what she had to say.
The message is pretty simple: We've been told all our lives, by health professionals and authorities of all stripes, that stress is bad for us, associated with an early grave, and we should avoid and minimize it at all costs. McGonigal, however, presents an increasing and astonishing body of evidence that rather unequivocally shows that stress only has a negative affect on health (both physical and mental) if you believe that it does.
People with high-stress lives who have a more positive approach to stress, seeing it as a natural part of life and an opportunity for personal growth/etc/etc, not only have none of the negative health issues associated with stress, but actually seem to perform better by most standards of professional and interpersonal success, in addition to apparently leading happier, more fulfilling lives.
I can't explain the whole thing as well as she can, so I won't even bother (watch the TED talk if you want a summarized version), but suffice to say, there's more evidence to back it up than you would think, and it's not an "I think I can I think I can" stubborn positivity mumbo-jumbo, or a ignoring/denial of stress/suffering/etc, or a "you can't have happiness without sadness so how about we see your awful life as a blessing" kind of thing, though it can kind of seem that way at first glance.
It's about understanding our bodies, why they behave the way that they do under stress, and how we can change our own mindsets about stress to work with our bodies instead of against them.
The book can get a bit repetitive at times, thus the 4 stars, but I still feel that it is definitely worth the read and adds a lot of information (specifically more studies/research, interesting info about the stress response, and practical application) that isn't covered in the TED talk and that is worth the time.
The time has come to deal or keel. Thus. This book.
I first learned about Kelly McGonigal after watching her 2013 TED talk, How To Make Stress Your Friend, and while what she presented in that talk was intriguing, it wasn't until I read the book that I felt I really accepted/believed what she had to say.
The message is pretty simple: We've been told all our lives, by health professionals and authorities of all stripes, that stress is bad for us, associated with an early grave, and we should avoid and minimize it at all costs. McGonigal, however, presents an increasing and astonishing body of evidence that rather unequivocally shows that stress only has a negative affect on health (both physical and mental) if you believe that it does.
People with high-stress lives who have a more positive approach to stress, seeing it as a natural part of life and an opportunity for personal growth/etc/etc, not only have none of the negative health issues associated with stress, but actually seem to perform better by most standards of professional and interpersonal success, in addition to apparently leading happier, more fulfilling lives.
I can't explain the whole thing as well as she can, so I won't even bother (watch the TED talk if you want a summarized version), but suffice to say, there's more evidence to back it up than you would think, and it's not an "I think I can I think I can" stubborn positivity mumbo-jumbo, or a ignoring/denial of stress/suffering/etc, or a "you can't have happiness without sadness so how about we see your awful life as a blessing" kind of thing, though it can kind of seem that way at first glance.
It's about understanding our bodies, why they behave the way that they do under stress, and how we can change our own mindsets about stress to work with our bodies instead of against them.
The book can get a bit repetitive at times, thus the 4 stars, but I still feel that it is definitely worth the read and adds a lot of information (specifically more studies/research, interesting info about the stress response, and practical application) that isn't covered in the TED talk and that is worth the time.