A review by teelock
The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It by Kelly McGonigal

5.0

In a talk given at TED Global 2013 that has more than 20 million online views on the TED website, McGonigal said she had re-evaluated her ideas about stress in the light of new research on how the beliefs held about stress, such as thinking of stress as bad, can affect health. Citing a study suggesting that those who believe stress is bad for them to suffer an adverse effect on their life expectancy, she now emphasizes that choosing to view one's stress response as helpful creates the "biology of courage" while connecting with others under stress can create resilience. According to McGonigal, "the old understanding of stress as an unhelpful relic of our animal instincts is being replaced by the understanding that stress actually makes us socially smart – it's what allows us to be fully human.". The thesis behind the TED talk and book have subsequently been found by some as possibly flawed.