The Relationship of Mindset and Stress

Amy Arnold
Jul 25
4 min read

Recently I’ve been experimenting with using mindset shifts to help me manage chronic stress. The early results are encouraging! Here’s what I’ve learned:

In psychology, mindset refers to our personal beliefs about ourselves and about how the world works. These personal beliefs have been studied extensively in contexts from education and learning to aging and belonging, and researchers have found that our mindset can have a broad range of effects on our physical bodies and physiology and even on our long-term happiness and success in life.

Because mindsets are core beliefs that act as a filter of meaning for everything we experience, they create bias that determine how we think, feel, and behave. Therefore, they can heavily influence how we interpret things, the decisions we make, and the actions we take.

When researchers studied the relationship of mindset to stress, they discovered that our personal beliefs about stress affect our thoughts, emotions, and physical response to stress. People who have a positive view of stress – believing stress is helpful – are more likely to view stressful situations as a challenge to be taken on rather than as a problem. They’re also more likely to have confidence in their ability to handle difficulties and to take positive action to cope with the stress.

Those findings were true whether the study participants naturally felt more positive about stress or if they were influenced to do so through mindset interventions, such as watching a short video about how stress can be helpful. That’s exciting, because this means even if we have a predisposition for a negative view of stress (or anything else) we can deliberately shift that mindset to a more positive one and reap the benefits.

Much of our human suffering arises from the way we think about things, so it makes sense that changing our thoughts can help relieve that suffering.

We’re all very familiar with the “fight-or-flight” stress response which is generally harmful to us (unless we’re in physical danger.) But research has shown that there are several types of stress response that have helpful effects, and these are mediated by various hormones released in the body such as epinephrine, cortisol, DHEA, endorphins, oxytocin, and dopamine.

Different contexts of stress and the various hormones produced can result in increased confidence, improved concentration, and enhanced performance under pressure (the challenge response); greater courage, desire for connection and cooperation, and motivation to protect others (the tend-and-befriend response); or learning from the stressful experience, finding meaning in it, and developing resilience (stress inoculation.)

Let’s look at some examples:

Do you or someone you know claim they thrive by putting off important tasks until the last moment because the stress helps them perform better? A medical school classmate claimed that when she delayed studying until shortly before a big exam she would have improved focus and retention of the material for a better grade. I was very skeptical, but research shows she was probably right - if the challenge response was triggered rather than fight-or-flight. What determines which response occurs in a specific situation for a particular person? Among other factors, it’s their mindset about stress.
When Hurricane Helene swept through my area of North Carolina and we all lost power and internet for days, many people felt an intense desire to check on neighbors, help clear trees, and volunteer at community centers. Friends in my community spent more time together than usual, sharing resources and laughter during a very stressful time. This is the tend-and-befriend response on a large scale.
Shortly after a stressful event we enter a recovery phase, mediated by hormones that affect the brain and full body. For a few hours the brain actively processes the experience to facilitate remembering and learning from it, usually accompanied by a variety of emotions. This stress inoculation helps us better manage similar stress in the future; people in highly stressful jobs and other situations are often trained to handle stress in emergencies and intense situations by deliberately exposing them to “practice” stress. And if your mindset includes viewing stress as an opportunity to learn and grow, you’re more likely to have a helpful challenge response rather than fight-or-flight.

Life stress can overwhelm you or it can empower you.

Imagine a recent stressful situation from your own life, perhaps an angry argument, an unexpected household expense, or a health concern. You may have felt your heart racing, sweaty palms, nervous energy, and emotions of fear, anger, or anxiety. What could you do in the midst of a stress response to shift it from “threat” to “challenge opportunity?”

Become fully aware of your physical symptoms, thoughts, and emotions without trying to escape from them. Remind yourself they’re not dangerous and are a sign that something you care about is at stake. Know they can be harnessed to help you in this situation.
Focus on how you can handle the situation. Think about all the resources you can call on, acknowledge the personal strengths you can use, and remember times when you’ve overcome previous stressful situations.
Try to view your feelings of stress as a resource themselves, motivating you to act wisely to manage the situation, get help from others, and use the energy of the response in constructive ways rather than trying to get rid of it.
When the immediate threat is over, contemplate what happened, what it means to you, what you’ve learned, and how you could handle it in the future. Journaling about it can facilitate strengthening a positive mindset about stress over time.

It hasn’t happened overnight, but using these strategies has helped me in my own life when stress inevitably arises. The “stress is helpful” mindset is just one part of an overall positive view of life that contributes greatly to well-being. I suggest you’ll see benefits, too, if you begin to think of stress this way. Experiment with the 4 steps above when stressed, and talk about it with people you’re close to. I’d love to hear if you have other effective strategies for managing stress constructively – please share them!