• Question: does our stress level affect how we behave

    Asked by virtnack to Luna, David on 15 Mar 2011 in Categories: .
    • Photo: David Pyle

      David Pyle answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Hi Virtnack – yes, from personal experience, I am sure that it does. It certainly seems to affect people’s judgement and decision-making ability. I’ll leave the explanations to those who are more qualified than me! 🙂

    • Photo: Luna Munoz

      Luna Munoz answered on 15 Mar 2011:

      Yes, it does. Stress affects people in different ways. Some people eat, some people drink, some people lash out, and some people cope in better ways than others.

      Researchers sometimes think of stress as having a greater or lesser effect on people depending on whether people think they can cope with the stress. Some people really thrive under stress. You know how some people say they do their best work when they are under pressure? Like that.

      So, you can find something stressful, but if you feel that you can cope with it => it becomes a challenge. If you find something stressful but you feel that your coping ability can’t keep up with the stress => it becomes a threat.

      Interestingly, people under threat/challenge may have the same amount of blood pumping through to their brains and muscles (usually it’s more when under stress), however the people who feel that they are under threat make their veins really narrow so blood can’t really travel efficiently. That’s why we find that people show higher blood pressure under threat conditions compared to under challenge, and high blood pressure is not really healthy.

Comments