Stress In Kelly Mcgonigal's In The Assigned TED Talks

Psychology is the scientific study of the mind. Biopsychology is the study of the physiological and biological aspects of psychology; Stress is defined as, “the response of the body to any demand, whether it is caused by, or results in, pleasant or unpleasant conditions (Selye).” In the assigned TED Talks, Kelly McGonigal proposes that stress should be viewed as good for your health; Brene Brown touches on the subject of vulnerability and how vulnerability affects our lives.

Kelly McGonigal starts off her presentation by claiming that she has told her patient's, stress is the enemy and it should be eliminated. However, little did Kelly know, stress should be embraced due to the fact that stress can shape an individual’s mentality and body.

In chapter 14 of our psychology book, two different forms of stress are found, eustress (good form of stress; low to moderate in intensity; associated with positive feelings) and distress (bad form of stress; usually high in intensity; associated with erosions in performance and health), which I assume Kelly is referring to when she mentions how we should embrace stress such as eustress. Furthermore, Kelly shows statistics previous to the year of her presentation showing rates of individuals who have stress and have passed away. The statistic that caught my eye was the fact that 182,000 premature deaths came from people who believed stress has a negative factor for health. Chapter 14 of the Psychology textbook also explains how coping (mental and behavioral efforts that we use to deal with stress) with stress will lead to a healthier lifestyle otherwise, not coping with stress may cause hypertension (physical strain on the heart due to harder pump levels). Lastly, Kelly proved to the audience that participants who viewed stress as helpful were less stressed and anxious, while building up more confidence.

Brene Brown begins her presentation with a quote: “If you can’t measure it, it doesn’t exist.” Brene Brown slowly builds up her presentation by bringing up connection. Brene associates connection to vulnerability. Furthermore, Brene begins her research on vulnerability, which leads her to study over six years. Brene’s research shows that many individuals have compassion towards other people rather than themselves. Furthermore, Brene found that many people suffer from vulnerability due to the fact that they numb themselves. Numbing causes individuals to lose joy, appreciation, and gratitude which leads to misery. Vulnerability is caused by certainty, which means individuals take everything as is. Ultimately, to prevent vulnerability Brene suggests that people should acknowledge our imperfections and to learn to appreciate what we have.