Athletes Use Stress to Boost Their Well-Being—and You Can Too

Athletes Use Stress to Boost Their Well-Being—and You Can Too
Stress can cause biochemical changes in the body that wear you down and lead to illness. Your "stress mindset" can change that though.marino bocelli/Shutterstock
Updated:

Almost everyone wants to know how to reduce stress. After all, stress can have many negative effects on both our physical and mental health. An increasing body of evidence shows that changing the way we think about stress might actually better help us manage it. Not only can this improve our well-being, including our mental health, it can also make us better able to thrive in stressful situations in the future. And the way you can learn to do this is from athletes.

The way a person thinks about stress in general is called a “stress mindset.” Some people see stress as something negative and think that it should be avoided completely. Others see stress more positively and think it will have benefits for their health, performance, or productivity.

Paul Mansell 
Paul Mansell 
Ph.D
Related Topics