Ted Talk by Kelly McGonigal

In the Ted Talk by Kelly McGonigal, McGonigal tells her audience of the different effects stress can have on a person and their health. She starts off by telling the audience about a study called the social stress test. The study found that people who experience a lot of risk in the past year had a 43% increase in chance of dying, but only people who believed stress is harmful to their health. People who didn’t believe stress was harmful did not have an increase in chances of dying even if they had a lot of stress. She explains how we tend to interpret stress with anxiety or signs that we aren’t coping very well with the pressure. When the participants of the study were told to rethink their stress as energizing their body, and preparing them to meet a challenge, they became less stressful, less anxious, and more confident. Participates who were able to rethink the way they thought of stress as helpful their cardiovascular blood vessels stayed relaxed the way it does when we experience joy and courage. She then goes on to talk about oxytocin and how the chemical in our body makes us crave human connection is a natural stress reducer. Oxytocin protects your cardiovascular system from the effects of stress and helps your heart cells regenerate and heal, strengthen your heart. The last study she talks about showed that people who cared for others also had less chance of having health problems caused by stress.