Working in Movement

Enough stress will wreck havoc on you: we've all had the experience. But we've also seen evidence of how different people handle stress differently. Some are ready to head for the emergency room when they get a hangnail, but others work their way through even the toughest situations. Those toughies are the subject of Cracking Under Pressure? It's Just the Opposite for Some.

Stress experts have a term for people who seemingly thrive under large loads of stress. They are the resilient or hardy ones. While many of us look on stressful situations as unfair, these resilient ones tend to see them as a normal part of life, inevitable stuff that they can cope with when they need to.

There is also some evidence that the hardy among us regulate their stress hormones better:

Chronic stress has been linked to an array of illnesses, including heart disease and depression. But people who cope successfully, studies have found, punch in at work with normal levels of stress hormones that climb during the day and drop sharply at night. Their coworkers who complain of being too stressed have consistently higher levels of hormones that rarely dip very far, trapping them in a constant state of anxiety

Not surprisingly, those most resilient to stress often exhibit a feeling of being in control, of being able to see the fruits of their labors, sometimes literally. One guy mentioned in the article works on building stuff and can literally see it every time he looks at the New York skyline. Journalists and media producers probably fit into this category.

What would be interesting to explore further here is whether this reslience or hardiness to stress can be learned. That would have a lot of value. A lot.