Stress is an inevitable part of our everyday life. Not every form of stress is negative – even a birthday surprise is a form of positive stress called eustress. However, negative stress or distress is the form of stress that can harm us in the long run. Among other things, negative stress also affects our memory. And not only when we experience it. A stressful event can affect your memory even before it happens.
According to the the study, which was published in a scientific journal Journals of Gerontology, you can a stressful event affects your memory even before it happens. The research found that the expectation of stress affects reducing working memory capacity and data processing speed. Anticipation of potential stressful events has a human effect adjustment function – enables him better preparation, possibly avoidance such events and organizing in advance necessary resources for damage control. However, according to this research, such an expectation of stress on a person can also have negative consequences.
The research showed that participants who more intensively expect negative stressful events in the coming day have impaired working memory. The latter is very important for our functioning, as it plays an important role in making decisions, reasoning and in general optimizing our behavior in the broadest sense. Anticipation of stress is both functional and harmful for us, and the question that arises is what to do. Experts recommend that during periods when you have a large number of stressful days ahead of you, you use relaxation techniques - meditation, yoga, running in nature, mindfulness. The possibilities are almost endless, but it is important to know that these techniques are only effective if you do them regularly.
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