When Stress is good

Did we think that the ideal was a quiet life, without stress and strong emotions? Okay, the answer is no.

Data emerging from a historical American research lasting 90 years: 1,500 children were followed during the whole of their existence, to identify risk factors but especially the elements that ensure a long and healthy life.
Including precisely stress. At least, it is what emerged from the articles published in newspapers.

Things are a bit more complicated. What emerges from today’s project Longevity signed by psychologists Howard S. Friedman and Leslie Martin — and the culmination of a historical study initiated in 1921 by Lewis Terman, one of the fathers of American psychology, author of important tests on IQ — is that in life it is important to set goals. In other words, to live, not just vegetate. “We have seen”, says Friedman, “that highly motivated people, who have worked harder and achieved good success in the workplace, are also the most enduring”. From the research it became clear that the hard work is not harmful to health at all “and that it is not necessary to lead a boring and lacking in interest for a living for a long time”, says Friedman. Indeed, the data confirm that the opposite is true.

“Stress as such is simply a reaction to an external stimulus is our way of adapting to what is happening around us. And…