Stress: Good and Bad

I chose to write a review about this article because I was curious as to what the positive sides of stress can be. I do not stress a lot, but I do know a lot of people that deal with stress... See More

I chose to write a review about this article because I was curious as to what the positive sides of stress can be. I do not stress a lot, but I do know a lot of people that deal with stressful situations daily and I wondered how that could possibly have a positive impact on their life. The article mentioned that stress can activate the “fight-or-flight” response of a student, getting him or her ready for a big game or exam coming up. This would be an example of a positive side to stress, but, in my mind, you do not want to get amped up too much for something like an exam. There are definitely more negative effects that stress can cause for students such as acne, sleeping problems, headaches, depression, etc. I do not necessarily think that this article is promoting living a stressful life, but I do think that it is aimed towards students who do stress a lot that, sometimes, stress is a good thing. The key is knowing the difference between good and bad stress. The article does mention some classroom activities that can assist the students in finding out what kind of stress they are dealing with. If a student’s “stress” is motivating him or her to do better in the classroom or in their personal life, then the stress they have is positively affecting them. If a different student is being affected by stress negatively (headaches, depression, panic attacks) then they should seek help whether it is from a parent, counselor, or even a friend.