You Can Do It!

So What is Stress Anyway?

Negative emotions evolved because they are incredibly important to survival.  It is critical that we fear certain things in our environment, because if we don't we could be lunch!

The limbic system is the part of the human brain responsible for fear response.

Of course this system is an important part of many animal brains, but humans do something that no other animal can do.  We imagine the future, and in doing so we can think of all the possible things that could go wrong.  We fear these consequences at that activates our brain's limbic system and cause our body to release a hormone called cortisol .

So stress is our bodies being fearful of things that haven't yet occured - but might.  This can be incredibly useful, after all imagining the consequences of not turning in any assignments might motivate you to get to work.

But when we stress too much, it can be very damaging, and definitely make it hard for us to get anything done. 

Check out this youtube video of a scientist discussing the different between postive and negative stress. 

The good news is that stress is definitely manageable and managing your stress is exactly what I hope to do with this project.