By: Kaitlin Nielsen, military family member and volleyball coach
As a granddaughter of both a Captain in the Army Corps of Engineers and a Seaman First Class, I know that no one is immune to stressful situations. Stress is often associated with suffering and pain, such as the loss of a job or injury. But it’s also linked to peak experiences such as weddings or athletic feats. Stress is present at life’s best and worst moments. The impact stress has on your ability to be productive—and how it affects your health and well-being—is based on your mindset.
Holocaust survivor and world-renowned psychiatrist Viktor Frankl famously stated, "Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."
To productively use the “space,” Frankl said stress-appraisal interventions offer a way to produce favorable responses and outcomes. A stress-appraisal intervention is a way to evaluate and change how you view stress by helping your body and brain channel the energy from stress in a productive way.
In order to dive into the mechanics of the stress-appraisal intervention, first take a look at 2 different mentalities you can have in a stressful event: threat mindset and challenge mindset.
Threat mindset
In a threat state, your body activates the pituitary-adrenocortical system—the survival instinct of fight, flight, or freeze. You feel anxious, worried, and have negative thoughts. Your heart rate increases, you sweat, and you experience dry mouth, tightened muscles, and constricted or blurred vision. The consequences of the threat response can include poor health, limited growth, lower performance, anxiety, denial, wishful thinking, and behavioral disengagement (making less or no effort to handle the issue). During a threat state, you experience the debilitating implications of stress on your body, your mental health, and your performance. The threat mindset is not ideal for handling stress.Challenge mindset
In a challenge state, your body’s sympathetic-adrenomedullary system is activated, which creates a helpful physical response. You’re relaxed and task-oriented, and you hold a selective focus. You feel the sensations of stress, but the shift in your brain from a threat to a challenge state promotes a different bodily response. You have clear vision, regulated heartbeats, and more energy. Under this mentality, your health improves, you feel more positive emotions and you’re more resilient. The interpretation of stress in a challenge state leads to life’s most triumphant moments, which include peak performance and flow states.Now that you understand the difference between challenge and threat mindsets, it’s time to discuss the mechanics of how to navigate the “space” Frankl spoke about. One way is to use a stress-appraisal intervention to cultivate a challenge mindset.
Stress appraisal
Stress appraisal is a skill you can develop. Noticing, naming, accepting, and redirecting focus is a process that can lead to the growth and freedom that Frankl describes. The skill of noticing stress to create a stress-appraisal space can be strengthened with deep-breathing exercises, yoga, meditation, and self-compassion.Start by identifying your self-efficacy, the core belief that you have the ability and resources to meet the demands of the current task. Next, evaluate what’s within your direct control and what’s outside your direct control. Finally, you can productively cope by appraising and managing specific internal or external demands.
Formulas for stress appraisal
The formulas for stress appraisal are simple in theory but can be complex in practice:Low self-efficacy + low perceived control + avoidance coping tactics = threat state
High self-efficacy + high perceived control + approach (usually task-oriented) coping tactic = challenge state
3 steps to practice stress appraisal
Step 1: “Hello stress!” Name your stress to be aware of your emotions. Acknowledge current stress, self-talk, and focus. (This is the stimulus.)Step 2: “Accept.” Embrace your stress by accepting that your body is engaged in a valued activity. This creates space for recalibration.
Step 3: “Focus forward.” Channel your stress into a task-oriented approach. Reassign your attention. Focus forward on your goal. You can respond productively for both short- and long-term health implications with a challenge mindset. To learn more about how to optimize your stress response, use HPRC’s stress sweet spot activity.
In military life, resilient people appraise for stress more often, experience more positive outcomes, and have more productive coping strategies. There’s a high correlation between stress appraisal and performance, as well as performance satisfaction.
Stress is inevitable. But the way you experience stress is a function of your stress-appraisal skills. Acute stress can catch you in a threat state. But with practice, each stressful moment is an opportunity to reappraise your self-efficacy, recalibrate your coping strategy, and refocus your mentality forward with a challenge mindset. After each recalibration, you can hone your stress-appraisal skills, increase your resilience, and prepare for the adventure of life’s future stresses.
To learn more about how you can optimize your stress, read HPRC’s article on how to make stress good for you.
* The opinions and
assertions expressed herein are those of the author and do not reflect the
official policy or position of USU or DoD. The contents of this publication are
the sole responsibility of the author and do not reflect the views, opinions,
or policies of The Henry M. Jackson Foundation for the Advancement of Military
Medicine, Inc. Mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations
does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government. The author has no financial
interests or relationships to disclose.
