A Positive Mental Attitude Helps Cope With Stress.

[?] Subscribe To This Site

A Positive Mental Attitude to Cope With Stress

A positive mental attitude can help you to cope with stress. Adopting a positive way of thinking is a huge protector against the effects of stress.

I was sitting down to dinner the other night when my friend's son, who knows I am a psychologist, told me a joke about a little boy who always had a positive mental attitude.

The little boy was always optimistic and upbeat, yet his older sister always seemed to look on the negative side of life.

One Christmas, just to be a pain, the sister decided to aggravate her little brother, and test his positive outlook - by giving him a present of a box filled with horse manure.

She was sick and tired of her little brother's continual positive attitude - and thought that this would fix him!

When Christmas day arrived, the little boy opened up the present and saw the horse manure inside and exclaimed YIPPPEEE ..."where’s the horse!"¹

Ok Ok....so maybe you had to be sitting around the table to enjoy the joke as much as I did...but what a positive mental attitude!

"The pessimist sees difficult in every opportunity. The optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.

Winston Churchill

Staying positive may sound easier than it actually is. You only need to turn on the television or browse the internet see the latest negative news and sensationalized headlines.

However, staying positive is a decision that is ultimately is yours to make.

Benefits of a Positive Mental Attitude to Cope with Stress

Research shows that this positive mental attitude can protect you from the effects of stress.

Unrealistic Positive Mental Attitude and Stress

People who adopt a positive mental attitude are not being like Pollyanna, with no hold on reality – they are simply making a choice to see reality from a different perspective.

However, there is some evidence that people who are unrealistically positive do not have their expectations matched with reality – and this can result in pessimism and poorer coping ability with stress

Negative thoughts turn on the stress response and weaken the immune system and lead to stress related illnesses.

BUT positive emotions strengthen the immune system - it is these positive emotions that help you to cope with stress more effectively.

When adopting a positive mental attitude to cope with stress, it is not enough to approach life optimistically.

You really need to believe in the effectiveness of your strategies for coping with stress and know that you can put them into place.

This belief in itself will create a self-reinforcing - building your confidence to cope with stress.

Steps to take for a Positive Mental Attitude

Become an optimist

Do you view a cup as half empty or half full?

Research shows that an optimist is more likely to blame their failures on external causes and have a "try it" attitude in the face of failure.

Evidence suggests that optimists are more likely to have a better quality of life, stronger relationships and be protected from the effects of stress on health.

There are a number of things that you can do to become an optimist.

Become aware of your self talk. What we say to ourselves determines our feelings and behavior. Cognitive therapy describes how your thoughts influence emotions.
Use more productive self talk. There is growing evidence that our positive thoughts and emotions determine the quality of our health and happiness. Use these positive thinking tips to combat stress.

Use positive language. Listen to what you say. Are you overusing words such as "should", "always", and "never". For example, think about using "I choose to" instead of "I should".

Accept uncertainty. Life is full of unexpected events of which we have little control over – the obnoxious boss, the noisy roommate or the traffic to work.
BUT we do have control over how we respond to these events. To make sense of some uncertainty and cope with stress you can:
- Keep an open mind
- Learn how to find answers
- Recognize that some situations are out of your control
- Embrace a mindset that is open to change
I like Reinhold Neibuhr’s Serenity Prayer
"Lord, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference".

To gain objective data on your main causes of stress and how you react to them, fill out a stress diary.
After you have done this, ask yourself if there are better ways that you could react to the stress.

Surround yourself with positive people. Positive thinking has a way of rubbing off onto others. Surround yourself with people who are truthful, supportive and have a positive influence on your life.
Look for ways that you can also positively influence them. As the saying goes "birds of the same feather fly together".

Stress Buster Tip: Make a list of positive aspects of your life

What are some achievements that you are proud of? What do you like about yourself? If you play the guitar, have a detailed knowledge about birds – include them if they are positive. When you feel down, pull out this list out for a boost of positivity that is real to you.

Adopting a optimistic and problem solving approach to stress management promotes happiness, health and more success.

Employ positive affirmations

Stress Buster Tip: Use positive affirmations

Write a number of positive affirmations that you can use on a piece of paper and put them in your wallet or purse. Next time you feel stressed or sad, rather than trying to remember positive things (which can be difficult) pull out your affirmations and focus on the positive things that you have to say.

Positive affirmations can transform your negative self talk and promote self confidence, increase personal power and provide stress relief.

A positive affirmation reflects positive attitudes and positive thinking towards yourself or what you want – phrased in a way that you already have it.

Some positive affirmations associated with stress may include: "I view stress as a challenge" or "a mistake gives me the opportunity for me to learn" or "I choose to think positively".

Take Charge: Set positive goals

Do you feel like you are heading in the wrong direction in your life? Are you achieving what you want to achieve?

Some of today’s causes of stress occur when there is a conflict in values at work or in life direction. If you feel that your life does not reflect your values, then goal setting for stress relief can help to take control of your situation and deal with this underlying tension.

Stress Buster Tip: Do something new each day

Set a goal to learn something new everyday.

Start a new book, pick up a hobby or increase your quality family time....

Learning new things that interest you or are in line with your values allows you to cultivate and expand upon the childlike curiosity that is within.

Practice positive visualizations

Positive visualizations can alleviate the stress you feel every day.

Imagery can be a more active process than meditation, and can be great for people who have trouble turning off their thinking for stress relief. This article is a quick guide to visualization for stress relief.

Laughter is the best medicine

Research shows that there are many benefits of laughter for your stress management.

Laughter promotes your immune system and reduces stress hormones such as cortisol - not to mention the internal exercise that can have a calming effect on you.

If you have had a good laugh you will also know that it can release emotion and physical tension, reframe your situations, and distract you from feelings of stress.

Tell Us What Promotes a Positive Mental Attitude for You

Do you have a great tip for adopting a positive mental attitude? Share it!

Enter Your Title

Click here to see the rest of the form and complete your submission.

Additional strategies for coping with stress

Here we have discussed how a positive mental attitude can help you to cope with stress. While a positive mental attitude builds your resilience and hardiness towards stress, there are also a number of other stress management strategies that you can use.

Meditation and coping with stress

You don't have to be a Himalayan yogi to benefit from the effects of meditation. In fact people from all over the world are recognizing stress reducing benefits and general health benefits from meditation. These meditation techniques activate the relaxation response which promotes relaxation and counters the effects of stress. These can be used to manage stress.

Cognitive therapy for stress

Cognitive therapy illustrates how your thoughts, emotions and behavior influence each other. Cognitive distortions and irrational thinking can lead to more stress. Understanding some of the common cognitive distortions and how they can increase your stress is discussed in this article on cognitive therapy.

Develop your relaxation techniques

It is difficult to be stressed if you are relaxed. In fact many relaxation techniques activate the relaxation response, which counters the effects of the stress response. These relaxation techniques will promote a calming effect and reduce stress.

Breathing techniques for quick stress reduction

A typical stress symptoms is rapid shallow breathing. These symptoms of stress can lead to more stress - a vicious cycle of increasing stress. Breathing techniques can help you to put a stop to this increasing cycle of stress. I have used this breathing technique with clients who have found it useful before public speaking, big notch performances and exams.

work stress Work Stress