Stress: Nature's Memory System
Stress: Nature's Memory System
Part 2
By James Porter
In Part One, we explored the possibility that stress serves a broader purpose than simply preparing us to fight or flee from danger. If that's true, what might that larger purpose be?
One possibility is that stress functions as a memory system that helps us remember experiences that are important to our survival and success.
Imagine one of our prehistoric ancestors wandering through the woods and discovering a patch of wild blueberries. Finding a rich source of food would have been enormously valuable. The experience would have captured attention and created a strong memory.
Now imagine that same individual encountering a hostile neighboring tribe near a river crossing. That experience would also have been memorable, but for very different reasons.
One event represents opportunity. The other represents danger.
Yet both are important.
The brain needs to remember where the blueberries grow just as much as it needs to remember where danger lurks. In both cases, heightened awareness increases the likelihood that the information will be stored and used in the future.
This idea helps explain an important distinction that stress experts often discuss: distress and eustress.
Distress refers to the stress we experience in response to threats, losses, or negative events. Eustress, on the other hand, refers to the positive stress associated with exciting challenges, meaningful goals, new opportunities, and anticipated rewards.
Think about some of the experiences that elevate your heart rate and increase your level of alertness:
Starting a new job.
Planning a wedding.
Preparing for a vacation.
Launching a business.
Competing in a sporting event.
Waiting for the birth of a child.
These experiences often feel very different from fear, yet they can activate many of the same physiological systems.
Why?
Because the brain is signaling that something important is happening.
Perhaps stress is best understood as an internal spotlight. It shines on experiences that matter and encourages us to pay attention. Sometimes the spotlight illuminates danger. Other times it illuminates opportunity.
The challenge in modern life is that this spotlight often remains switched on far longer than nature intended.
Instead of responding to immediate events, we can become trapped in endless loops of memory and anticipation. We replay past mistakes. We imagine future problems. We worry about situations that may never occur. The same remarkable ability that allows us to learn from experience can also generate chronic stress.
This perspective offers an important lesson. The goal is not necessarily to eliminate stress. A life completely free of stress would likely be a life devoid of challenge, growth, excitement, and learning.
Instead, we can learn to ask a different question.
Rather than asking, "How do I get rid of this stress?" we might ask, "What is this stress trying to teach me?"
Sometimes the answer will involve a genuine threat that requires action. Other times it may point toward an opportunity, a goal, or a value that matters deeply to us.
Stress may not simply be the body's alarm system.
It may also be one of the brain's most powerful tools for deciding what is worth remembering.
Erica Tuminski
Author