Stress is not our enemy. Kelly McGonigal says if you believe stress is bad for you, then it increases your risk of death by 43%. Those also stressed who do not believe it to be bad, do not die anymore than others with low amount of stress. (Gosh, I love the power of the mind.) Blood vessels of the stress-is-bad believers constrict but not so for the stress-is-good, which might be why they have cardiac event. I do have a love affair with being in this state, so it is probably good that I share this belief that it is a good thing as it prepares me for life.

Something I do quite a bit is talk to others when I am stressed. That Oxytocin is involved in stress responses, so reaching out to others helps the recovery of the event.