Feeling overwhelmed by stress? A Binghamton University study reveals three simple habits can boost your ‘psychological flexibility’, helping you manage pressure. Consistently eating breakfast, getting adequate sleep (7-9 hours), and regular exercise, even for 20 minutes, are key. These practices build resilience, allowing you to adapt constructively to stressful situations.
Are you crumbling every time stress hits? Feels like you cannot take it anymore? In this day and age, where deadlines never stop, notifications never quiet down, and life keeps piling on, stress has become an inevitable part of life.
But what if you can handle it without being overwhelmed? All you need to do is follow three simple steps! A new study from Binghamton University has identified three simple steps to manage stress more effectively. According to them, these healthy habits build ‘psychological flexibility’, which will help you cope with stressful situations. The findings are published in the Journal of American College Health.
What is psychological flexibility?
According to the researchers, these habits build ‘psychological flexibility’.
What is that? It is the ability to adapt your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors to changing situations in a balanced and constructive way. Psychologically flexible people can step back, process their emotions, and react constructively, instead of being mentally ‘stuck’ when stress hits.“You might know someone who stays cool under pressure. The kind of person who misses a flight and, instead of panicking, calmly adapts to the situation.
This person may still feel stressed, but they’re better able to manage it through psychological flexibility,” Lina Begdache, an associate professor of health and wellness studies and lead author of the study, said in a release.“People may say that these are resilient people, but they also have what’s called psychological flexibility. They’re able to change the way they think about the situation and then use brain resources to handle the stress,” she added.
3 habits that can help
The researchers conducted an anonymous survey of approximately 400 college students. The participants were asked questions about diet, sleep habits, exercise frequency, and other factors. They noticed that healthy habits ( also consistent), such as regular exercise and eating breakfast, enhanced psychological flexibility. This strengthened mental resilience and helps individuals cope with stress.
What can you do?
Never skip breakfast: The researchers found that eating breakfast five or more times a week is linked with increased resilience through psychological flexibility processes.Get a good night’s sleep: They also found that people who sleep less than six hours tend to have less resilience and less psychological flexibility. So try to get adequate sleep every single night. Aim for at least seven to nine hours of restful sleep. Exercise: They noticed that exercise, even for 20 minutes, is associated with psychological flexibility and resilience. The researchers also noticed that taking fish oil multiple times a week can help with psychological flexibility.On the contrary, poor habits such as fast-food consumption and insufficient sleep are linked to low psychological flexibility.
What you should know?
Begdache emphasized that psychological flexibility allows a person to ‘step back’ and use their brain’s resources to better understand and process their emotions. Most of us can achieve this flexibility if we make slight adjustments in our diet and lifestyle.“When we’re under stress, we feel like we fuse with the stress. We live with the stress. But psychological flexibility is like stepping back and thinking, ‘I feel this because of that. What can I do?’ Identifying your emotions sometimes helps you find the solution for these emotions,” Begdache said. “The new finding here is that diet and lifestyle don’t just make you resilient by themselves. They help you build the psychological flexibility, which, in turn, makes you a resilient person,” the researcher added.
