Stress doesn’t necessarily have a negative impact on the mind or body. It’s become clear that stress can have positive effects if you’re aware of your own stress levels and tolerance. Experiencing failure and success is very important in our lives. However, the number of people suffering from mental distress due to stress exceeding their tolerance levels (such as mental burden) is increasing. In Japan, the number of patients requiring mental healthcare was 2.04 million in 1999. By 2017, the total number of mental healthcare patients had exceeded 4 million. Currently, mental health clinics are popping up everywhere. It seems that more and more people are wisely seeking treatment early to acquire the skills necessary for smooth social life.
There are several useful prescriptions for stress. Serotonin is a hormone that strengthens stress tolerance. A serotonin deficiency makes it difficult to control emotions and behavior. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter associated with the regulation of emotions and behavior. Serotonin is also a substance involved in sleep. A deficiency can easily lead to negative mental symptoms such as sleep disorders and anxiety. Therefore, a diet that promotes serotonin secretion would be beneficial. Serotonin’s raw material is the essential amino acid “tryptophan.” Since the body cannot produce the necessary amount of this essential amino acid, it must be obtained through diet. Consuming foods rich in tryptophan, such as meat, fish, and legumes, in appropriate amounts is one way to address this.
The second approach is “resilience.” Compared to stress tolerance, resilience emphasizes the ability to recover. Resilience is not innate; it can be improved through training. Consciously practicing it in daily life allows you to cope with more difficult situations. Continuously improving these abilities can be described as the skill to appropriately overcome situations such as anger, depression, and anxiety. The third approach is self-compassion. Self-compassion is “kindness (healing) towards failure and pain,” stress tolerance is the ability to withstand stress itself, resilience is the ability to recover, and self-compassion is healing. It has been shown that self-compassion, which involves being kind and compassionate to oneself, is the power to overcome adversity. Furthermore, it can not only reduce stress but also increase feelings of happiness. In this way, it is desirable to acquire the knowledge and skills to deal with stress from childhood in order to navigate modern society.
