Frothy Paradise

“Sure, stress can be bad for you, especially if you react to it with anger or depression or by downing five glasses of Scotch. But what’s often overlooked is a common-sense counterpoint: in some circumstances, it can be good for you, too. It’s right there in basic-psychology textbooks. As Spencer Rathus puts it in ‘Psychology: Concepts and Connections,’ ‘some stress is healthy and necessary to keep us alert and occupied.’ Yet that’s not the theme that’s been coming out of science for the past few years. ‘The public has gotten such a uniform message that stress is always harmful,’ says Janet DiPietro, a developmental psychologist at Johns Hopkins University. ‘And that’s too bad, because most people do their best under mild to moderate stress….’”

Hear that? So relax about being stressed, goddammit!