Mental Health Experts Debunk 10 Stress Myths | Debunked 

It’s really a catch-22 about the burn-out. If I could arrange a regular sleep-wake schedule, exercise regularly, enjoy hobbbies, etc., I wouldn’t have burned out anyways.

as someone who's a serious nail biter with social anxiety I think it's saying something that the only time in my life i've had long fingernails was during the first lockdown when nobody could force me to go out. It feels bad to realise the most stress-free period of my life was such an awful and painful one to everyone else.

For vacations, I found taking long weekends more consistently instead of a week or two big vacation, was more helpful for stress. It gave me time to take care of my personal stuff and to go away if I wanted.

What I learn from this video (I'm creating a habit of writing the useful knowledge after great videos like this one) 1. Vacation isn't going to cure burnout... 2. When feeling stressed, focus on one thing (create a game) and then do some exercise 3. When stressed, more blood needs to go to the brain

My C-PTSD went undiagnosed and they couldn't figure out why a young 23 year old was presenting with heart attack and multiple organ failure. I feel my trauma somatically. I wish more people understood that spousal abuse can also trigger ptsd and some awful shit 😔😔💚

Pity they didn‘t talk about C-PTSD, especially from horrible childhoods. I believe that this is way underrated and people don‘t take the consequences of really bad and/or violent parenting seriously.

My best vacation: I had a week of vacation time at work. I decided that rather than take 1 week off, I would work 4 days a week for 6 weeks. It was amazing. I kept up with work, and had extra time off to catch up on things at home and to just rest.

After my dad died, I quite literally stopped giving a shit about non-life threatening events. My mental health is on cloud nine. Perspective is everything.

Stress affects not only memory and many other brain functions, like mood and anxiety, but also promotes inflammation, which adversely affects heart health.

10:39 I wish they at least mentioned how PTSD also happens from growing up in an abusive household, which is often ignored. This kind of PTSD is referred to as Complex PTSD aka CPTSD. It is a result from continuous traumatic experiences for years rather than the traumatic experience coming from a single event or several events. I grew up in a very abusive household. It caused me to have deep depression since my early teens that has never stopped. Literally on a daily basis, I get easily triggered and relive traumatic experiences that came from my family. I referred to this as having painful flashbacks. It was my therapist who told me I have PTSD. When I put my experiences into that context, I was able to make some peace with what happened. These “painful flashbacks” have since lessened but it’s still an ongoing process.

I need this one SO badly rn 🙏🏽 Thank you for addressing these but please consider expanding upon this topic. 🌸 We tend not to realize how much negative stress affects our overall health until we’re already deeply set in it.

I work well under pressure (like a deadline), but I'd argue that that is different than "stress". I think the stress part comes with fear of consequences or anxiety over failure. But in the case of a challenge or goal where failure is acceptable, that's just pressure and its okay. One thing that helps me avoid stress is dealing with problems immediately and head on. Avoiding problems only causes them to build up to the point where they seem insurmountable and that leads to incredible stress in the long run. Also, I think I have undiagnosed PTSD from my wife dying of breast cancer. Even though I've moved on in most ways, I have literally been afraid to breathe wrong for the last 2 years for fear it will conjure memories of watching her struggle to breathe those last 72 hours of her life.

The bear example is a good one - some people will freeze and end up dead because of their stress response, while another person needs that stress to kick off a survival action. So even here the universal we need stress fails. Similarly the claim that being stressed out will motivate everyone to work toward a goal is pure nonsense. That same stress will paralyse many people, leaving them incapable of doing anything.

I'm 28, and I've been burned out since I was 20ish.. because of mental illness. Yay.. I'm not living, I'm just existing.

I got PTSD from my parents. They used to abuse me (still do). Complex PTSD is the kind I have, the way it was described is long-term abuse that is accumulated instead of once or twice. It's really intriguing, but it's kinda understudied

Plot twist: I did not feel bad about eating the chocolate cake 😁

Sometimes the causes for burnouts isn't easily identifiable, in which case I do think that vacations can help a lot. If you really have the time to wind down and actually think about your situation you can more easily figure out a working solution to the underlying cause.

I was a nail biter all my life. Also chewed on plastic straws. Then in my early 20s I went on anti-anxiety meds (can't remember the name) and the nail hiting and other chewing "habits" stopped. I was only on the meds for about a year. It has almost been 2 decades and I have not gone back to biting my nails. I guess I found the root of the issue.

When I think of "a stress-free life," I'm not imagining a pathological inability so much as just a life without stressors. Even after the claim that not all stress is bad, I still consider such a life ideal. It's probably not healthy to be obsessed with accomplishment to the point where it causes stress.

It can make a burn out worse. Because you are confronted with yourself on a vacation. Your false conditioned self. And your soul is screaming for attention. Relax in the moment and it al becomes clear.

I feel lucky. Had PTSD when I was out of service and then burned out while working full time and studying for my finals at the same time for a long time. Still haven't recovered.

I think they really misunderstood the "stress-free life" claim. A stress-free life is not a life where you see a bear and feel nothing. A stress-free life is where you never come dangerously close to a bear -- where you never need that primal motivation on top of the more comfortable kinds of motivation. With the "stress is always bad" claim, there's a lot of room for interpretation of "bad", and the interpretation I find most sensible is one for which tearing up the paper is nonsensical. There are indeed health benefits to stress. However, receiving those health benefits is a matter of enduring something bad to avoid things which are worse. These benefits don't mean that stress isn't bad -- it means that evolution has forced you to pick a lesser evil.

To be honest, after I come from vacation, I get morrrrrreeee lazy when I come back to work.

They really simplify stress and it's quite frustrating. Just because it works for most people doesn't mean it works for everyone. Mental health is so complex and unique to each individual.

Stress eating is a positive feedback loop (although a bad one) because it is reinforcing - a negative feedback look would be a self-regulating one which this is not

I used to be a nail biter and I'd try all those strategies but they didn't work. The only 2 things that worked were being told how dirty it is under my nails and a deep motivation to want to stop (which then took a long time to actually stop the behavior like I had to consciously stop myself before I was about to bite them) I think any behavior whether it's biting your nails, drug addiction, food addiction or compulsive shopping... it can only be stopped if the person doing it wants to stop the behavior. No strategy will work if they don't want to stop doing it!

9:45 That is a POSITIVE feedback loop, not a NEGATIVE one. A negative feedback loop is when one action DECREASES the effects of another, not when it makes it worse or more "negative"

I just have to say that I have so much respect for Science Insider to persistently put women of colour on their videos showing how many incredible Black (African and African American), Asian and Latina female scientist there are in the field. This is really such a good thnig to show little girls of *any* race that they can become whatever they want. Good on you Science Insider!

Taking a vacation may not cure burnout, but it definitely will help getting away from people and their never-ending problems that I have to hear constantly on a daily basis.

I am feeling instantly better after watching this video... thank you

What helped me with my nail-biting habit was my friend inspiring me to clip my nails when they got long enough that I wanted to bite them. Sure, I wanted to grow out my nails, but they weren’t growing as long as I had the habit, and clipping them deprived me of opportunities to reinforce it. I can’t remember the last time I bit them anymore.

Pls make a dedicated video on anxiety and panic attack

Sending all my fellow human sisters and brothers positive vibes. May we all pull through with kindness. One love. ☮️☯️🌈🌎🌏🌍✊🏿✊🏾✊🏽✊🏼✊🏻

The "Stress helps people work faster and better" makes me a link to those reality shows. They make the contestant super nervous, making the people make a mistake that audacious feel there's no chance to make.

How about pandemic stress, burnout, or PTSD? Sure, removing the stressors helps, but certain conditions, notably, during the pandemic are causing more burnout than ever, without a solution available; sadly, this is happening mostly to caregivers, women. Solution? Well, in " normal " conditions, your video can help.

Just looking at and listening to these wonderful experts eased my mind to a huge extent. 💜😃

I agree with the vacations one, at the end of last year I had the worst burnout in my life and the vacations that I took did make it a lot worse for me, actually when I started following a schedule I started recovering

Thank you for this, I'm bipolar perfect timing, I have medication, I've slowed down in the overeating, when I'm bored and stressed I realized that sometime ago and thanks for bringing that and anyone that can get PTSD I get anxiety when I go down stairs I had a accident going down stairs and I do get a little bit nervous when I have to use them and I get nervous when I walk on uneven ground I have a fake hip.but I'm pushing myself.

To add-on to reducing or stopping nail biting, I stopped bc someone complimented my nails which made me want to take care of them. i also bought a nail file to help manage the length of my nails which I do to cure boredom

Im a nail biter, didnt brush my teeth all my life until just now 3months ago picked it up daily, with a skin care routine, reduced my smoking. These things are hard guys. Building habits and quiting your old bad ones. But its very possible and you have to turn off thar short term dopamine. Thats literally the only way.

As a white guy I wanted to thank you for your use of varied races & sexualities in your video clips. It's easy to unconsciously forget that media is still predominantly straight/white. I want to see the whole human family. :)

I think the ”better under stress” is that it is easier to keep away from distractions as it is easier to see direct effect. Without a near deadline it is all about working for the you in weeks or months from that which comes less natural. Harder to grasp.

This is one of the most useful ones for me. Thanks so much!

0:09 going to Nani's (mother's mother) house, Bua (father's sister) house or Massi's (mother's sister) house relieves from burnout. People in Indian Subcontinent have been doing this for centuries.

I wish more RU-vid videos are this detailed and reliable

I’ve spent $50,000 on vacations and it only caused more stress.

As a person who has PTSD and OCD generated from it, has lived most of this experiences and coping mechanism (except for alcohol) and has done extensive studying, therapies and practices to help myself I can say that all that they are saying is spot on. I am glad theu find really empathic and wise professionals because I have met a few that are completely ignorant of the ways of trauma or have a complete lack of empathy. I am going to make a few recommendations if you find yourself with PTSD, chronic stress, anxiety disorders or generally have a hard time self regulating. First meditation can be very good, but depending on your experience can also be very triggering to focus on your breath specially if it is a meditation that requires intense breathing as it doesn't soothe. So my suggestion is if you want to meditate find one that focus in feeling the sensations of your body or being present to the sounds and silence around you, that is a lot more soothing to the survival brain which is the one that gets activated with stress and creates fight or flight response and freeze. Two, exercise is a tremendous help, on top of generating a lot of uplifting sensationa it can also help discharge stress activation. A few minutes of a cardio practice are enough and there are a great variety of cardio exercise you can try; like running, power walking, HIIT, jumping rope, etc. Those things are good for handling stress in general. Now if you want to work through your stress responses, stress activation, PTSD, anxious disorders I recommend two things I have personally tried. Of course I go to a psychoatrist and had therapies with psychologist but not all of us are at that level. In general these two "therapies" I am going to recomment are good for all the above. One is EMDR which was extremely helpful whenever I got triggered, working with a professional is a must, but it is also great to have them teach you how to self estimulate your brain so you can work through whatever stress activation you are going through. Is great for working through traumas as well. The next one is MMFT created by Elizabeth Stanley; this is a program that helps to soothe and repare the body and survival brain after going through traumas or having ptsd but is also extremely helpful for chronic stress, burnout, high demand jobs or generally if you are a person that has a hard time coping, self soothing and handling stress. More than anything this course helps you work with the symptons of dysregulation in your system that can show up as physical or mental illnesses. She has a book "Widen the Window" where she talks about how the brain works, how different experience can lead to trauma and her own experience with trauma. She also explains to exercises you can use to start practicing to help your system regulate. Her full program of you are interested is in Sounds True page, at least that is where I am doing it and it gives full explanations on the mind body system, trauma and a bunch of exercises on how to discharge and activate healing and recovery from stress. As an additional note I used to be a biter when I was a kid and my mom bought a "nail polish" that had a horrible taste so I would put it on my nails and in a few months I stopped nail biting. Of course it did not handle the core issue that I was anxious and stressed but it did help to not damage my hands and I have never returned to nail biting. You can put aji (I think in english is chile) in your nails, it will burn like hell and you wont bite again. Also, another tip, sleeping helps a lot to recover from stress activation. Hope this helps! Have a good day!

VERY useful video. Much appreciated. I will absolutely take some of the advice. I was stressed with their inflection finishing statements like they were questions, though.

I literally grew up with my parents in stress due to poverty and my husband was shielded from all stresses in life and now he struggles with everything. He calls his mother constantly for help and he's 35 years old.

"kids need stress" yeah um tell that to 13 year old me strugging real hard at school overly stressed, being bullied and then developing anxiety.

I’ve found that there are multiple stages of burnout. So maybe a lower degree of burnout can be solved by a vacation. But if you have a medium degree it will not be enough and you have to alter your lifestyle to recover. But if you are so burned out that you cannot get out of bed more drastic measures are necessary and I do not think just lifestyle changes and a removing of some stressors can help

I was a nail biter and it became evident to people around me due to this habit.. my teacher used to catch me when he saw me doing the same.. I started cutting my nails short and still do so.. after doing that my habit of nail biting just went away and I became a little bit more confident.

I didn't know that vacation are not the cure of burnout. I thought that it would help to alleviate it, but it's actually nothing but an escape to reality. I can't remember when I stress eat but I do know I tend to watch multiple videos on youtube for a long period because of stress and thus making a never ending loop of feeling stress and then watching more.

Terminology can be confusing. Like no pain, no gain. Exercising is painful, but it is a different kind of pain to an injury. Same with stress. The problem I see is that we don't have a good way of quantifying or recognising which is which. Also each person is different, so just like physical exercise some can withstand more than others. Some even need more.

Ohh, this video was really needed. Thank you!

Whenerver I got stressed out, I'll go playing game to refresh my brain so I can see from fresh point-of-view

Saying that it’s simply not true that people can thrive under stress is really exclusive to neuro typical people. As someone with ADHD it’s absolutely true for me. It’s the only time I have enough motivation to get things done.

The only good stress I put myself through is exercise. Other than that I don't like being stressed out, I start procrastinating and get less done. I get more done at a higher quality when I'm not stressed out and have a great attitude.

I found this content fascinating and informative. Thanks for sharing 👍

Thank you for this!!!

How do you get some stress relief? I feel like I stress an overwhelming amount and there isn't really any way to reduce it. I know how to handle things that stress me out, but not how to reduce the feeling that I believe is ruining my health.

We need another ep!!

ive developed a capacity to dampen stress hormones (whatever that is, im just trying to articulate my intent, though i doubt the body is following me all the way). through this breathing technique i can manipulate my system to be slow functioning in its energy consumption and thinking process. it was all fine at first, i could feel relaxed and be at peace. yet when i try to engage to external world with all its complexity, i was having a hard time being individual and autonomous. i became slow to needed social engagements and when my body perceives a threatening event, my hands and feet would get cold. the suppposed release of cortisol hormones had become foreign to my system and i would need to freeze, breathe to be relaxed. whereas before, the release of such hormones excites me and alerts me. now my fear response has amplified and distressing events stick more... the cure is exposure too much peaceful moments, on the one hand incapacitates an individual because he/she is almost incapable in handling negative, conflict ridden stimuli. its an interesting personal observation corroborated with a friend whose been using CBD. after awhile of incessant marijuana use, he could no longer tolerate simple stress.

Vacations themselves are stressful, because you have to plan them, pack, travel there, then make sure you pack everything at the end, travel back and then unpack everything. Never mind the cost involved. By the time it is all over you need a holiday to recover from the vacation. If you're rich of course it is no big deal. The cost is nothing and you just tell somebody else to make all the arrangements. Plus you get to use luxury transport instead of being packed into economy class or having to spend several hours in a car.

I just love this series

Teresa's voice is already healing my stress 😊

I am genuinely perplexed how micro-aggressions can lead to ptsd.

Very well done video! Their knowledge gave me new perspective to my day to day

The vacation one is my biggest thing and actually don't like taking vacation because of this. You're basically just trading one schedule for another when the whole point is to relax. Same rule applies with theme parks too. You have to be a Point A at a certain time, then leave Point A to get to Point B at a certain time, then get to Point C at a certain and continue before said event closes. Get back to your hotel, make sure you go to sleep at said time to get enough sleep for said time you're waking up to repeat again for that day. It's literally the same thing. This is why IF I go somewhere with someone, I'm only in the lobby of the hotel and swimming, that's it. I sleep in as late as I want and don't have to worry about get a said amount of sleep. If I can't go to sleep, I go I to the hotel lobby and chill out down there.

For me it was kinda easy to stop biting nails. I was doing it for my whole childhood. At some point I just thought they don't look as nice, and I stopped. Just like that. For this whole time I was having a lot of stress by parents, school and university. About once a year I can try biting again, but I stop as my teeth aren't as strong and now biting nails hurts. It didn't in the past, when I was used to it.

Thank u for explaining about stress

I've been biting my nails since I can remember but I don't want to stop, I actually like biting my nails, kinda helps with my anxiety too, I think...

These ladies are my new inspiration to be part of psychology community

Sex is a very good example of good stress.

Min 8 BEST EVER! YES! A GAME FOCUSING ON THE MOMENT AT HAND!!! LOVIT. Of course that requires a person believing its more important to leave the stress rather than justify staying in it.

Really nice diverse representation in this video. Appreciate it with both speakers and B-Roll footage ❤️❤️

I love the resources of Banyan Botanicals for well-being... seriously it has changed my life

been coming out of ER a couple of times due to intense stress, anxiety and panic. Now my physical health is getting worse hahaha!

Trying not to think about it is easy for me I have ADD. I can literally just turn on the mind wandering mode mid conversation/situation.

Min 416 Mindfulness meditation is a commitment to empty the mind and in fact WILL align you, with practice, to NOT think about it at all. The "zen corner" is just a time out calm corner for those who are newbies and can't meditate yet. Meditation can be quite depressing in the beginning.

I cut down the regular coffee (that's tough I'm ITALIAN). Went to decaf, added yoga and less junk food. Connecting with friends more too! Big time lowering of my stress load! Now if I could just win the lottery.

sometimes things go out through one head and out the other

It's funny how all the listed solutions to burnout are about symptom management and not addressing the root cause of the burnout. "Yes, eat veggies, sleep better, be mindful" "How about quitting that shitty job that's burning you out?"

I’m so grateful for this channel! Mental health is such an important topic to discuss that’s why I’ve created my own RU-vid channel in Mental Matters More to provide free resources to individuals regarding mental health topics

Right, so vacation from the thing causing me burnout to give me the time to do that laundry list won't help the burnout. Somehow continuing to go to work and dealing with it every day then essentially dissociating from the time I get gome because I'm too burnt out to do anything after doing so much in one day is better? Miss me with that. 🙃

I don't know why but I'm so stressed after seeing this video

This is just what I needed!!!!!

"Is that a thought or a fact?" Changed my whole mood

Great video, and advice.

Obviously the stress eating feedback loop is a bad thing, but it’s not a negative feedback loop, it’s a positive one. Negative and positive don’t mean bad and good, they mean that the feedback loop is either continuously decreasing (negative) or continuously increasing (positive). So with cake and wine you’re continuously increasing the amount of consumption and stress, therefore it’s a positive feedback loop. Negative feedback loops are pretty rare iirc.

Hi! As someone with multiple hidden disabilities and mental illnesses I was wondering if you could do a debunked video on maybe how mental health can effect disabilities?

Vacation also can be stressful, I rest after really long sleep, not being active in a different place, just complete ignorance.

Letting your kids be too stressed ends in anxiety too, trust me lol

I see vacations as something that can help prevent burnout rather than as a cure for it. If you're experiencing burnout then it's either time to move on to something else, or you have to make some fundamental change in how you approach the activity that burned you out.

I want to exercise and doin something fun > no, you cant. Gotta finish your work first > but i'm bored and need a break > no. Finish your work first > repeat. This evil cycle i had.

I am starting to like this channel. Pretty cool people demystifying stuff.

Im so glad she said that about the bear at the end because I was thinking it at the beginning. Lol

this would work so much better if you explained the terms. laymans terms differ wildly from scientific terms, you explain arousal which falls under stress - scientifically. in common parlance, that is simply not the case.

there is also the opposite to stress eating where you forget to eat.... that one sucks a lot too. You don't realize you're hungry until you're nauseous

They should’ve featured a psychiatrist w/ a psychologist in order to identify (1) the medical relevance & (2) the psycho-social-behavior relevance