Mike Carruthers

Just make it a point today to tell one person, and it would really help us a lot.

I'm Mike Carruthers.

Thanks for listening today to Something You Should Know.

A lot of people are feeling stressed right now.

And you think you know what stress feels like.

Faster heartbeat, tight shoulders, feeling overwhelmed.

But what if the biggest impact of stress isn't how it makes you feel, it's how it makes you think?

That's today's SYSK trending topic, how stress distorts your thinking.

Under pressure, your brain shifts into a different mode.

You become more reactive, more negative, and more convinced that the worst case scenario is right around the corner.

You may think you're being logical, but stress quietly narrows your perspective and exaggerates the danger.

In my conversation with clinical psychologist Arthur Sierra-McCauley, we explore what's happening in your brain when stress rises.

And more importantly, we'll share practical techniques you can use right away to regain clarity and keep stress from running the show.

And we'll get to it in just a moment.

People throw around the word stress a lot.

As in, I'm under stress.

This stress is killing me.

My life is so stressful.

But what's interesting to me about stress is that stress is something we really impose on ourselves for the most part, which means it's really up to us to manage it and eliminate it when we can.

Someone who understands stress really well is Dr. Arthur Sierra-McCauley.