The Resilience Advantage

CHAPTER 1

Sorry for the Mistake: Why 70 Years of Stress Management Training Has Left Us Stressed

Ideas about managing stress began in the 1950s when we first started learning about the physiological implication of stress on our health and well-being. The message we received then was that stress was bad for us and that we wanted to avoid it as much as possible. If we could not avoid it, then we should try to manage it as best as we can.

Survey after survey has shown, however, that everyone’s stress level is higher and higher than it was before. That can only lead to at least one conclusion which is that the approaches we are using to address challenges and stress in our lives are not working. Furthermore, we want to do more than just survive our ...