Almost a quarter of Canadians report feeling daily stress, but researchers have found a way to predict who has trouble coping with it. Some people manage stress well but others may become anxious, depressed or suffer other health consequences.
Researchers at Concordia University in Montreal tested students by monitoring their heart rates while they were calm, and then as they talked to them about what stresses them and their worst fears. They found that those who had less variable heart rates were more susceptible to stress.
Listen“People who respond respond physiologically to worry the same as if there was a real threat in their environment right now, might be more reactive to stressors in their daily lives,” says Jean-Philippe Gouin, a psychology professor who lead the study.
This suggests a way that people could be tested to see whether they are more vulnerable to stress, and those who are could be given tools they could use to better cope with it.
Gouin plans further study to try to find out what are the things that make people handle stress differently.
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