Stress: Too much of everything!

Stress: Too much of everything!

For many people stress seems to have become everyday life. However, much is still unknown about this "new normal state“. Where does all this stress come from? And why are some people able to handle it better than the others? How does it influence the brain and which strategies are effective to manage it? Several research teams at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS) want to get to the bottom of this phenomenon.

"Some stress is better than no stress"

Mental stress is not just harmful. It can also be inspiring. But where exactly is the border between too much and too little stress? "Psychological and physical health is a good indicator of the right degree of stress", says Professor Arno Villringer, Director at the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitive and Brain Sciences (MPI CBS). In this interview he explains how stress influences our behaviour, why it’s unhealthy to have no stress, and what we still do not know about this apparently daily experience.