Surprisingly, stress is not always a bad thing. It can stimulate creativity and productivity. According to Robert Ostermann, professor of psychology at FDU's Teaneck-Hackensack Campus, "No one reaches peak performance without being stressed, whether an athlete, an office worker or a manager." The natural pattern of human behavior is to experience a stress-causing event or situation, react to it with increased tension and then return to a normal, relaxed state. The problem occurs when stress is so overwhelming or constant that this pattern is broken" (Maxon, 1999, para. 4).
What do you think about this? Do you agree being stressed can be beneficial as described above? Why or why not?