How Does Joy Compare With Stress?

Kelly McGonigal calls joy one of the most biologically consequential emotions a person can have, in the same category as stress. A moment of joy changes brain activity, brain chemistry, blood chemistry, and the immune system. Joy is as potent as stress and often works in the opposite direction.

The brain turns on the reward system and the meaning system together. Reward makes the moment feel good. Meaning gives it significance, including a glad-to-be-alive feeling, and the brain shores up the sense that life is worth living. Excited joy releases endorphins and adrenaline, raises heart rate, and brings energy and vitality that counter feeling anxious, withdrawn, or overwhelmed. Joy from connection with another person raises heart rate variability, boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, and brings a feeling of being safe and at home, which counters feeling unsafe, isolated, or hopeless.

Every moment of joy works as a biological reset, and research shows the effect adds up over time. She is not sure of an hourly quota and only floats 10 seconds to set that question aside. What counts is whether the day held any moment of joy, and whether a missed moment can be revisited and appreciated for the same benefit.