Outside your comfort zone in social situations? Don’t suppress the stress
People prone to stress in new sociocultural surroundings learn faster how to adapt and fit in, according to a Singapore study.
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Stress won’t ever feel pleasant. But the next time you find yourself in an unfamiliar social situation, take a step back before you try to suppress it, says the writer.
PHOTO: ST FILE
Shilpa Madan
A nurse at Singapore General Hospital is treating a patient whose family speaks a dialect she doesn’t share, and she can’t quite read whether their silence means they understand her instructions or are too uncomfortable to say they don’t.
A fresh Singapore Management University graduate sits through her first week of meetings in a Raffles Place office without saying a word, unsure whether speaking up will look engaged or presumptuous.
