The belief that stress is negative causes approximately 20,231 deaths per year. That’s the fifteenth top cause of deaths in the nation, killing more people than skin cancer, HIV, AIDs, and homicide.

But, according to health psychologist Kelly McGonigal, when you change how you think about stress you can change your body’s response to it. She says people need to think of stress as the body’s way of helping you prepare to meet an upcoming challenge.

A recent study at Harvard University attests to this. When a group of people were told stress responses were positive, their physical responses in a stressful environment decreased drastically.

One physical response to stress is a release of a chemical to nudge you to seek support from the people around you. In other words, stress makes you social. This chemical also strengthens your heart and repairs stress induced damage. And if you seek support, more of the chemical is released.

Another study McGonigal references was conducted to show that people who help others have reduced signs of stress. The results supported this claim—people who reported caring about others frequently showed virtually no increase in stress related illness or death.

This research suggests that if you change your mind about stress and view it positively it will make you healthier. And with all of the stress people today experience, that information is pretty useful. In short, don’t view stress negatively and pay the price. Because thinking about stress positively could quite literally save your life.