Handling Stress in the Poker Wars Part 2

Recently we looked at frustration and stress and their physiological and psychological impacts on us - in particular when our poker lives don't go quite as we'd like them to.
My focus was on different reactions to stress and some simple tricks to cope with it.
Here, I want to take a longer look at stress and the emotions that accompany it, and delve deeper into what goes on inside your mind and body at the marked cards poker table.
Yeah, I know, I know; it's the ol' professor bit again. Sorry, I can't help myself. But hang in with me here. You may learn something to help your game.
Let's start with two key points:
1. Stress isn't necessarily bad, it's just another emotion.
2. You can feel very different emotions from the same amount of stress.
I know, those sound so bloody cryptic, but don't you dare move the mouse toward the "back" button.
The story isn't that complicated, and it'll give you new ways to understand our game and new insight into why some of you may be better players than your peers in some cases but not in others.
Stress isn't necessarily bad, it's just another emotion.
As we noted before, the research shows that continuous high levels of stress are bad for you. However, things are a tad more complex than that.
There are times when stress is an important motivator. If it's high enough, people can do things unimaginable in "ordinary" situations.
Parents have ripped open the doors of flaming cars to rescue trapped children - and only later realized that they did it on a broken leg.
When the emotional levels get high enough, they can spur us on to do the most remarkable and wonderful things.

But, on the other hand, do you want someone in the same state doing brain surgery on you?
Not me, baby. I want someone really stoked if my kid is in a burning auto. If she's wielding the surgeon's blade infrared ink, I want her cool and calm.
And vice versa: The calm, relaxed demeanor the surgeon needs isn't worth much with a flaming wreck in an intersection.
To make this point clear, imagine it's the surgeon's kid in the burning car.
Adopt the Goldilocks Approach
In psychology these things are called "interactions."
How stress affects you depends upon (or "interacts" with) other things, like what task is before you.
The interaction between stress and the difficulty of the task has been known for a century and is called the Yerkes-Dodson law, after the two psychologists who did the early research.
Is there any advice buried here? Sure. Adopt the "Goldilocks" approach.
Like the heroine in the child's story you need to try to get everything "just right:" not too hot, not too cold, not to soft, not too hard.
If you're cranked, hyper-stoked, on a permanent adrenaline rush, your thinking is going to suck.
Conversely, if you sit there like a sick toad with no motivation to get involved, you'll be lacking appropriate aggression.
First related thought:
Ever wonder about good $5/$10 players who complain that they can't beat the $1/$2 game?