Positive Stress: Types, Examples and Effects of Eustress

Positive Stress: Types, Examples and Effects of Eustress

Stress is an inevitable part of life, but how you deal with it can make a big difference in your well-being. Eustress or positive stress can help you cope with a challenging situation. Every day stress can build up and become a burden on your mental health.

Research has shown that positive stress can be beneficial, both short-term and long-term. In the short term, positive stress can cause temporary anxiety and stress that is necessary to produce a long-term change. In the long term, positive stress can lead to a stress tolerance and resilience which can help us to handle future stressors better.

Eustress, or positive stress, is a type of stress that is useful and desirable to the individual. Eustress is helpful in the lives of individuals and groups, but it is harmful in the lives of individuals and groups.

Positive stress can be either eudaimonic or maladaptive. Some eustress can help individuals become more resilient to future stressors. Other eustress can cause individuals to become more vulnerable to future stressors.

However, eustress can act as a relief valve. It can help you deal with stress constructively and maintain a positive outlook. Eustress is a helpful, but not a harmful or dangerous form of stress – it can even have positive effects on your well-being.

There are many different types of eustress, and some examples of how they can be beneficial in everyday life. Let’s explore more about this concept and its positive effects.

Contents

What Is Stress?

Stress is a response to an event or situation that may provoke feelings of anxiety, fear, anger, and/or depression. Stress is typically a normal reaction to any type of situation or event. Stress can thus be defined as an internal response to physical or emotional threats. Stress is a natural part of life and it is important to maintain a healthy balance.

However, when stress becomes a chronic situation, negative effects can be seen in the body and mind.

There are two types of stress: adaptive and maladaptive. Adaptive stress helps the body in its natural healing mechanisms by preparing it for danger. Maladaptive stress creates tissue damage and reduces the body’s ability to heal itself.

Too much stress can have negative effects on the body and mind, while too little stress can lead to boredom, stagnation, and apathy. There are two main types of stress. Eustress, or positive stress, is a type of stress that has been shown to be beneficial in some ways.

Although short-term anxiety may sound like a bad thing, it can actually be necessary for positive change to happen in the long run. Eustress is helpful for individuals and groups, but harmful for individuals and groups.

Distress, or negative stress, is not desirable for anyone involved in the situation. Distress causes unhealthy changes to occur in the body and mind; both short-term and long-term effects are undesirable. Negative stress is not helpful for individuals or groups because it produces unhealthy changes in their physical and mental well-being.

Why Do Anxiety Symptoms Come and Go?

Positive Stress (Eustress)

Eustress, or positive stress, is a type of stress that is useful and desirable to the individual. Eustress is helpful in the lives of individuals and groups, but it is harmful in the lives of individuals and groups. Positive stress can be either eudaimonic or adaptive.

Some eustress can help individuals become more resilient to future stressors. Other eustress can cause individuals to become more vulnerable to future stressors.

Eustress is a type of stress that can be either helpful or harmful. There are many benefits to experiencing positive stress. Positive stress can:

  • promote bonding
  • build compassion
  • improve performance
  • increase concentration
  • help overcome challenges
  • enable adaptability

Positive stress also has the potential to cause harm if it is felt for a long time. It can lead to anxiety and other mental health problems, or physical problems such as high blood pressure, an increased heart rate, and an increased respiratory rate.

Anxiety can also lead to sleep deprivation, which can affect the body’s ability to regulate hormones that control eating habits and digestion, sugar intake, and cardiovascular function. Eustress may also lead to burnout and decreased productivity.

Eudaimonic Positive Stress

Eudaimonic positive stress is the type of stress that causes people to flourish and realize their potential. It occurs when one pursues virtues like morality, achievement, or courage.

This type of stress is beneficial because it helps an individual work through difficult periods in life. They come out of it better off than before. Happiness and meaning are found in the pursuit of virtue.

Positive stress is a type of stress response that we feel when we get excited or the times we respond well to a challenge that we experience from a stressor. The feeling of being challenged, but still in control and having the ability to overcome it is what eustress feels like. Eustress can be either positive or negative depending on how it impacts an individual’s sense of control, accomplishment, and learning.

Positive stress and its benefits

The following are all the benefits of positive stress:

  • Promote bonding – Positive stress can cause temporary anxiety and stress, which is necessary in order to produce long-term change. The temporary anxiety and stress can promote bonding among individuals or groups.
  • Builds compassion – Individuals who experience positive stress often become more compassionate. This increased compassion leads to an increased likelihood of acting with kindness towards others.
  • Improves performance – Positive tension, as long as it is not too high, can improve performance. Sometimes when we’re under pressure, our performance levels rise because we become hyper-focused on the task at hand. Thus positive stress helps someone to feel motivated and inspired.
  • Increases concentration – Research has shown that when people are stressed out, they are more likely to focus on their work and less likely to be distracted by other things around them. This can lead to higher levels of productivity and concentration than normal.
  • Helps overcome challenges – Stress is sometimes required for us to take action in order for us to get out of difficult situations. Stressful events allow us to push ourselves past our limits to do things that we couldn’t do otherwise; it helps us overcome any challenges we may be facing in life.
  • Enable adaptability – If we aren’t able to adapt quickly enough, then there is a chance that we will not survive in this fast-paced world of ours. Stress causes a release of cortisol into our bodies which helps us deal with changes. With positive stress, an individual is able to build resilience.
  • Positive stress also helps to build your esteem: Most people when they experience stress tend to get lower self-esteem, however, with positive stress, a person is able to build their self-esteem.
  • Positive stress can give you a stronger and more agile body: Positive stress helps to build your body and prepares you for any other stressing situation in the future. Thus your body is stronger and more agile.

Difference between distress and eustress

Distress is the kind of stress that wears you out, leaves you jittery, and is harmful to your health because it leads to anxiety, confusion, poor concentration, and decreased performance. It’s the kind of stress that can lead a person to be unable to turn their thoughts off or function well in their day-to-day life.

Distress, or bad stress, is the type that wears you out, leaves you jittery, and is harmful to your health because it leads to anxiety, confusion, poor concentration, and decreased performance. Eustress, or good stress, is short-term and it inspires and motivates you, focuses your energy and enhances performance.

Eustress is helpful in the lives of individuals and groups but it is harmful in the lives of individuals and groups if maintained for long.

Eustress is different from distress in that it is a type of positive stress which can be either eudaimonic or adaptive. It’s the kind of stress that inspires and motivates you, focuses your energy, and enhances performance. It’s also the kind of stress that can promote resilience in an individual or group.

Harmful Stress (distress)

Distress also called bad stress can make your life unbearable. It wears you out and leads to anxiety, confusion, decreased performance, minimized resilience, and poor concentration among other harmful effects on your health. Bad stress can also leave you feeling jittery.

What is a stressor? A stressor is something that causes distress to the body. Stress can be physical, like a car accident, or emotional, like watching your favorite team lose on TV. In either case, it’s when you feel overloaded and unable to cope with all the stimuli.

Distress can lead to a loss of self-confidence and self-esteem, as well as a sleep disturbance. Constant distress can cause people to become withdrawn and isolated and cause stress-related illnesses such as heart disease.

Maladaptive Stress

Maladaptive stress is the type of stress which causes people to increase their stress and anxiety. Self-harm, binge eating, and substance abuse are examples of maladaptive stress. Maladaptive stress can be caused by numerous incidents such as a breakup or the loss of a loved one.

These types of events will cause an individual to have more anxiety in their life and can also cause depression. These events go against our natural instinct to avoid danger.

Maladaptive stress, also known as harmful stress or negative stress, is a type of stress that does not benefit the individual. Maladaptive stress can have a negative effect on both mental and physical health. Maladaptive stress can lead to anxiety, depression, and substance abuse.

Self-harm is an example of maladaptive stress. Self-harm occurs when an individual chooses to inflict pain on themselves in order to cope with difficult feelings they may be experiencing. This type of maladaptive coping usually occurs during times of extreme distress or emotional turmoil.

How can I cope better with stress?

There are several ways to cope with stress including:

  • Making deep breaths and ensure that you are able to do breathing exercises. Deep breaths can help you relax thus helping you to cope with stress and anxiety
  • Counseling: Getting counseling can help you to face your stressor and overcome it. Moreover, counseling enables you to share your challenge thus reducing its effects on your body.
  • Meditation and relaxation techniques can also help you cope with stress
  • Eating healthy foods every day: Eating a well-balanced, regular meal every day is great for the regulation of body response to stressors. It can give you a positive response to stimuli
  • Having regular exercise is another way of coping with or reducing stress. Exercises enable the production of endorphins which make life better.
  • Getting plenty of sleep can also help you cope with stress. This is because with enough sleep, the body is able to regulate the body’s chemicals including cortisol, and also gives your body time to rejuvenate and repair any body part that has physical damage.
  • Reducing alcohol intake: When people have stress, they tend to increase alcohol intake. However, this is counterproductive since any avoidance measures will not remove the stressor. You can face the stressor instead of postponing the action.
  • No tobacco or drug abuse: Both tobacco and drug abuse can increase stress. They can also lead to withdrawal symptoms when trying to stop. Therefore, it is important to avoid them.
  • Use of other preventive measures like vaccinations, cancer screenings, and dental appointments.
  • Joining a support group: Joining a support group can help you to cope with stress. This is because, with a support group, you are able to learn methods with which some people were able to cope with stress. Moreover, sharing the load helps you to better cope with stress. Finally, the support group enables you to see that you are not alone when facing a challenge.

If none of the coping mechanisms seem to be working, it is recommended that you visit a doctor. The doctor can use psychotherapy and/ or medications to treat your stress.

What is positive stress in the workplace?

Stress that benefits and motivates you like when pitching a project, promotion, moving up in the company, or team building In order to understand the positive effects of stress, it is important to differentiate between maladaptive and eustress. Maladaptive stress is any type of stressful event that is harmful to an individual. Eustress is a type of stress that has positive benefits for an individual.

Eustress can be either eudaimonic or adaptive. Eudaimonic stress comes from activities where the person feels he or she is contributing to society and making a difference. This type of stress makes people feel fulfilled and contributes meaning to their lives. Eudaimonic stress helps individuals become more resilient to future physical, mental, emotional, and societal problems.

Maladaptive stress comes from activities where the person feels he or she doesn’t have control over their situation and is being discriminated against because of their identity. This can lead people to feel stressed, anxious, frustrated, depressed, or experience other negative emotions.

These negative emotions cause negative outcomes such as health problems or poor performance at work. Positive stress can also come in different forms like pressure-vacuum (pushing someone up while they are stepping back).

When we are under high pressure but with enough resources to meet those demands we experience positive stress which causes us not only anxiety but also motivates us by challenging our abilities. There are many types of positive stresses that are beneficial in the workplace like promotion (stressful event), moving up in the company (stressful event), and explaining a new project (stressful event) among others.

Conclusion

Positive stress can be a type of stress that is useful and desirable to the individual. Eustress is helpful in the lives of individuals and groups, but it is harmful in the lives of individuals and groups.

Positive stress can be either eudaimonic. Some eustress can help individuals become more resilient to future stressors. Other eustress can cause individuals to become more vulnerable to future stressors.

One way that positive stress affects society is through its impact on mental health. When people have too much positive stress, they are at risk of developing depression, anxiety, or substance abuse problems. It’s important for those who experience positive stress to be aware of how their lifestyle affects their mental well-being.

FAQs

What is stress?

Stress is the body’s response to outside forces and as a result, it can have both positive and negative effects. Stress can be a good thing because it motivates us to complete tasks. Stress can also cause anxiety, which could lead to health issues if left untreated.

What is positive stress?

Positive stress refers to the type of stress that has a positive effect on your body. It increases your heart rate, but this increase helps you meet deadlines at work or school more easily. Positive stress also increases perspiration which can help cool the body down during hot weather. Positive stress is a type of stress that may be helpful and desirable to the individual.

What are some examples of positive stress?

Examples of positive stress may include completing a project or competition, taking an exam, overcoming a challenge, rock climbing for the first time, going out for the first date, and so on. Positive stress can be either eudaimonic or adaptive.

What is eustress?

Eustress is a form of positive stress that helps individuals become more resilient to future stressors. Eustress causes temporary anxiety and short-term distress that changes how we react long term to similar events in the future.

How does positive stress affect our body?

Positive stress causes a release of epinephrine (also known as adrenaline) and cortisol, which provide temporary energy for our body. This energy can help us complete tasks that we might not otherwise have been able to do without this extra boost. However, too much epinephrine can lead to too much cortisol production and eventually cortisol overload, which can cause more harm than good due to the side effects it has on the body.

What is the difference between positive and negative stress?

Eustress vs distress: Eustress is an umbrella term for any type of stress that has a beneficial outcome in the short-term and long-term whereas distress is any type of stress that causes harm in either the short-term or long-term. Distress includes chronic stress, acute episodic stress, etc.

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Dr. David Barlow

David is a well-known researcher and author in the anxiety disorders area with extensive research on their etiology, nature, and treatment. He started the site to share his real-life experiences on the management of anxiety disorders with successful diagnosis and treatment being his motivation to write or review the content on this site.