Eustress And Distress: Differences Between Positive And Negative Types Of Stress
Is there positive stress? When is stress negative? Discover the differences between eustress and distress and how to promote positive stress in your life.
Many people know the negative effects of stress or distress On the other hand, there is little knowledge about so-called positive stress or eustress. Sometimes stress can have positive benefits for us and other times it can be detrimental to our health. So, what is the difference between positive and negative stress?
When we talk about stress we are referring to the response that our body establishes when faced with a situation that it interprets as dangerous. In many cases, experimenting distress (negative stress) or eustress (positive stress) It differs more from the person and their way of facing reality than from the circumstance itself.
At the moment when a person encounters a factor that produces stress A reaction is set in motion in each case that affects both our brain and our nervous system. In this way, through the so-called stress hormones, our body accelerates our heart rate and breathing to make our mind more alert.
Types of stress
Depending on how our body perceives a threatening situation, a different response is triggered. So much so that people can experience different types of stress
What is eustress? Definition of positive stress
Eustress is about a ‘positive stress’ for our body. Unlike so-called distress or negative stress, eustress allows us to motivate ourselves to work harder, improve our productivity and achieve our daily goals or challenges.
Even though that him eustress and distress They involve the activation of the fight or flight response of stress hormones, the difference is that when this positive stress occurs, the energy that the body provides us is directly proportional to the situation we are facing.
What makes a person experience eustress and not distress It is precisely the perception she has of herself and the stressor she faces. Thus, when a person feels confident in themselves and their ability to cope with a situation, they are more likely to experience positive stress.
What is distress? Meaning of negative stress
On the other hand, when a person perceives a threatening situation and does not feel safe around it, they experience the negative distress or stress In these cases, distress is associated with anguish, that is, a sensation that makes individuals feel overwhelmed, anxious and awaken physical and psychological symptoms such as headaches, tension, insomnia, among others.
What makes a person feel distress and not eustress It is mainly when they assume that the stressor is not under their control or they are not capable of solving or changing it.
Differences between positive and negative stress
To experience eustress or distress It makes you feel different responses both physically and psychologically. Among the signs that differentiate positive and negative stress we find the following.
In most cases, people tend to experience more distress than eustress If you think you are in a situation where so-called negative stress is affecting you, it is essential that you consult with a professional psychologist.
How to prevent distress and promote eustress?
It is completely normal for people to experience different types of stress at some point in their lives. Even so, there are methods that can help us be less likely to experience distress or negative stress and more eustress or positive stress To achieve this, psychologists recommend the following.
Focus on those aspects that are under your control: In many cases, people who tend to experience distress They usually have it because they perceive that the situation they face exceeds their ability to cope. Therefore, in these cases the best thing we can do to promote eustress is to try to address those aspects that are under our control.
Find a significant reason behind stressful situations: Giving a stressful situation a valuable reason for you can further encourage experimentation. eustress than distress Therefore, try to perceive what you are facing as something positive for your personal growth.
Identify the steps you must follow: Organizing tasks and breaking down a situation into small steps can further encourage positive stress and less the negative stress
Find the cause of your stress: Sometimes we do not realize that the source of our negative distress or stress It may be because we find that something is wrong in our lives. In this way, when the cause of our distress comes from our past choices, we must analyze and face this problem with knowledge of it.
Practice self-compassion: In many cases where people experience distress They often end up with negative self-talk and constant feelings of self-criticism. These types of thoughts not only push away positive stress in favor of negative stress, but they can also end up damaging our self-esteem. Therefore, in these cases, it is time to be compassionate with ourselves and put aside our inner critic.
Use mindfulness to get out of your thoughts: Distress encourages our heads to be invaded by a large number of negative thoughts. Thanks to mindfulness, we can control this negativity and let go of the psychological distress
Do more physical exercise: One of the most effective methods to experience more positive stress It is precisely to practice more physical exercise. In many cases, if you practice a sport regularly, the person tends to experience more episodes of positive stress than negative ones.
As we see the difference between distress and eustress It’s abysmal. For this reason, it is vital to learn to manage situations with positive stress instead of negative. A professional psychologist can help you change distress into eustress. Thanks to this change you will be able to discover the advantages of facing life with more motivation.
