Why Eustress Is Your Friend

Why Eustress Is Your Friend Stress Management Situational Stress Print Why Eustress Can Be Your Friend By Elizabeth Scott, MS twitter Elizabeth Scott, MS, is a wellness coach specializing in stress management and quality of life, and the author of 8 Keys to Stress Management. Learn about our editorial policy Elizabeth Scott, MS Updated on September 30, 2019 How Stress Impacts Your Health Overview Signs of Burnout Stress and Weight Gain Benefits of Exercise Stress Reduction Tips Self-Care Practices Mindful Living KNSY/Picture Press/Getty Images Not all stress is the same. Some of  the stress that we face in life can be more detrimental to our well-being, and some types of stress can actually be healthy for us. For example, chronic stressâ€"the type of stress that seems to be constant and psychologically or emotionally drainingâ€"is the most harmful to our health and wellbeing. This kind of chronic stress can trigger the stress response and keep it triggered for long periods of time, leaving us exhausted and close to burnout. Why Eustress Is Good Stress Eustress, on the other hand, can be beneficial  and is actually necessary for our overall wellbeing. This is the type of positive stress that keeps us vital and excited about life. The excitement of a roller-coaster ride, a scary movie, or a fun challenge are all examples of eustress. The anticipation of a first date, the first day at a new job, or other exciting firsts also fall under the umbrella of eustress. Eustress is a type of stress that is actually important for us to have in our lives. Without it, we would become bored at best and, in more serious cases, depressed. We would begin to feel a lack of motivation to accomplish goals and a lack of meaning in life without enough eustress. Not striving for goals, not overcoming challenges, not having a reason to wake up in the morning would be damaging to us, so eustress is considered good stress. It keeps us healthy and happy. Identifying Differences Between Stressors Understanding eustress can help us to more easily manage other types of stress as well. For example, research shows that when an event is perceived as a threat, we respond to it differently than if its seen as a challenge. Threats tend to elicit a greater stress response from us and create greater levels of anxiety. Challenges, on the other hand, can be exciting, and even enjoyable to overcome. Threats are scary, while challenges are opportunities to prove ourselves and learn how much were capable of accomplishing when we really try. This understanding reminds us that we can view many of the stressors in our lives as challenges rather than threats merely by changing how we talk to ourselves about the challenges and by focusing on the resources we have to handle these challenges rather than focusing on what may go wrong and how damaging that would be. Changing Your Perspective and Maintaining Balance When we work on shifting our focus and approaching stress as a challenge whenever possible, we can manage these challenges more easily and have more vital energy to handle these stressors, without a feeling of being overwhelmed or unhappy. Trying to approach various stressors in life as wed approach eustress enables us to manage that stress more easily. That said, while eustress doesnt generally carry the same type of damage as chronic stress, too much eustress can still tax your system. Just as a schedule can become overloaded and stressful even if the events are all fun activities, you can feel overloaded and stressed by too much eustress if youre not allowing yourself to return to a relaxed state and have a healthy balance of restorative downtime. Hence why its balance is essential. A balance between work activities and fun activities is important, but a balance of eustress and leisure is also an important focus. Being Mindful of Your Limitations Changing ones perspective can certainly help with stress management, but its not the only strategy that should be used. If you have too many challenges in your life, even eustress can become chronic stress and lead to burnout or worse. Its important to be mindful of where your limitations are and to work to maintain balance in your life. This can mean cutting out any unnecessary obligations (particularly ones that you dont enjoy), adopting some resilience-promoting habits that can help you to be less reactive to stress overall, and become comfortable with saying no to new activities if they wont truly serve you. This takes practice but it can make all the difference in your stress levels.