Eustress vs Distress : What can be positive about stress by Vaibhavii Naik

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Err… before I had no clue that there were Two Types of stress: Negative stress AKA Distress and positive stress AKA Eustress. Obviously, I was like, "what can be positive about stress!!!" Well, let's find out…

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Subtlety Sneaking in Stress How to Manage Stress By Vaibhavii Naik

EUSTRESS

Suppose we're Preparing for a competition exam. Now, if we are a competitive kind of person, who gets a high by topping the scores; someone who really loves challenges & wants to get ahead of the race then YES, this kind of stress can have a positive effect. Because when challenged by circumstances, our attitude would be like, "I'll Do Whatever It Takes?" ENTER - "EUSTRESS"

Eustress Stressors

●      Exercising

●      Socializing

●      Practicing Mindfulness/Meditation

●      Building relationship/friendship

●      Vacationing

●      Listening to happy music

●      Achieving a goal

●      Going to Spa

●      Practicing Self-love

Results Of Eustress :

●      Increased energy levels

●      Feeling Motivated

●      Increased focus

●      More excitement in life

●      Increased self-efficacy & productivity

●      Positive outlook towards everything

●      Increased resilience

When I learnt this, I was like…, "WELCOME to my life, EUSTRESS… THANK YOU so much for BEING THERE, EUSTRESS… you are my SUPERHERO, EUSTRESS…"

Now what about the villain 🤔

DISTRESS

Continuing with the example of a competition exam, if we are not so competitive by nature, if we easily get nervous or scared by challenges, the same thing will make us extremely uncomfortable. That pressure to perform, all the hard work of preparation or being away from our comfort zone or not being able to do what we want, We would be like, "It's All too much for me." Or "I'll just not be able to do this." Or "I'll give Whatever It Takes to escape from this."

Then this is definitely not a positive stress,  even though the motive remains the same : topping the exam, our mind will guide us in a completely opposite direction…

Distress Stressors

●      Situation not in our control.

●      The deadline we missed

●      Illness or an injury

●      Problems that can affect those who are dependent on you.

●      Financial crisis

●      Being a perfectionist

●      Unrealistic expectations

●      Death of a loved one

●      Cause of continuous stress.

●      Relationship problems

●      Work related problems or conflicts with colleagues at workplace

●      Experiences that make us feel worthless. Abuse or feeling neglected

●      Worrying about someone else

●      Comparisons

●      Social media

●      Being an Overachiever

●      Your fear of a particular situation, Like Public Speaking

●      Loads of negative feelings towards something, like loud noise

●      Prejudices against someone. like our immediate boss or our MIL

●      Negative experiences like job loss

●      Some regrets like Past mistakes or wrong decisions

●      Relationship problems.

 

Results of Distress:

●      Lack of sleep

●      Fatigue

●      Headaches

●      Mood swings

●      Change in appetite

●      Digestion issues

●      Shortness of breath

●      Chest pain

●      Feeling low and tired

●      Feeling scared and anxious

●      Headache

●      Unable to focus on work

●      not feeling happy about anything, not even the things we previously liked

OVERCOMING DISTRESS

There are some things in the distress stressors list which I pray don't happen even to our enemy, but some of them are totally unnecessary stressors. And the stress of all these things together creates this constant pressure inside us and many other physical health and mental problems. So it is crucial and critically important to uproot them from our life. Make it all the more important to understand how we respond to it.

If you are deeply interested in or passionate enough about something, you will not mind the struggle, and your mind will support the activity positively. This is EUSTRESS.

If you are not much inclined to that thing you need to get done, there's hardly any chance you will be able to focus on it. This will lead to DISTRESS. So it Is completely upon how our mind responds to the stimulus.

The challenge is to Distance ourselves from Distress and its bad impact on our physical health and

 mental health thereby Fostering positive stress which will actually keep us motivated. Let's look at a few ways we can do this.

●      Living Better

○      Assessing the of quality of your Life vs the quantity of stress 😖😖

○      Expecting less and accepting more of the condition you are in, to face it.  Building resilience, over time, to fix whatever tension you are experiencing.

○      Striving positively for that promotion or that desired job profile. The act of striving, in itself, is a great satisfaction.  💸⭐💪💯

○      Doing more of what you like. Keeping the playlist of some of your favorite music or movies handy. 🎶 🍿🎥

○      Helping Others Cope with stress. This has personally been helping me a lot as it shifts my focus and forces my mind to be solution oriented. 🫂

●      Unplugging from technology.

○      Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including those on social media. 📺

○      Connecting with your community👥👥👥- Calling an old friend or Talking to strangers like cab drivers, or vendors. I love doing it, give it a try…

○      Going for strolls…  I remember when I felt like not doing anything, I used to just leave for a walk🚶👣, by the time I was back, my mind was vibrating with unlimited ideas.

○      Trying new activities that interest you. ⚽🏀🏈⚾

●      Taking time to unwind;

○Breaking your routine by doing something you haven't done before. 💆😎 ☕ 

○      Making up more time for yourself, your body. Happy mind dwells in a healthy body. How about a quick morning meditation🧘‍♀️!

○      Practice mindfulness in everything you do. I have been trying mindful eating and trust me food has never been so tasty and rewarding 😋😋🍲

○      Practice gratitude. Too much has been said about this for me to elaborate ❤🌹🙏

●      Avoiding drugs, alcohol, any addiction for that matter, including toxic relationships…  easier said than done but you can try the following steps 👣

○      Making it time-based. ⏰ Maybe some special day, like your child's birthday, or anniversary.

○      Distracting yourself by Changing your environment. For me, the closer I stay with nature the better I feel. 🌿🍃

○      Checking what went wrong with your past attempts at quitting. ❌

○      Seeking support from your network. 🤗🤗

●      Last and most crucial, Recognizing when you need professional help. It won't do any magic but all of it eventually builds up to "a lesser-stressed you" 😊😁

Contribute by Adding more coping mechanisms that work for you to the list.