Stress is always considered something bad and can negatively affect mental and physical health. However, did you know that stress doesn’t always have a bad effect on the body and mind?
One type of stress known as positive stress is referred to as eustress. Eustress is stress that does not have a bad impact on mental health and it is instead useful for maintaining your mental health.
Eustress is the positive stress the body needs
Eustress or positive stress can manifest in the form of pleasant or stressful events or challenges that trigger chemical compounds in the body that can maintain your mental health. Eustress is a stress that arises when you’re happy.
Eustress is important to keep you alive and happy about life. This positive stress makes heart rate faster and increases hormone production. Usually, this type of stress is not due to fear or threat.
In short, eustress plays a role in keeping you motivated and pursuing your goals, as well as making life feel better. Eustress affects the three aspects of life, namely:
- Psychologically, helping to build self-reliance, mental endurance, and self-ability
- Physical, impacting body formation by motivating or challenging you to exercise
- Emotional, giving positive emotions of the self, such as inspiration, satisfaction, and so on
Some of the events that can trigger the emergence of eustress, such as playing roller coasters, participating in certain competitions, improving work skills, traveling to other countries, and so on.
Positive Stress Examples
Eustress manifests in a number of different arenas. Here are some examples of eustress reported from the American Institute of Stress, so you can identify them in your own life.
Travel
Activities dealing with international flights and foreign customs can be stressful, but the end result is worth the pain.
This new experience will shape one’s view of the world and expand the mind.
Changes in Life
Brides may be confused when they feel stressed on the day of their part.
They don’t think they should be stressed on their wedding day.
It turns out that marriage makes one’s life change, so people tend to stress at the beginning of marriage.
However, this stress generally triggers eustress, which means it comes from a pleasant experience.
New Hobbies
Some people may feel stressed and ashamed when starting something new, such as an art class or a first language lesson.
However, this positive stress actually encourages a person to cultivate new skills and make the brain more active.
Positive Stress Benefits
Here are some good things that can happen when you’re experiencing eustress.
As an Encouragement
Medium level stress can strengthen our motivation. For example, the pressure of working close to the deadline can help you focus more and get it done (before being bombarded with emails and WhatsApp from the boss).
Making More Courageous and Confident Facing Problems
Using stress to deal with fear and challenges can also help you to deal with problems instead of avoiding them. After that, you’re not afraid anymore, you feel better prepared for the future.
Strengthen relationships
Talking about what makes you depressed is not only a relief, but also a personal relationship that is one of the keys to mental health.
Read also:
The dangers of feeling lonely for health
Make Your Life More Meaningful
Everyone must have been stressed. And it is part of the process of learning life. When you finally get through it, it feels very proud. What we’re most proud of and most meaningful in our lives, usually is (getting through) the hard stuff. If we negate it, our lives will be less meaningful.
Positive Stress Management
When stress arises, one needs to prepare for good stress management in order to help you cope with stress well.
Managing stress can help you lead a more balanced and healthy life.
There are a number of stress management approaches as follows.
- Learning skills such as problem solving, prioritizing tasks and time management.
- Improve your ability to overcome difficulties.
- For example, you might learn how to raise awareness and emotional reactions, increases your sense of control, find greater meaning and purpose in life, and foster gratitude and optimism.
- Practice relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, yoga, meditation, tai chi, exercise, and prayer.
- Improve your personal relationships.
Read more about Benefits of stress on the body
