Video Transcription

Hi Ant & Ali here with our Wellbeing Words of Wisdom.

Today we want to discuss stress.

Stress can be defined as any type of change that causes physical, emotional or psychological strain and we all experience stress to some degree.

The word “stress” is often used to describe a negative situation, which leads people to believe that all stress is bad for you.

However, this is not the case.

There are two types of stress – Distress, which is negative and eustress, which is positive.

When it comes to creating a list of stressors for each category it can be quite difficult because all stress is perception based.

A situation that might cause one person anxiety or concern, might excite and motivate another.

Take for example a job promotion.

One person might relish the opportunity, while another might feel it’s too much pressure.

Let’s delve a little deeper into eustress.

Eustress is generally short term and some of its characteristics are: Motivation, focus, increased performance or feelings of excitement.

Examples of eustress are: going on a rollercoaster, watching a scary movie, getting married, having a baby, buying a house, going on vacation

starting a new hobby or signing up for a new educational course.

As mentioned before, stress is perception based.

When a person feels confident in their ability to overcome the stressor, they are more likely to experience eustress.

Although it may challenge us, we relish the task at hand and with it comes a sense of satisfaction and motivation.

You may feel out of your comfort zone, but in a good way. This positive stress can lead to great personal growth.

In contrast to eustress, we have distress. Now distress can be short or long term and some of its characteristics are:

Anxiety, lack of motivation, feelings of unpleasantness or decreased performance.

Examples of distress are: Excessive job demands, job insecurity, divorce, conflicts with friends, family or colleagues, injury or illness or death of a loved one.

It’s important to note that the examples we gave for eustress could very well cause distress for some people.

Distress is caused when a person assumes the stressor is not within their control.

People who experience distress tend to feel overwhelmed and anxious.

They can also experience physical and psychological symptoms such as headaches, tension, insomnia, inattentiveness or irritability.

Stressors are not always external situations.

Internal events such as feelings or thoughts can also cause negative stress, such as a fear of flying

or public speaking, worrying about the future or unrealistic expectations.

It may be helpful to talk to someone if you’re finding you’re always stressed.

On a final note, there’s no progress without stress!

For any system to improve, it needs to be stressed or taxed.

For example, if we want to get stronger or fitter, we need to stress our body by progressively overloading the muscles

or increasing the intensity of our cardio workouts, respectively.