Stress has often been misunderstood to be negative, with fewpeople acknowledging the importance and usefulness of positive stress. In oureveryday lives, stress is everywhere and definitely unavoidable; hence ouremphasis should be on differentiating between what is good stress, and what isbad. This will help us to learn to cope with negative stress, and harness thepower of positive stress to help us achieve more.



There are 4 main categories of stress, namely eustress,distress, hyper-stress and hypo-stress. Negative stress can cause many physicaland psychological problems, whilst positive stress can be very helpful for us.Here’s how we differentiate between them.

Eustress

This is a positive form of stress, which prepares your mindand body for the imminent challenges that it has perceived. Eustress is anatural physical reaction by your body which increases blood flow to yourmuscles, resulting in a higher heart rate. Athletes before a competition orperhaps a manager before a major presentation would do well with eustress,allowing them to derive the inspiration and strength that is needed.

Distress

We are familiar with this word, and know that it is anegative form of stress. This occurs when the mind and body is unable to copewith changes, and usually occurs when there are deviations from the norm. Theycan be categorized into acute stress and chronic stress. Acute stress isintense, but does not last for long. On the other hand, chronic stress persistsover a long period of time.  Triggerevents for distress can be a change in job scope or routine that the person isunable to handle or cope with.

Hyper-stress

This is another form of negative stress that occurs when theindividual is unable to cope with the workload. Examples include highlystressful jobs, which require longer working hours than the individual canhandle. If you suspect that you are suffering from hyper-stress, you are likelyto have sudden emotional breakdowns over insignificant issues, the proverbial strawsthat broke the camel’s back. It is important for you to recognize that yourbody needs a break, or you may end up with severe and chronic physical andpsychological reactions.

Hypo-stress

Lastly, hypo-stress occurs when a person has nothing to do withhis time and feels constantly bored and unmotivated. This is due to aninsufficient amount of stress; hence some stress is inevitable and helpful tous. Companies should avoid having workers who experience hypo-stress as thiswill cause productivity and mindfulness to fall. If the job scope is boring andrepetitive, it would be a good idea to implement some form of job rotation sothat there is always something new to learn.