Eustress vs Distress: Positive & Negative Types of Stress

Eustress is a type of stress that is positive, useful, and motivating. Contrasting distress, eustress motivates people to work hard, increase their performance, and reach their goals, even in the face of challenges.

Distress is the negative kind of stress that people associate with feeling of being “stressed out”. Distress tends to cause people to feel exhausted, anxious, and to experience physical and psychological symptoms such as headaches, stiffness, insomnia, absentmindedness or irritability. Frequent, intense or chronic stress is toxic to the body and brain and is related to a number of physical and mental diseases, as well as impairing a person’s ability to function.

The difference in eustress and distress has to do with the stressor(s) that initiated the response and the way the person evaluates these. Distress is caused when a person believes the stressor or stressors are not within their control or ability to fix.