The two sides of stress: distress and eustress

Eustress has many benefits, especially for ambitious people who enjoy an exciting challenge.

• Flow. When in flow, our attention is fully engaged, enjoying the absorption.
• Resilience. Eustress is based on perception and helps you to react more positively to challenging situations.
• Self-efficacy. Your judgment of how you carry out a required task is a measure of your level of self-efficacy. People with high self-efficacy may set higher goals and be motivated to achieve them.

Eustress is a positive reaction to stress and is based on perception. The potential sources of eustress vary between people.

Examples of stress which are commonly seen as positive include learning a new skill, starting a new job, going on a holiday, starting a family, moving, playing competitive sports or challenging video games, or having a complex but constructive debate.