What is the difference between positive and negative stress?

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The key idea here is that stress can be helpful or harmful depending on how you perceive it and whether you have the resources to handle it. When stress is a manageable, short-term challenge that you feel capable of meeting, it’s called eustress. This kind of stress boosts alertness, energy, and focus, and it can improve motivation and performance.

In contrast, distress happens when demands exceed your resources or when stress becomes chronic. This leads to worry, anxiety, fatigue, and impaired performance, and over time it can affect physical and mental health. So the difference isn’t just the amount of stress, but how it’s experienced and managed: eustress tends to be productive and energizing, while distress tends to be draining and anxiety-provoking. That’s why the statement that eustress is useful and distress can cause anxiety captures the distinction between positive and negative stress.