Whenever you feel overwhelmed and up against the wall, do you get the old familiar stress headache or stress backache ? Before you let yourself get all stressed out, take time to think about what type of stress you’re feeling.
According to psychologists there are two types of stress: Eustress and Stress. These two types of stress are as different as two sides of the same coin. The one type of stress is good for you and the other type of stress is harmful to your body.
The first type of stress, the good type of stress is eustress. It keeps you excited about life. Eustress is basically a desirable form of stress which is healthful and gives a feeling of contentment.

So how do you identify eustress? Here are some examples:
1.    Thrill experienced while watching a horror movie
2.    Excitement of winning a race
3.    Accomplishing a challenge
4.    Joy experienced on a roller-coaster ride
5.    Happiness felt on the birth of a baby
6.    Excitement while getting wedded
7.    A man’s shaking hand as he produces an engagement ring
8.    Buying a new car and many more

The other type of stress is Stress, which on the other hand, is anxiety, fear, frustration and an overcoming sense of dread. Burnout stress happens as an effect of stress from working too long under a stressful environment. Continual exposure to stressful situations and people whose demands become stressful to you results in the negative type of stress.

There’s nothing useful about stress. After all, stress and heart disease are related. Stress can be a cause for a heart attack, stroke or an emotional breakdown.  Have you ever said ‘stress does you good?’ or ‘I work better under stress?’ Then you haven’t asked your immune system how it feels to be stressed out.

Stress is also referred to as distress, as stress anxiety, as severe strain or as mental suffering resulting from exhaustion or an accident.

Some of the events that lead to distress are:
1.    Emotional stress due to death of loved ones
2.    Work related stress
3.    Discontent in relationships
4.    Financial stress tension
5.    Unfulfilled desires

Living under stressful conditions for long periods of time has damaging effects to your immune system. Have you ever noticed how you’re more inclined to catch a cold whenever you feel extreme stress due to being overworked than when you aren’t stressed out?
That’s a perfect example of how the immune system can’t deal with your stressful load and have enough left over to fight a stress illness.

Manage stress! Learn to stop and analyze your stress. One effective stress coping technique is to write in a journal. Reflect and write down your answer to these stress related questions:

1.    What causes you to feel stress?
2.    Where are you when you feel the most stress?
3.    Who is with you when you’re feeling the stress tension?
4.    What were you doing when you were feeling stressed?
5.    Has anything changed recently in this situation that might possibly be the cause of stress?

By seeing your stress patterns, you can look at ways to change either your involvement with stress or your stress response. Is what you’re feeling really harmful stress? If it’s actually eustress, then you can change what you say from, “I’m so stressed out over the party” to “I’m so excited about this party!”  It’s amazing how your body responds differently to each type of stress.  Sometimes your reactions to stress are a choice.

While some stress can be good for the body, some stress disorders can cause major health problems and some types of stress can even be life threatening. Stress is a natural function of the body but understanding the different types of stress can help you better understand how to deal with the stress you encounter in life.

Major Types of Stress

While stress may have many subcategories, the major types of stress can be broken down and categorized into four types of stress: Eustress, Hyperstress, Hypostress and Distress. Let us discuss each type of stress further.

Type of Stress #1: Eustress

Eustress is one of the helpful types of stress. But what is eustress exactly? Eustress is the type of stress you experience right before you have the need to exert physical force. Eustress prepares the muscles, heart, and mind for the strength needed for whatever it is that’s about to occur.
Eustress can also be applied to creative endeavours. When a person needs to have some extra energy or creativity, eustress kicks in to bring them the inspiration they need. An athlete will experience the strength that comes from eustress right before they play a big game or enter a big competition. Because of this type of stress, they immediately receive the strength that they need to perform.

When the body enters the fight or flight response, it will experience eustress.  Eustress prepares the body to fight with or flee from an imposing danger. This type of stress will cause the blood to pump to the major muscle groups, and will increase the heart rate and blood pressure to increase. If the event or danger passes, the body will eventually return to its normal state.

Type of Stress #2: Distress

Distress is one of the negative types of stress. This is one of the types of stress that the mind and body undergoes when the normal routine is constantly adjusted and altered. This type of stress can actually be subcategorized into two types: acute stress and chronic stress.

Distress Type #1: Acute Stress
The first type of distress is acute stress. This type of stress comes immediately with a change of routine. It is an intense type of stress, but it passes quickly. Acute stress is the body’s way of getting a person to stand up and take inventory of what is going on, to make sure that everything is okay.

Distress Type #2: Chronic Stress
The second type of distress is chronic stress. Chronic stress will occur if there is a constant change of routine for week after week. Chronic stress affects the body for a long period of time. This is the type of stress experienced by someone who constantly faces moves or job changes.

Type of Stress #3: Hyperstress
Hyperstress is another negative type of stress which comes when a person is forced to undertake or undergo more than he or she can take. When you’re faced with a stressful job that overworks you, this causes hyperstress. A person who is experiencing hyperstress will often respond to even little stressors with huge emotional outbreaks. It is important for a person who thinks they might be experiencing hyperstress to take measures to reduce stress in their lives, because hyperstress can lead to serious emotional and physical repercussions.

Type of Stress #4: Hypostress
The final of the four types of stress is hypostress. Hypostress stands in direct opposite to the third type of stress: hyperstress. Hypostress is basically insufficient amount of stress. That is because hypostress is the type of stress experienced by a person who is constantly bored. Someone in an unchallenged job, such as a factory worker performing the same task over and over, will often experience hypostress. Hypostress effects are feelings of restlessness and a lack of inspiration.