Stress

Some people do stress well, others do stress, no so good.

I know that at some level, even the people who usually deal with stress well get affected.

There are different kinds of stresses, can be grouped into four main types of stress.

Eustress

Have you ever (I'm sure you have) felt:

- The thrill and excited feeling while watching a horror movie
- The feeling of excitement when you won a game or race
- The excitement when you bought your first car
- The accomplishment of a challenge
- The proud feeling of being a first time parent
- The happy feeling of being loved
- The excitement of going for a holiday

These feelings sure make us feel good and they are the so-called "good stress" or "positive stress". They are able to exert a healthy effect on you. It gives one a feeling of fulfillment or contentment and also makes one excited about life. Unfortunately, it is a type of stress that only occurs for a short period of time.

Eustress is also often called the curative stress because it gives a person the ability to generate the best performance or maximum output.

Distress

Just like everything in life, when there are good or positive stress, there are also "bad" or "negative stress". These types of stress is the opposite of Eustress and it's called Distress

Distress is a “negative stress”. It is a stress disorder that is caused by adverse events and it often influences a person’s ability to cope. Some events leading to distress are:

- Death of a loved one
- Financial problems
- Heavy work responsibility and workload
- Strained relationship
- Chronic illnesses

Distress can be classified further as acute stress or chronic stress. Acute stress is short-lived while chronic stress is usually prolonged in nature.

The remaining two types of stress are:

Hyperstress

When a person is pushed beyond what he or she can handle, they will experience what we called hyperstress.

Hyperstress results from being overloaded or overworked. It’s like being stressed out. When someone is hyperstressed, even little things can trigger a strong emotional response. People who are most likely to suffer from hyperstress are:

- Working mothers who have to multi-task, juggling between work and family commitments
- A wall street trader who are constantly under immerse tension
- People who are under constant financial strains.
- Generally people working in fast pace environment.

and the extreme opposite of hyperstress is

Hypostress

Hypostress stands in direct opposite to hyperstress. That is because hypostress is one of those types of stress experienced by a person who is constantly bored. Someone in an unchallenging job, such as a factory worker performing the same task over and over, will often experience hypostress. The effect of hypostress is feelings of restlessness and a lack of inspiration.

Long-term stress or stress that is occurring over long periods of time can have an even greater effect on your body and mind. Long-term stress can affect your body by:

• ·         Changing your appetite (making you eat either less or more)
• ·         Changing your sleep habits (either causing you to sleep too much or not letting you sleep enough)
• ·         Encouraging 'nervous' behavior such as twitching, fiddling, talking too much, nail biting, teeth grinding, pacing, and other repetitive habits
• ·         Causing you to catch colds or the flu more often and causing other illnesses such as asthma, headaches, stomach problems, skin problems, and other aches and pains
• ·         Affecting your sex life and performance
• ·         Making you feel constantly tired and worn out

Long-term stress can also have serious effects on your mental health and behavior. If you are under stress for long periods of time, you may find that you have difficulty thinking clearly, dealing with problems, or even handling day-to-day situations as simple as shaving, picking up clothes or arriving somewhere on time. Some mental signs of long-term stress include:

• ·         Worrying and feeling anxious (which can sometimes lead to anxiety disorder and panic attacks)
• ·         Feeling out of control, overwhelmed, confused, and/or unable to make decisions
• ·         Experiencing mood changes such as depression, frustration, anger, helplessness, irritability, defensiveness, irrationality, overreaction, or impatience and restlessness
• ·         Increasing dependence on food, cigarettes, alcohol, or drugs
• ·         Neglecting important things in life such as work, school, and even personal appearance
• ·         Developing irrational fears of things such as physical illnesses, natural disasters like thunderstorms and earthquakes, and even being terrified of ordinary situations like heights or small spaces

While occasionally experiencing one or two of the above symptoms may not be cause for concern (everyone has a few nervous habits and difficulties in their lives!), having a number of these symptoms may mean you are under more stress than you think. But realizing you are under stress is the first step in learning to deal with stress. 

Well I am stressed

all the time.

Even the good stresses make me feel like I am dying, someday I will either figure out how to reduce the stress or how to handle it better.

Physical and mental sings of stress

Types of stress