The Benefits of Good Stress

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsWhat Is Good Stress?BenefitsExamples of Good StressWhen Good Stress Becomes BadHow Bad Stress Can Become Good

Table of ContentsView All

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Table of Contents

What Is Good Stress?

Benefits

Examples of Good Stress

When Good Stress Becomes Bad

How Bad Stress Can Become Good

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While we often think of stress as something negative to be avoided, it is a natural and expected part of daily life. You might be surprised to hear that some stress is actually considered “good stress.” Also known aseustress, it is the type of stress you might feel before a first date or important competition.

When we feel good stress, our heart rate increases, our breathing rate increases, and we feel a thrill of excitement. It’s a short-term change in our bodies that helps us to feel prepared, energized, and ready to perform at our best.

We rarely hear people say, “I’m really feeling stressed. Isn’t that great?” But we’d feel rudderless and unhappy if we didn’t have some stress in our lives—the “good stress” variety. If we define stress as anything that alters our homeostasis, then good stress, in its many forms, is vital for a healthy life.Bad stress, or distress, can even turn into good stress and vice versa, depending on the situation.

At a GlanceGood stress helps you feel excited and energized, and it’s important to have it in your life. While bad stress can harm your health, good stress can promote well-being. Changing your perception of stress can help. So can adding positive activities to promote eustress (aka, the good kind of stress). Together, these strategies help you create a healthy balance in your life.

At a Glance

Good stress helps you feel excited and energized, and it’s important to have it in your life. While bad stress can harm your health, good stress can promote well-being. Changing your perception of stress can help. So can adding positive activities to promote eustress (aka, the good kind of stress). Together, these strategies help you create a healthy balance in your life.

“Good stress,” or what psychologists refer to as “eustress,” is the type of stress we feel when we are excited. Our pulse quickens and our hormones surge, but there is no threat or fear.

We feel this type of stress when we ride a roller coaster, compete for a promotion, or go on a first date. There are many triggers for this good stress, and it keeps us feeling alive and excited about life.

A certain level of stress helps keep your mind and body alert and ready to respond. It can be motivating and help you perform your best.

According toYerkes-Dodson law, stress can improve performance–at least, up to a certain point. Once you pass that point, stress can take a toll on your ability to perform well.

Good Stress vs. Bad Stress

Another type of stress is acute stress. It comes from quick surprises that need a response. Acute stress triggers the body’sstress responseas well, but the triggers aren’t always happy and exciting. This is what we normally think of as “stress” (or “bad stress”).

Acute stress in itself doesn’t take a heavy toll if we find ways to relax quickly. Once the stressor has been dealt with, we need to return our body to homeostasis, or its pre-stress state, to be healthy and happy.

Chronic stressis another form of bad stress. It occurs when we repeatedly face stressors that take a heavy toll and feel inescapable. Astressful jobor an unhappy home life can bring chronic stress. This is what we normally think of asserious stress.

Because our bodies aren’t designed for chronic stress, we can face negative health effects (both physical and emotional) if we experience chronic stress for an extended period of time.

How Can Good Stress Be Beneficial?

How exactly can stress be helpful? When you feel excited about something, your more likely to feel alert and motivated. It can improve your mood and help you perform your best. But those aren’t the only benefits.

Yes, you can add good stress to your life! Ideally, youchoose activitiesandset goalsthat make you feel good, happy, and excited. To gauge whether or not an activity is worth your time, pay attention to how the thought of it makes you feel.

Do you feel excited? Is it a “want to,” or a “have to”? Be sure your “want to” activities are all things you really dowantto do, and your “have to” activities are all absolutely necessary.

Examples of ways you can create more good stress in your life include:

Life changes can also be a source of good stress. Getting married, starting a family, getting a new job, or moving to a new place are all transitions that can be stressful, often in a good way.

Sometimes these changes might not start off great, however. Losing your job or ending a relationship can create bad stress. Changing how you look at the situation, such as viewing it as a chance for growth, can help shift negative stress into good stress.

Whether something counts as good stress or bad stress can also vary from one person to the next. Something that one person experiences in a positive way might trigger distress in someone else.

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How Good Stress Can Become Bad Stress

Good stress can become bad for you if you experience too much of it. (Thrill seekersknow this firsthand.) This is because your stress response is triggered either way, and if you’re adding that to chronic stress, or several other stressors, there is a cumulative effect.

Be in tune with yourself and acknowledge when you’ve had too much. You may not be able to eliminate all stress, but there are often ways to minimize or avoid some of the stress in your life, which can make it easier to handle the rest.

If you can avoid themost taxing forms of stress, you’ll have more resilience against other types of stress that are unavoidable.

How Bad Stress Can Become Good Stress

Not all forms of bad stress can become good stress, but it is possible to change your perception of some of the stressors in your life. This shift can change your experience of stress.

The body reacts strongly toperceivedthreats. If you don’t perceive something as a threat, there is generally no threat-based stress response.

As you practice looking at threats as challenges more often, it becomes more automatic, and you experience more good stress and less bad stress.

7 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pluut H, Curșeu PL, Fodor OC.Development and validation of a short measure of emotional, physical, and behavioral markers of eustress and distress (MEDS).Healthcare (Basel). 2022;10(2):339. doi:10.3390/healthcare10020339Aschbacher K, O’Donovan A, Wolkowitz OM, Dhabhar FS, Su Y, Epel E.Good stress, bad stress and oxidative stress: insights from anticipatory cortisol reactivity.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013;38(9):1698-708. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.02.004Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250Rowland DL, van Lankveld JJDM.Anxiety and performance in sex, sport, and stage: Identifying common ground.Front Psychol.2019;10:1615. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01615Yaribeygi H, Panahi Y, Sahraei H, Johnston TP, Sahebkar A.The impact of stress on body function: A review.EXCLI J. 2017;16:1057-1072. doi:10.17179/excli2017-480Dhabhar FS.The short-term stress response - Mother nature’s mechanism for enhancing protection and performance under conditions of threat, challenge, and opportunity.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2018;49:175-192. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.03.004Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250

7 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Pluut H, Curșeu PL, Fodor OC.Development and validation of a short measure of emotional, physical, and behavioral markers of eustress and distress (MEDS).Healthcare (Basel). 2022;10(2):339. doi:10.3390/healthcare10020339Aschbacher K, O’Donovan A, Wolkowitz OM, Dhabhar FS, Su Y, Epel E.Good stress, bad stress and oxidative stress: insights from anticipatory cortisol reactivity.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013;38(9):1698-708. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.02.004Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250Rowland DL, van Lankveld JJDM.Anxiety and performance in sex, sport, and stage: Identifying common ground.Front Psychol.2019;10:1615. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01615Yaribeygi H, Panahi Y, Sahraei H, Johnston TP, Sahebkar A.The impact of stress on body function: A review.EXCLI J. 2017;16:1057-1072. doi:10.17179/excli2017-480Dhabhar FS.The short-term stress response - Mother nature’s mechanism for enhancing protection and performance under conditions of threat, challenge, and opportunity.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2018;49:175-192. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.03.004Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Pluut H, Curșeu PL, Fodor OC.Development and validation of a short measure of emotional, physical, and behavioral markers of eustress and distress (MEDS).Healthcare (Basel). 2022;10(2):339. doi:10.3390/healthcare10020339Aschbacher K, O’Donovan A, Wolkowitz OM, Dhabhar FS, Su Y, Epel E.Good stress, bad stress and oxidative stress: insights from anticipatory cortisol reactivity.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013;38(9):1698-708. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.02.004Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250Rowland DL, van Lankveld JJDM.Anxiety and performance in sex, sport, and stage: Identifying common ground.Front Psychol.2019;10:1615. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01615Yaribeygi H, Panahi Y, Sahraei H, Johnston TP, Sahebkar A.The impact of stress on body function: A review.EXCLI J. 2017;16:1057-1072. doi:10.17179/excli2017-480Dhabhar FS.The short-term stress response - Mother nature’s mechanism for enhancing protection and performance under conditions of threat, challenge, and opportunity.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2018;49:175-192. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.03.004Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250

Pluut H, Curșeu PL, Fodor OC.Development and validation of a short measure of emotional, physical, and behavioral markers of eustress and distress (MEDS).Healthcare (Basel). 2022;10(2):339. doi:10.3390/healthcare10020339

Aschbacher K, O’Donovan A, Wolkowitz OM, Dhabhar FS, Su Y, Epel E.Good stress, bad stress and oxidative stress: insights from anticipatory cortisol reactivity.Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2013;38(9):1698-708. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.02.004

Lu S, Wei F, Li G.The evolution of the concept of stress and the framework of the stress system.Cell Stress. 2021;5(6):76-85. doi:10.15698/cst2021.06.250

Rowland DL, van Lankveld JJDM.Anxiety and performance in sex, sport, and stage: Identifying common ground.Front Psychol.2019;10:1615. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2019.01615

Yaribeygi H, Panahi Y, Sahraei H, Johnston TP, Sahebkar A.The impact of stress on body function: A review.EXCLI J. 2017;16:1057-1072. doi:10.17179/excli2017-480

Dhabhar FS.The short-term stress response - Mother nature’s mechanism for enhancing protection and performance under conditions of threat, challenge, and opportunity.Front Neuroendocrinol. 2018;49:175-192. doi:10.1016/j.yfrne.2018.03.004

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