Question

What is an example of eustress?

Answer 1

Imagine that you won the lottery tomorrow. You now have millions of dollars at your disposal. So, after you quit your job and buy a brand new car, one would imagine nothing but happiness for your future. Then your relatives start calling and telling you how much they need money. Some of these relatives you have never heard of before. Now the charities and political organizations start calling for donations. Now you have new things to worry about at tax time, and you're feeling torn about who you can help and what you should do now. These worries are keeping you up at night, you're having trouble eating, and you feel a constant knot in your stomach worrying about what to do. I certainly wouldn't call that a 'good' stress. Instead, you're just stressed out by the changes and strains being put on you.

Now let's consider another person who won the lottery. He becomes galvanized by the idea of managing millions of dollars and reshaping his life into something he's always dreamed of. Sure, people are coming out of the woodwork asking for money, but this person knows who and how he wants to help and sticks to his plans. He invests his money, hires tax consultants, starts a business he's always dreamed of and is constantly smiling as he goes to sleep each and every night imagining the challenges to overcome and the rewards from doing so. The changes and strains are bringing out the best in him.

This is an example of eustress. So we see that eustress isn't simply a better type of stress, but rather a better reaction and perception of what causes us stress and what we perceive we are capable of doing about it. Even the most positive thing in the world can cause some people bad stress. Also, there are those who suffer terrible stress from what appears to outsiders as the simplest of things to overcome. For those who experience eustress, it's all about perceiving challenges rather than obstacles, as cliché as that may sound to some.

Answer 2

It is a healthy form of stress that gives us positive feelings and makes us feel good about ourselves. The prefix of the word ('eu') is greek and stands for 'well' or 'good'. An example of Eustress, would be a challenging work assignment that is perceived to be neither too difficult nor too easy.