Eustress
[YOO-stres]
Part of speech: noun
Origin: English, 20th century
1.
Moderate or normal psychological stress, interpreted as being beneficial.
Examples of Eustress in a sentence
"The challenge of my new job was stimulating and left me in a state of eustress."
"During my college days, I always thrived under the eustress of finals season."
About Eustress
“Eustress” was formed in English by adding the prefix “eu-” (meaning “good”) to the word “stress.”
Did you Know?
“Eustress” was a term coined in the 1960s by psychologists exploring the phenomenon of stress. Stress is often experienced as a negative state, so most people were already familiar with the term “distress,” suggesting discomfort, alarm, or suffering, often associated with the threat of danger. As a counterpoint, psychologists suggested the term “eustress” to describe a response to stress that is not distressing, but rather motivating and provoking happiness. For example, a world-class baseball pitcher taking the field in the World Series may well feel stress, but it is likely a stress associated with a task he feels capable of accomplishing to the best of his impressive ability. As a result, he feels eustress — excitement about and focus on what he is potentially about to accomplish — rather than distress.
