Is Stress Good or Bad? Understanding Eustress, Distress, and When to Be Concerned
By Dr. Prerna Kohli | Clinical Psychologist, Gurugram | Updated June 2026
Stress is a physiological and psychological response to demands that exceed our immediate capacity— a signal from the nervous system that something requires attention and effort. In this fundamental sense, stress is not only normal but necessary. Without it, we would have no motivation to prepare, no edge in performance, and no ability to respond to genuine threats.
The problem is not stress itself. The problem is when stress becomes chronic, cumulative, and begins to exceed the body and mind's capacity to recover. Understanding where that line falls— and whether you are on the right or wrong side of it— is the clinically relevant question.
Not all stress is harmful. The clinical distinction is between eustress— short-term, manageable stress that sharpens focus and motivates performance— and distress— chronic, overwhelming stress that exceeds the body and mind's capacity to cope. The problem in India is that we have normalised a level of stress that is firmly in the distress category. Chronic overwork, perpetual deadline pressure, sleep deprivation treated as a badge of honour— without recognising that what feels like normal has crossed well into harmful.Dr. Prerna Kohli, PhD— Clinical Psychologist, in practice since 1993
Eustress vs Distress: The Clinical Distinction
The terms eustress (from the Greek eu, meaning good) and distress were introduced by endocrinologist Hans Selye to describe the two fundamentally different outcomes of the stress response. Understanding the difference is the foundation of managing stress effectively.
✅ Eustress— Beneficial Stress
- Short-term with a clear endpoint
- Feels challenging but within your capacity
- Sharpens focus and improves performance
- Motivates action and growth
- Produces excitement alongside anxiety
- Resolves when the stressor passes
- Leaves you feeling capable after
⚠️ Distress— Harmful Stress
- Chronic or without a clear endpoint
- Feels overwhelming or beyond your capacity
- Impairs concentration and performance
- Produces paralysis, avoidance, or burnout
- Feels threatening, not energising
- Persists even when immediate demands reduce
- Depletes rather than challenges you
The same situation can produce eustress or distress depending on perception, context, and support resources. A tight deadline experienced by someone who feels competent, supported, and in control tends toward eustress. The same deadline experienced by someone who feels under-resourced, isolated, and already depleted tends toward distress. This is why stress management is never simply about reducing demands— it is also about building the perception and resources that shift the experience of those demands.
The Biology of Stress: Why Your Body Responds This Way
When the brain perceives a demand or threat, it activates the sympathetic nervous system— triggering the release of cortisol and adrenaline that produces the familiar stress response: elevated heart rate, heightened alertness, sharpened focus, increased energy. This is the fight-or-flight response, and in short bursts it is genuinely performance-enhancing— the physical basis of eustress.
The problem arises when this response is chronically activated without adequate recovery. Sustained cortisol elevation— the biological signature of chronic stress— produces a cascade of harmful effects: impaired immune function, elevated blood pressure, disrupted sleep, impaired memory and cognitive function, increased inflammation, and over time, significantly elevated risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and depression.
The body's stress response system was designed for acute, time-limited threats— a predator, a physical danger— followed by recovery. It was not designed for the kind of open-ended, never-fully-resolved chronic stress that characterises modern urban professional life. This mismatch between the stress the system evolved to handle and the stress contemporary life produces is the core of the distress problem.
"He came to me describing himself as someone who 'thrives under pressure'— a self-image he had built over a decade of high-performance work in a demanding Gurugram corporate environment. He was proud of it. What he was describing, when he listed his actual daily experience, was sleeping five hours a night, skipping meals, experiencing heart palpitations that a cardiologist had found no physical cause for, and a persistent inability to relax even on weekends."
"When I gently reflected back what he had described, he said: 'But I'm still performing. My numbers are good.' I asked him what had happened to his relationships, his health, his experience of pleasure in activities outside work. He went quiet. 'Those have all gone,' he said. 'But I thought that was just what success required.'"
"What he had been calling eustress— the productive stress of high performance— had long since crossed into distress. The performance was intact; everything else had been quietly eroding for years. The body's distress signals— the palpitations, the inability to rest, the social withdrawal— had been overridden by a narrative about what a high performer looks like. Naming the difference between the two, and what the costs of the confusion had been, was where the work began."
Warning Signs That Stress Has Become Harmful
The signs of distress are not always dramatic. Many people in chronic stress have adapted to it so thoroughly that they have lost the reference point of what unstressed actually feels like. The following signs, particularly when persistent or in combination, indicate that stress has moved beyond productive challenge:
Stress in India: The Culture That Makes This Harder
Why Indians Are Particularly Vulnerable to Chronic Distress
The glorification of overwork. In Indian corporate and academic environments, working long hours, sleeping less, and visibly sacrificing personal life is frequently framed as dedication and ambition— not as a warning sign. The person who stays latest in the office, who responds to messages at midnight, who hasn't taken a holiday in two years, is often held up as a model rather than flagged as a concern. This cultural framing makes it extremely difficult for individuals to recognise distress when they are in it, because what they see around them normalises it.
The multiple obligation burden. Indian adults— particularly those in the middle generation— carry stress from multiple simultaneous obligation systems: career performance, financial provision for the family, care for ageing parents, active participation in extended family social life, and parenting. Each of these is a legitimate demand; their combination, without adequate rest and recovery, produces a chronic overload that is structurally built into the life rather than being a temporary aberration.
The stigma around admitting it. Acknowledging that one is struggling with stress— particularly for men, but also for women who have internalised the "adjust and manage" expectation— is culturally coded as weakness. This stigma delays both honest self-assessment and help-seeking, and means that many people reach clinical levels of distress before they acknowledge to themselves or anyone else that something needs to change.
The most dangerous thing about chronic stress in India is not its intensity— it is its invisibility. When everyone around you is operating at the same level of stress, when the culture celebrates rather than concerns itself with the signs of overload, it becomes almost impossible to perceive your own distress as distress rather than as simply the normal cost of adult life. I see this regularly: people who have been in clinical levels of distress for years without ever naming it as such, because they had no reference point that told them it was not simply what life felt like.Dr. Prerna Kohli, PhD— Clinical Psychologist, in practice since 1993
Shifting Stress From Distress to Eustress: What Actually Helps
Stress management is not about eliminating stress— that is neither possible nor desirable. It is about shifting the balance between eustress and distress through changes in perception, behaviour, and environment.
The stress response requires recovery to be adaptive. Sleep, genuine leisure, and periods of low demand are not luxuries— they are the physiological conditions under which the stress system resets. Without recovery, acute stress accumulates into chronic distress.
Research shows that perceiving a stressor as a challenge rather than a threat— "I can meet this" rather than "this will overwhelm me"— significantly reduces cortisol response and shifts the experience toward eustress. This is not positive thinking; it is a practised cognitive skill.
Physical exercise is one of the most effective stress modulators available— it metabolises the cortisol and adrenaline produced by the stress response, reduces baseline anxiety, and improves sleep quality. Even 20 minutes of walking produces measurable effects on stress hormones.
The act of naming stress explicitly— to yourself, and ideally to another person— reduces its physiological impact. Suppression maintains the stress response; expression begins to resolve it. A daily brief check-in with your own stress level is a simple but genuinely effective practice.
Not all demands are equally important. Periodically auditing what you are carrying— and identifying what can be delegated, reduced, or declined— is a structural intervention in chronic overload that no amount of deep breathing alone can replace.
When stress has produced persistent physical symptoms, significant mood changes, or impaired daily functioning, professional support is the appropriate response— not a sign of weakness. Cognitive behavioural approaches, stress inoculation training, and where appropriate, medication for co-occurring anxiety or depression, produce meaningful improvement.
The goal is not a stress-free life— that life does not exist, and if it did, it would produce its own problems. The goal is a life in which the stress you carry is proportionate to your capacity to carry it, in which you recover from demands rather than simply accumulating them, and in which the stress you experience drives growth rather than depleting it. That balance is not a fixed state— it requires ongoing attention. But it is achievable, and it is worth working toward.Dr. Prerna Kohli, PhD— Clinical Psychologist, in practice since 1993
Frequently Asked Questions
Is stress always bad for you?
As Dr. Prerna Kohli explains: "No— not all stress is harmful. The clinical distinction is between eustress, which is short-term, manageable stress that sharpens focus and motivates performance, and distress, which is chronic, overwhelming stress that exceeds the body and mind's capacity to cope. The problem in India is that we have normalised a level of stress that is firmly in the distress category— chronic overwork, perpetual deadline pressure, sleep deprivation treated as a badge of honour— without recognising that what feels like normal has crossed well into harmful."
What is the difference between eustress and distress?
Eustress is short-term, manageable stress with a clear endpoint— the stress of preparing for an important presentation, the excitement of a new challenge, the focus that comes with a meaningful deadline. It resolves once the stressor passes and leaves you feeling capable. Distress is chronic, cumulative stress that exceeds the person's resources to cope— it does not resolve, produces ongoing physiological activation, and over time damages physical health, cognitive function, relationships, and mental wellbeing.
What are the signs that stress has become harmful?
Signs that stress has crossed into harmful distress include: persistent difficulty concentrating; frequent illness from lowered immunity; disrupted sleep; persistent irritability; physical symptoms like headaches and stomach problems; social withdrawal; inability to relax even when immediate demands reduce; and a general sense of overwhelm that persists. When stress produces physical illness and significant mental health symptoms, it has moved beyond productive challenge into clinical concern.
Why is chronic stress particularly common in India?
India's professional and academic culture places exceptional emphasis on performance and long hours, creating environments where overwork is normalised and even celebrated. The specific stressors of urban Indian life— extreme commutes, competitive professional environments, financial pressure from supporting extended families, intense academic pressure on students— produce a chronic stress burden among the highest globally. The cultural stigma around acknowledging stress delays both recognition and help-seeking.
How does perception affect whether stress is good or bad?
Research consistently shows that how we interpret a stressful situation significantly affects its impact. The same situation can be experienced as motivating (eustress) or overwhelming (distress) depending on whether the person perceives it as a challenge they can meet or a threat that exceeds their resources. Building genuine competence, having realistic expectations, maintaining physical health, and having social support all shift the perception of stressors in ways that reduce their harmful impact.
The Stress You Feel Is Information— The Question Is What You Do With It
Stress is not an enemy to be eliminated. It is a signal— sometimes useful, sometimes warning, always worth paying attention to. The distinction between eustress and distress is not merely academic: it is the difference between stress that propels you toward growth and stress that erodes your health, your relationships, and your capacity to function.
Learning to make that distinction— in yourself, in real time— is one of the most valuable mental health skills available. And recognising when you have crossed from the former into the latter, and seeking support to address it, is not weakness. It is wisdom.
Is Stress Affecting Your Health or Wellbeing?
If stress has moved beyond motivation into persistent physical symptoms, mood changes, or impaired functioning, professional support can help. I offer confidential consultations from my practice in Gurugram, with online sessions available across India and internationally.
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About the author — Dr. Prerna Kohli
Dr. Prerna Kohli is a clinical psychologist with over 30 years of practice, based in Gurugram. She holds a PhD from Aligarh Muslim University, where she was a four-time gold medalist, and received the “100 Women Achievers of India” award from the President of India in 2016. A TEDx speaker and published author, she works with individuals, couples, and families through her private practice — in-clinic in Gurugram and online worldwide — with a particular speciality in NRI mental health.