The term “stress” is a neutral description of the mental and physical reactions caused by external stimuli or stress factors, and thus describes a normal reaction of our body, or rather our entire being. These reactions enable us to overcome the special challenges associated with high levels of pressure or strain.
What is stress?
Do I need a certain amount of stress?
So-called positive stress gives the body additional energy, your metabolism is stimulated, and you are able to make your preparations for a mission more quickly and efficiently. In short, positive stress can have constructive effects by making us more motivated and more agile.
Does this mean that stress is good for me?
In principle, stress only has a positive effect if the strain it causes is of limited duration and the body has the opportunity to recover afterwards. Otherwise, stress will have negative effects (distress). The consequences of so-called negative stress are the subject of the following sections of this module.