Eustress vs Distress

Some stress = Good

From a medical perspective, stress is a chemical response that the body has to a situation that puts it under pressure. So it's not the exams that cause the problem, its our response to them. When we feel stressed the chemicals our brain releases are damaging to the body as they suppress the immune system, raise our blood pressure and increase our anxiety.

What things do you feel when you are stressed.

It is different for different people. We may feel sick, get a cold, have a headache. Little things that would normally not bother us now do, we worry more and we can't get to sleep at night. Now that you know how you show stress, when you see it deal with it straight away!

Good Stress v Bad Stress

Some stress is good for us. Did you study on the first day of school? Of course you didn't as there was no pressure on you to study. However the night before an exam we feel lots of pressure and so we do heaps of study. Without any stress we would spend our lives on the couch. Some stress is good, it motivates us and helps to alleviate boredom, but too much and it becomes counter productive and our performance starts to go down.

The trick is to stay in the Eustress (good stress) zone and stay away from distress (bad stress). Say to yourself "my exams will be here before I know it so I am going to start studying early" this is Eustress (good stress). Avoid "oh my gosh I have 2 assignments due tomorrow. I'm going to wag school" as this is distress (bad stress).