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WHAT IS NEUSTRESS?

How long will the baby elephant sleep?

Does it know when to wake up?

Or should we disturb it from its blissful sleep?

How do we wake up the baby elephant?

The baby appears so peaceful, relaxed, and unmindful of the surroundings.

Does it mean that the baby is happy? We don’t know because we can’t see the happiness in it. The elephant may not experience joy because it is still sleeping.

Is the elephant sad? We still don’t know because we can’t see the sadness in it.

Neutral Stress

Let us call this condition “Neustress”.

The word Neustress has been the most misunderstood term and is often ignored whenever the topic of stress is discussed. However, this is fundamental in clarifying the myths that are associated with stress.

This is a neutrally stressful situation where there is no discernible disturbance whatsoever from either within or outside. There is a kind of satiation, bliss, and contentment that is visible to everyone. Just like we see in our baby elephant!

It is a state where pleasure and discomfort are both balanced to result in relaxation.

Three Types of Stress

Let us consider the three types of stress we undergo every day!

Neustress (Morse & Furst, 1979) is neutral stress, where negative emotions strike a balance with positive emotional states in the individual.

Eustress (Selye, 1982) is a positive state of stress that leads to emotions like joy. This stress is pleasurable.

Distress (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) is negative stress that is usually referred to as stress. This stress becomes painful, and it necessitates one to take measures to reduce the anxiety associated with it.

Stress is within us

There are many instances where stress is misunderstood to have an origin outside ourselves. They say climate change may be stressful, missing the bus or train is stressful, being scolded by someone is stressful, and so on.

However, stress is an inward reaction. How we consider the outside events, how well we are equipped to deal with the situation outside us, as well as how can we deal with the internal pressures and conflicts within us make up for identifying the nature of stress.

Our motives and emotions also play a very important role in determining the extent to which we react or respond to situations in life.

Inviting Stress

We invite stress into our lives because without stress we cease to be alive. Consider the baby elephant! It looks like it is resting physically and mentally.

It is in a state of Neustress, where anxiety or enjoyment is not noticeable. However, a significant amount of stress is necessary for the internal organs to function. Though we may not see it, we know that the blood is flowing throughout the body; and the nervous system, the digestive system, etc. are all functioning to keep the elephant alive.

These things don’t work without stress. The resting potential we see in an organism is not a condition of no stress, as we have assumed so far. It is a condition of Neustress, where the right degree of changes keep happening to hormonal functions, visceral organs, and the bodily systems.

The Balancing Act

Let us take the example of an object. For an object to rest, it has to have the right amount of friction and force to stay at the same place. This friction and force are the stresses the object is having at the moment.

Consider a pivot, for instance. The needles are resting. However, this resting state is not due to a neither-nor situation. They are balanced because of equal force from the opposite sides and the weight of the arrows on the pivot.

If one is walking on a tightrope, it means that the individual is balancing between the forces on either side and holding the friction on the rope.

Photo by Marcelo Moreira from Pexels

If a car has to be parked downhill, the handbrake has to be applied. The car appears to be at rest because it is withstanding the stress of going downhill.

Photo by Vitaliy Mitrofanenko from Pexels

An Equilibrium

The forces are always equal and opposite in a state of equilibrium.

So, whatever we are doing – sitting, standing, walking, brushing teeth, sleeping, etc., we are under stress. To engage in any activity or lack of it, we have to invite stress so that we can effectively continue to function.

We do not do this deliberately or consciously all the time.

The Continuum of Stress

It is often been erroneously attributed that neutrality indicates the absence of positive and negative forces.

Whenever we take into account a linear continuum, neutrality is a combination of both positive and negative forces and not their absence. Neutrality is the balance between positive and negative forces acting upon the object or individual.

Thus, Neustress is a balance between distress and eustress. Neustress can turn into either eustress or distress, depending upon how the individual’s consciousness perceives a situation. (See "Conscious Capture")

Continuum of Stress

Stressful Walking

For instance, walking can be distressful if you are in a hurry, have an injury to the leg, are tired, are not well, have to cover a long distance, etc.

It is Neustress when you don’t even notice you are walking, are walking with a friend, want to spend some time, go on a stroll, etc.

In case you are happy or enjoy walking in situations like meeting your best friend and taking in the scenic beauty, then it leads to Eustress.

Similarly, we can identify these three types of stress in everything we do. Hence, it is not the act that is stressful, but the thought behind the act.

Sleep Forever?

Coming back to our baby elephant, it is in a state of Neustress where pleasure overweighs pain, not to the extent of making it happy but to be restful. The elephant cannot sleep forever because it has to fulfill bodily needs. It can continue to sleep until someone or something wakes it.

Then, restfulness will give rise to distress in case the elephant had a disturbed sleep or to eustress if it had a blissful sleep.

Thus, we are always under stress, be it Distress, Eustress, or Neustress.

Next time you climb up the staircase, remember not to think negatively about how difficult it is to climb, how much time you are wasting, etc.

Your thoughts will change your stress level!

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MANAGE STRESS

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A new approach to understanding and dealing with stress.

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