....a concept that people try to avoid and generally think of as harmful.  This is true when a person is under high levels of stress and doesn't know how to practice good stress management techniques.  However stress, also known as anxiety and often the cause of worry, is not always bad. In fact, many stressors, that is, things that cause us stress, are actually good things.   Take for example a wedding.  This should be a wonderful, beautiful time for a couple , the bridal party, families and friends.  It is however a very stressful time.   If wedding planning is done 1 thing at a time in a realistic goal with shared responsibilities, it will stay positive.  If one partner is doing almost everything on their own and things start going wrong.....it's negative and far from enjoyable. 

This same logic can be applied to other stressors in a teen's life that in and of themselves, are positive but how they are dealt with can change that.  The easiest example that a teen can relate to are due dates for assignments.  If you have a large project due on a Friday and given to you on Monday and you are task oriented then break it into small parts or set time aside to work on it during the week, it's not "that a big a deal".  It gets done and the stressor and associated stress that comes with it are taken care of .  If you don't know how to do the project or it's a first time you're trying something, the stress levels are elevated.   This sort of stress is called Eustress which is a fancier term for positive Stress.

However, if you are a procrastinator that waits to the last minute all of the time, it is likely your stress levels are going to  rise (this may or may not be based on your true-color type or "Type" of personality.  For information on how your personality contributes to stress, click this link and review personality)   

IF you add in the confusion of how to do a project, poor planning, lack of knowledge on the topic OR some other factor, and the effects of Stress will be felt with physical and mental deficits and changes.  This sort of stress is what people generally think of when talking about stress...the negative stress that is officially called distress.  Emergency response people such as paramedics and doctors even use this term when someone is in danger...they are in distress.   

During the course of this unit, you've been told that a lot of emotional health is actually an internal, aka "me vs myself", conflict.   Stress absolutely falls into this category.  It is a balance between internal and external factors both real and perceived, that, left unchecked, can harmfully effect all areas of PISES.