According to the National Institutes of Health, at least 70% of all illness and disease (including chronic) is either caused or contributed to by stress.
Their two kinds of stress, distress and eustress (pronounced “you-stress”). Distress is the kind of stress that most people think of when they hear the word “stress.” It’s what you feel when you’re “overwhelmed” or “under the clock” or when you’ve just got some bad news or suffered a trauma of some kind.
Eustress is what you feel when you’re getting married, having a child, working for a promotion, riding a roller coaster, exercising intensely, or receiving a good kick in the rear from a caring friend or mentor. While distress is harmful, eustress can actually strengthen your immune system along with your character. Distress tears you down. Eustress motivates you and helps you to grow and become more than you are now.
If the only kind of stress you feel at work is eustress, consider yourself lucky!
If, however, you’re getting a lot of distress – you’ll need an antidote if you don’t want to end up in the hospital (which, in turn, causes even more distress!)