r/Stoicism • u/ClutchMaster6000 • 10h ago
Do you think stress is always negative? New to Stoicism
Stress may be viewed as a negative external pressure that the Stoic should overcome to maintain eudaimonia. However stress can also be a motivator to get more work done.
Does this mean that stress has a functional role in life, or is it something that sufficient fortitude/courage would render unnecessary?
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u/PsionicOverlord Contributor 9h ago
"Stress", as in the ability to feel stressed, is never negative - stress is nothing but you experiencing the compulsion to end a situation that is beyond your capacity to cope.
Even in the terminology of modern psychology, there are two types of stress - "distress" which is what happens to fail to end a situation beyond your control, and "eustress" which compels to undertake the process that successfully ends the situation. Stress itself is neutral - it is merely the experience of being pressured, and it becomes one or the other based on what you do with it.