Moving is Stressful

During these past several weeks we have been moving the Counseling Center from our downtown location to a suburb location. This move is a good thing as it provides us with more room and handicapped accessibility. Moving is stressful. Hans Selye, a Hungarian Canadian physician, studied and wrote about stress. He described both eustress and distress. A eustress is the stress accumulated by a person during a good thing, such as planning for a birthday party. Eustress is beneficial stress, the prefix “eu” means good. We know about distress and when we use the concept of “stress” we usually mean distress. Both eustress and distress are stressful. They are primarily experienced by the body and may exhibit both physical symptoms and behaviors. This is the principle of ‘I think I am doing better than I am.’ Transitions, such as moving, are stressful endeavors. As a part of my adjusting to this move transition, I want to be aware of the stress, i.e., eustress as well as distress, which I am experiencing in my body as well as by my behaviors as I adjust and adapt to this move, which is a good thing, but which also has consequences of which I desire to be mindful.