Distress

Distress is a form of negative stress that produces unpleasant emotional, physical, or behavioral responses. It is distinguished from eustress, a positive stress that can enhance performance or motivation.

In medicine and psychology, distress describes adverse feelings such as anxiety, fear, sadness, or hopelessness, and can result from illness, trauma, or daily hardship. It can be acute (short-term) or chronic (long-lasting) and may impair functioning, sleep, appetite, and concentration.

Medical contexts include terms like respiratory distress, cardiac distress, or distress signals indicating urgent care needs. Clinically, distress is often assessed through patient-reported measures, including simple rating scales; addressing distress can involve medical treatment, psychosocial support, and symptom management.

Legal and economic uses include distress for rent (historical common law practice of seizing property for unpaid rent) and economic distress, which denotes financial hardship or insolvency risk affecting individuals or organizations.

In animal welfare, distress refers to signs of discomfort or pain that indicate welfare problems and require intervention to reduce suffering.

Distress signaling is used in nautical and aviation contexts to convey danger and request assistance; distress signals can be physical or verbal.

Coping and mitigation: early recognition, social support, problem-solving, relaxation, and appropriate treatment reduce distress and improve outcomes.