Excerpt – The Wellbeing and Performance Group
Stress, as we know, has a poor press. This could be because the word seems to convey multiple meanings from slight anxiety (such as missing a bus) to high anxiety (such as being bullied continuously).
This is why I prefer to use the terms in the continuum pressure and tension – both stimulants as they aid concentration if you can keep control and can relieve both, down to strain and distress which are both exhausting, corrosive and cause under-performance because of interference with concentration and mental control.