Distress

Distress and stress are two different stages of non-harmonious states. Stress is a feeling of tension or pressure or simply put, burden. It can occur at any level i.e., physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. 

Stress is a state where you feel that you are doing something beyond your capacity or willingness. It is not an issue unless it stays for a prolonged period of time. If it grows in intensity, periodicity and time interval, this is where it begins to affect your wellbeing. You then probably feel either a bit down, tired, angry or irritated but your mental body is able to take it and is working out plan to destress yourself. To feel stable within, you probably figure out taking break, pausing on certain activities, going out with friends and holidays with family. Even if you do not do anything extra, nature has provided means to reset all stress on daily basis. The sleep is enough to reset and ground your stress. Staying in love or sex ground the stress or pursuing art or some hobby helps you remain expanded on the spirit. You are still under control. 

Distress is a quantum state. The stress has set in. It is often caused by either the major events in your life or a series of events resulting in a state of hopelessness or loss about a specific aspect of your life. For example, if you are not happy in your relationship, you will still continue to be optimistic about other aspects of your life such as your job, raising kids while living with this nagging feeling about your relationship.  It does not interfere with other aspects. It is still a stress and you have hope. Your mind is now working extra hard trying to contain it so that it does not interfere with other aspects of your life. When mind cannot handle, you have various ways to take a break and release stress and again start managing it. Life goes on. Or so you feel. Gradually your stress begins to erode your overall high vibratory levels affecting quality of happiness in other aspects of your life. It is difficult now for mind to contain. So you have outbursts to release stress.  

Then one day, you give up hope. Now your emotions are clouding your mind all the time. You are not able to focus.  You start reducing your other aspects to bare minimum to somehow carry out your life and its responsibilities. You are aware that life is beautiful and you shall continue to find solutions to bounce back but you are not able to pull your energies to work towards it. The stress has now become distress.   

Distress is a state where mind is not able to contain emotions and they start to interfere with thought process. Hope is faith. The faith in life.  

The reason we suffer is because we have belief that a relationship or aspiration will make us feel complete. When that does not happen, we get hopeless and our faith in life erodes and look for distraction to someone release that hopelessness through some addictions or another toxic relationship.  

If we have strong focus on issues related to survival, that implies a strong mind (EGO). A strong mind is a mind which is able to contain emotions and does not allow emotions of distress to interfere with it. It depends on what we believe is our issue of survival. For some financial stability is and for others a relationship is and yet for some it is about acceptance from friends and family or some high aspiration. 

More negative emotions or stress or distress we have to manage; more we need to have strong mind. More it consumes our life force energy. Therefore, less and less is available to the body and any dream we have for tomorrow. Gradually distress begins to erodes mental stability and finally it punctures the functioning of the body causing disease. In case mind is not strong, distress begins to interfere with mind and it graduates as mental disorder.