Eustress, distress, and oxidative stress: Promising pathways for mind-body medicine

Abstract When is psychological stress “good” or “bad” for our health? There is no straightforward answer. In this chapter, we first address this question with a review of the best principles for the measurement of psychological distress and stressor exposures in human psychobiological studies. Next, we review the associations between psychological distress and stress-arousal biomarkers with markers of oxidative stress and antioxidant response. Finally, we review promising future directions for translational discovery along three interdisciplinary areas with the potential to transform clinical care: (1) cellular aging, (2) treatment of depression and anxiety, and (3) obesity and cardiometabolic disorders.