Selye uses the term "stress" with a specific meaning different from the popular conception (he pretty much coined the term as a physiological concept, but it ha

Selye uses the term "stress" with a specific meaning different from the popular conception (he pretty much coined the term as a physiological concept, but it has been co-opted). In his work "stress" is energy demands in excess of the organism's ability to deliver without compromising structure. By energy he means real joules and ATP, not some amorphous psychological reserve. When people talk about "good stress" and "bad stress" it kinda indicates they don't get the context. What Selye found was that under his definition of stress there is no "good stress." All episodes of stress accumulate indelibly on the organism as aging. If an activity does not exceed the energy capacity of the organism then it's not stress.