Armah A Quick Guide
Stress is a state in which external demands exceed internal resources. Our physical and mental health suffers greatly due to it. As a result, we are unable to function or perform to the best of our ability. Stress has multiple roots and the identification of sources of stress is essential to embark on the road to healing.
Sources of Stress
Since almost everyone experiences stress in their daily life, it is no wonder that it is a highly prevalent condition. Accordingly, it has multiple sources. To name a few, daily hassles, environmental factors, life changes, poor health and discomfort, dysfunctional beliefs, and certain personality factors. Try to find out your own sources of stress from the following.
1. Daily Hassles
Daily hassles refer to all those conditions and experiences which occur regularly in life and negatively affect overall well-being. These types of sources are frequent and common, and add to our daily frustration levels. According to Lazarus and colleagues (1985), daily hassles include the following:
- Household maintenance: e.g. daily chores, preparing meals, grocery shipping.
- Health maintenance e.g. physical illnesses and medical treatment
- Deadlines and time limits to do more in less time
- Environmental factors e.g. traffic, neighborhood issues, crime
- Inner concerns e.g. fear of socialization, fear of communicating with authority figures, etc.
- Financial concerns
- Work-related issues e.g. conflicts with co-workers or boss.
- Concerns about future security e.g. savings
2. Life Changes
Life changes include all the events, positive or negative, that occur at different stages of our life. This source of stress does not occur on a regular basis like daily hassles. Rather, it occurs as a key event at a certain point in life. E.g., getting married, having a baby, getting divorced, moving to a new city, death of a loved one, getting a promotion, etc.
You must be wondering ‘Some of these events are positive in nature. How can they bring stress?’. The answer is that even positive events utilize our internal resources to adjust to life changes that affect our overall way of living. Consider the example of the life event, “birth of a baby”. Although it is a joyous occasion for new parents, it brings with it multiple changes in their life such as their sleep pattern, financial choices, their simple decision of going out, etc. are modified around the baby. Such drastic changes require time to adjust mentally and physically.
3. Acculturative stress
Acculturative stress is another source of stress for people who move to a new culture and experience racism, discrimination, feelings of alienation, etc.
4. Physical health-related sources of stress
For many people deteriorating physical health brings with it the stress of adjustment. For example, headaches, toothache, backache, chronic pain, or any other medical condition which brings pain or discomfort affects our mood and the zest to enjoy the pleasures of life.
5. Frustration with short-term goals
Stress also arises when our goal to attain something is thwarted. For example, the frustration of daily commuting/transport, the heavy traffic, the emotional barriers of fear or anxiety; hinder our aim of acting effectively, etc. Although many of us have tolerance for such events, high stress may lower our patience and trigger a stress response even if it is a minor event.
6. Decision-making stress
Decision-making stress includes the conflicts we experience while making certain choices. We feel pulled in two or more directions at the same time and find it difficult to make the right call. This can be highly stressful. For example, Should you get married right away when you are young and have energy? or should you wait till you are financially stable to support yourself and your spouse?
7. Personality traits associated with vulnerability to stress
Certain personality traits make people more vulnerable to experiencing stress. For example, people who are highly achievement-oriented, competitive, and aggressive are committed to achieving highly ambitious goals. They may have high standards of perfection or performance which make it difficult for them to give up control and power. As a result, they try to do everything on their own which only adds to their stress. Compared to them, people who are more laid-back and relaxed have a higher quality of life and overall well-being.
8. Environmental sources of stress
Many stressors also come from our environment that demands our coping resources and affect our way of living. For example, noisy traffic, natural disasters like earthquakes, tornadoes or windstorms, electricity blackouts, high rate of crime in a neighborhood, extremely hot or cold weather, air pollution, crowding, invasion of personal space, etc.
Watch: [The many different causes and levels of stress]
From the above, can you identify which stressors are adding to your stress? You could be experiencing multiple of these at the same time. Make a list of all the sources of stress you are experiencing so that you can take the steps to manage them accordingly. To find out more about stress, read the related articles in the stress management series.