In order to eliminate or at least control stress, it is vital to know and
understand the causes of stress. Of course, there are many causes of stress and
they are as varied as the people who suffer from stress, but there are a few
places to look first. And by learning about these causes of stress, you can
figure out where stress is entering your life.
One of the most common, and most complained about, causes of stress is work.
However, it is not only the day-to-day tasks and routine pressures of work that
can lead to stress. In fact, the mere concern about keeping a job can be a
source of stress. Unfortunately, the combined stress of both work itself and
the possibility of losing it creates a sort of double-stress in which people
feel they have to work even harder in order to keep their jobs, making the
stress that much worse.
As well, for those who have not entered the working world yet, school can be
a great source of stress. The constant pressure of schoolwork, friends,
teachers, tests, quizzes, papers, and everything else can be enough to make
anyone feel like they are in trapped in a vice. In addition, the deadlines are
all immoveable, so students are constantly under time pressure. And, to make
matters worse, there are often several deadlines overlapping each other,
intensifying the demands on time. Then, once final exams arrive, there is a lot
to re-learn and students need to spend so much time studying that they can
barely sleep. Needless to say, losing sleep does not help people who are under
stress. Thus, students need to manage stress just as much as people who work.
Another cause of stress is simple family life. Unfortunately, though we hope
that our home lives can be sources of relief from daily stress, they can often
be sources of stress all their own. For childen as well as parents and spouses,
the home can often be its own source of pressure.
For parents, stress can often come from simply worrying about their children.
After all, seeing a child grow up, make mistakes, go through school, go to college,
play sports, and often learn things to hard way is enough to make a parent tear
their hair out. Thus, despite the joy that children can bring, they can also be
causes of stress and worry.
Unfortunately, parents can be causes of stress also. Though they often have
their childrens' best interests in mind, they can also put a lot of pressure
onto their children, causing them to worry not only about school or life, but
also how their parents will react when they hear about some new event, success,
or error. It is as though there is no place to turn when things go wrong,
creating extra stress. No, it is not easy being a parent, but it isn't always
easy being a child or a teenager either, since parents can often be causes of
stress as much as sources of comfort from it.
On top of that, spouses can also be causes on stress. Let's face it,
husbands and wives often have expectations of their significant others and it
is not always easy to live up to those expectations. As well, spouses often
spend a lot of time avoiding certain arguments simply because they are trying
to avoid stress. However, leaving tension in the air while not resolving it can
be a cause of stress.
Money is also a major cause of stress, simply for the fact that there never
seems to be enough of it. Thus, as the money keeps going out but it never seems
to come in enough, stress just keeps mounting. Unfortunately, spouses, children
and sometimes parents can often remind us of our shortfalls and they will often
increase the stress. Of course, that is to say nothing of the continual
reminders from the mortgage or rent, car payments, credit cards and other
bills. And, furthermore, it is rather difficult to be philosophical about money
stress since attempting to put things into perspective only recalls thoughts
about the money that always seems to be missing. Thus, money stress just keeps
piling up higher and higher and there never seems to be a way out.
Though this is only a partial list of all the possible causes of stress,
these are some of the most common sources. However, no matter where the problem
is arising, stress will not make them better. Rather, stress will only make it
harder for people to think about their problems and try to solve them. Thus, in
order to solve the problems that lead to stress, the best place to start is by
managing the stress, then working to solve the problems with a clear and
uncluttered mind.
