Stress is a normal physical response to events that make you feel threatened or upset your balance in some way.
The stress response is the body’s way of protecting you. When working properly, it helps you stay focused, energetic, and alert.
But beyond a certain point, stress stops being helpful and starts causing major damage to your health, your mood, your productivity, your relationships, and your quality of life.
Causes of Stress: The causes of stress are individualized. Not all stress is caused by external factors. Stress can also be self-generated. One stimulus that may cause someone to be stressed may not cause someone else stress. The strength of the effect depends on how high of a demand that the stressor puts on you. Following is a list of common causes of stress.
Common external causes of stress
Major life changes
Work
Relationship difficulties
Financial problems
Being too busy
Children and family
Common internal causes of stress
Inability to accept uncertainty
Pessimism
Negative self-talk
Unrealistic expectations
Perfectionism
Lack of assertiveness
Responding to Stress: The stress response can be induced by internal and external stimuli. Stress can build up without you realizing the effects that it takes on your body. With constant stress the symptoms can begin to feel familiar or normal. Even when one begins to become over stressed, it may be hard to notice how it is affecting you. Following is a list of signs and symptoms that may help one realize that you are stressed. The more of these that relate to you may mean that you are about to have a stress overload.
