You’ve got a big work deadline at the end of the week, and your whole team is flaking on you. On top of that, you’re coming down with a cold and taking on extra child care responsibilities. You’re also worried about an upcoming medical bill that’s coming due, and you’re not sure how to pay that. All of that makes for a very stressful week!
Stress is a pretty universal experience. You’ve likely felt it, maybe even in the last day or two. Perhaps you had a big project at work or argued with a friend. Maybe you had to go to the mall, and you hate crowds. Or you might have had a week like the example above. All of those situations can lead to stress. However, it’s important to note that stress usually doesn’t just appear. There’s almost always something causing it.
The causes of stress are called stressors. When you’re asking yourself, “Why am I so stressed,” it might be because you’ve encountered a stressor. Read on to learn more about stressors, types of stressors, and how that can lead to physical symptoms that impede your life.
What Are Stressors?
A stressor is anything that causes stress to an organism, including chemical, biological, environmental, or external factors. They vary from species to species and individual to individual. What stresses you might not affect someone else and vice versa. Stressors can come from internal factors or external ones.
When your body encounters a stressor, the amygdala in your brain signals the hypothalamus to release stress hormones, like cortisol and adrenaline, quickly. That signals that your body has encountered a threat and prepares it to freeze, flight, or flee.
Types of Stressors
There’s a wide variety of things that can be stressors. They can be very individual, so let’s look at categories of stressors and a few examples of what that could entail. There are many other examples of stressors in each category as well that could affect you.
Physical Stressors
Physical stressors are anything that comes from the world around you and your own body. For example, extreme temperatures when you’re outside can be a stressor. Or loud noises or an injury of some kind.
Health Stressors
Health stressors are anything to do with the state of your physical body, particularly some kind of illness. Chronic pain can cause stress, or a new and unexplained illness can wear you down quickly. Worrying about a diagnosis or regularly visiting doctor’s offices can also add stress to your life.
Psychological Stressors
Psychological stressors come from inside of your mind. They can be your own thoughts or a particularly strong or painful memory. Your emotions can also be a stressor. Feeling tired or anxious can then lead to stress.
Social Stressors
Social stressors come from your interpersonal relationships and social conflicts. That could include arguing with your partner or disagreeing with a parent. It might include feeling misunderstood by your boss at work or struggling to fit in at school.
Environmental Stressors
Environmental stressors are anything that involve the natural world around you. That can include experiencing natural disasters like a hurricane, earthquake, or tornado. These stressors can also include things like pollution or even crowded spaces where you feel like you can’t escape.
Occupational Stressors
Occupational stressors come from your job. Most people spend most of their week at their jobs, so it’s a very common place to find stressors. They might include your workload or trying to hit deadlines. It can even include job conflicts where you’re worried about the status of your employment or a promotion.
Financial Stressors
Financial stressors are anything to do with your money situation. It might be having debt or having to pay your bills. Financial insecurity where you’re not sure how you’ll make ends meet can be a major stressor in a lot of people’s lives.
Life Events
Life events can be stressors as well. These could include marriage, divorce, moving, or the loss of a loved one. Anything that might significantly alter the way you’re currently living your life can be a potential stressor.
The Physical Effects of Stress
A stressor is something that can lead to stress. Stress itself is the experience. When a stressor ends up causing stress, you might experience some physical symptoms that can affect your life. These are the common effects of stress:
- Increased heart rate
- High blood pressure
- Muscle tension
- Frequent or chronic headaches
- Digestive issues like stomach aches, indigestion, or changes in appetite
- Weakened immune system that makes you more susceptible to illness
- Fatigue and constant tiredness
How to Manage Stress
You’ll encounter stressors in your life no matter what you do. There’s no way to avoid life changes or to completely avoid natural disasters. However, when stressors become stress, there are some steps you can take to help manage those feelings to reduce the physical and psychological effects of stress. These are some tips to help you learn to better manage stress:
Exercise Regularly
Physical activity reduces stress hormones in your body. By moving regularly, you’re able to physically remove some levels of stress from your body. On top of that, exercise can be very enjoyable. Finding something that you enjoy can help you also reduce stress by having fun. Exercising outside can also help you get sunshine and fresh air, both of which can support reducing your stress.
Practice Relaxation Techniques
Stress can physically affect your body, so slowing down and focusing on your physiological feelings can help you manage your stress. Relaxing can help soothe tense muscles and bring your heart rate back down. Some good relaxation techniques include meditation, deep breathing, and yoga. Yoga can be particularly helpful because it combines exercise with relaxation.
Maintain a Healthy Diet
The way your physical body feels can affect how you’re able to manage stress. One way to help your body feel good is to maintain a healthy diet. Balanced nutrition supports overall well-being. Stress can sometimes make it feel hard to worry about what you’re eating. To counteract this, consider meal planning in advance, so you have easy and nutritious meals to fall back on when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Get Adequate Sleep
Being tired can greatly impact how you feel stress. When you’re exhausted, stressors can become stress much easier. You’re also likely to be provoked by things that aren’t normally stressors for you. For example, loud noises might stress you out on a day after poor sleep when they normally don’t.
Rest is crucial for stress management. Try to get at least 7 hours of sleep each night. It can also help to establish a good routine for your sleep schedule to help you feel more rested consistently. This involves going to bed and waking up at the same time each day.
Stay Connected
Having healthy relationships can help you reduce your feelings of stress. Try to stay connected with your support network when you’re feeling stressed. Talk to friends and family for support. Share how you feel with them. If one of your stressors is physical distance from your loved ones, try to stay connected with them digitally. You might call people regularly to stay in touch and to have someone to rely on emotionally.
Manage Time Effectively
Sometimes stress comes from a pile-up of big deadlines or multiple responsibilities. When that happens, it can quickly make you feel overwhelmed. Or for a lot of people, stress can make it feel harder to work and accomplish your needed tasks. In both of these situations, prioritize tasks and set realistic goals. Set up a to-do list and order it by what must happen and let the little things go.
Learn to Set Boundaries
Sometimes stress happens when you take on too much. This can happen when you say “yes” to everything. Learning what you’re capable of and where your limits are can help you set boundaries. Being able to tell certain people and groups “no” can help reduce how much you’re taking on at once and reduce your overall stress. While you don’t have to turn down every opportunity, you can learn to know when it’s right to try something new and when it’s a good time to say “no.”
Turn Off Screens
Spending too much time on digital devices can aggravate stressors and make what you’re currently feeling much worse. A lot of people rely on things like doom scrolling as a coping mechanism to distract themselves, but that only makes you feel more stressed. When you’re feeling on edge, try turning off your screens for a while and avoiding social media. Instead, you might go outside or read and relax.
Seek Professional Help
Sometimes stress can become too much. When that’s the case, it’s helpful to speak with a professional. Counseling or therapy when needed can make a big impact on your ability to manage stress. This is especially true if you’re having trouble coping in your day-to-day life because of intense stress. A professional can help you learn new tactics to overcome stress and manage your reactions to stressors.
Reframe Your Stress
Learning to reframe the way you think about stress can help you manage it better. Your own thoughts and perceptions affect your reality, so it’s important to learn how to think about stress in a positive way. Using Reframe, you can learn how to think about stress in a way that’s going to help you balance your life and feel better.
Download Reframe to start managing your stress!
