Causes of Stress

Causes of stress may vary from one person to another. One condition may bother a person while the same condition may not mean anything to another person.

Childhood trauma

Long-term stress is the effect of a traumatic childhood. Childhood trauma can cause physical stress on the child throughout his or her life. Examples of children who experience long term stress or psychological stress are those who were abused in their own homes, those who grew up in the care or those who lived with an alcoholic or drug abuser parent or guardian.

Death of a loved one

Death of your spouse or child is one of the most stressful events in a life of a person. Stress gets worse when you inherit the burden of paying the debt of your loved one such as that of your spouse who just died. Another case of additional stress out of a death of a spouse is the burden of taking care of the children by your own especially if all the children are still minors.

Other causes of stress are problems relating to your finances, work  pressure, health issues, failed personal relationship, a close relative with sickness, pregnancy and danger you always face when outside your home or when traveling.

Finances

A mortgage foreclosure is one leading cause of stress based on the Holmes-Raye stress assessment scale. Poor people, bankrupt individuals and those with a lot of debts usually experience high stress levels.

Work-related

Men and women who have demanding jobs or jobs that require them to work for long hours are subjected to a lot of stress which may stretch even up to their homes. Pressure exerted by your boss, deadlines in workload as well as sarcastic office mates can make you worry a lot since you usually spend a lot of time in your workplace. Sales personnel can even be stressed by some customers aside from the pressure and demands from your superiors.

When you feel constantly stressed with work, you’ll end up feeling burned out of all your energy. Manage your stress and learn how to recover from burnt out .

Illness

A chronic illness such as cancer and diabetes can really bring a lot of stress to the patient as well as to the immediate family who needs to see that the patient should get well and be treated. The duration of the treatment or the treatment as well including the medical costs are instant causes of stress for both the patient and the family.

Heartbreak

A person with a broken heart is not free from stress since he or she suffers a lot of depression and loneliness during the early days of a breakup. Conflict between lovers or couples can also bring a lot of stress that is why it is better to settle the problem as soon as possible.

Risk of accidents

The risk of accidents when traveling or driving a vehicle can also cause stress either long term or short term especially if the person is traveling in dangerous places such as flooded streets or a dimly lit road.

Check your stress level from Holmes and Raye Life Events Scale. Find out how much stress you had in the last 6 months or 12 months. Use the result to find good stress management activities that are healthy and constructive.

	Life Event	Value
1	Death of spouse	100
2	Divorce	73
3	Marital separation	65
4	Jail term	63
5	Death of close family member	63
6	Personal injury or illness	53
7	Marriage	50
8	Fired at work	47
9	Marital reconciliation	45
10	Retirement	45
11	Change in health of family member	44
12	Pregnancy	40
13	Sex difficulties	39
14	Gain of new family member	39
15	Business readjustment	39
16	Change in financial state	38
17	Death of close friend	37
18	Change to a different line of work	36
19	Change in number of arguments with spouse	35
20	A large mortgage or loan	31
21	Foreclosure of mortgage or loan	30
22	Change in responsibilities at work	29
23	Son or daughter leaving home	29
24	Trouble with in-laws	29
25	Outstanding personal achievement	28
26	Spouse begins or stops work	26
27	Begin or end school/college	26
28	Change in living conditions	25
29	Revision of personal habits	24
30	Trouble with boss	23
31	Change in work hours or conditions	20
32	Change in residence	20
33	Change in school/college	20
34	Change in recreation	19
35	Change in church activities	19
36	Change in social activities	18
37	A moderate loan or mortgage	17
38	Change in sleeping habits	16
39	Change in number of family get-togethers	15
40	Change in eating habits	15
41	Vacation	13
42	Christmas	12
43	Minor violations of the law	11

If you get 300+ score, then there is high or extremely high risk that you will be sick in the near future.

Score of 150-299 means that you have moderate to high risk hat you will be sick in the near future.

Score of less than 150 means you have low to moderate risk hat you will be sick in the near future.