Why do we feel stressed?

• Meeting deadlines
• Being stuck in traffic
• Waiting in long queues
• Paying bills
• Illnesses
• Unemployment/Getting fired/Finding a new job
• Juggling household and work responsibilities
• Fights with spouses/parent/siblings/colleagues
• Death of a loved one

Like it or not, we’ve all faced at least one of these situations at some point in our lives. They range from daily to chronic life stressors and more often than not, the same old common response is “I am so stressed”. Not only are our bodies maxed out like a credit card, we begin to feel anxious, start to overthink, get overwhelmed and eventually become exhausted.

We are creatures of habit. We like orderliness. No matter what people say about the thrills of seeking adventure and taking risks – we love routine and the comfortable predictability it provides.

So when faced with any of the above mentioned stressful events, you feel stress in both your mind and body. When your routine gets disrupted, you feel stressed. Stress is your body’s way of responding to any kind of demand.

Research done by Lazarus shows that stress occurs as a result of a person’s evaluation of an external situation as taxing or exceeding his/her personal resources to deal with it. This evaluation a person makes depends upon individual factors such as: personal values, motivation, goals and general expectations. The more predictable and controllable the situation is, the less stressful it is perceived to be. The goal of coping with stress is not to gain mastery over it but to manage it efficiently.

An important point to be noted is that stress is different for each of us. What is stressful for one person may or may not be stressful for another; each of us responds in an entirely different way.

Why do you need to understand the reasons why stress occurs ?

Because it is an inevitable part of our lives – in fact some amount of it is even necessary. By being mindful of why It occurs, we minimize the chances of being overwhelmed and pushing ourselves to the limit.

It’s so easy to get caught up in our everyday lives and not take a pause to observe our own selves and how our normal routines might be adversely affecting us in the long run.

Watch out for that irritation you feel, that headache before your morning coffee, that tension in your neck, pain in lower back and that strong desire to have alcohol or eat comfort food — all these are signs that you are feeling stressed. It’s also your body’s way of telling you to slow down and take better care of yourself.

Conclusion

Now that we know why we feel stressed from a variety of situations – it is important to take steps to manage it well. Recognise high stress levels and take action to handle it in healthy ways. Being able to control stress is an acquired skill and learned behaviour.

Observe well. Manage well. Respond wisely.