What is making it hard for us to identify the main causes of stress is the fact that there are numerous causes related to it and that the causes differ from one person to the other. There are actually so many stressors to mention.
Sickness in the family, losing a job, failed relationships, death of a loved one, tight budget and high expectations are just some of the most common stressors in this modern era.
Reactions to Stress
People also have different reactions to everyday challenges and problems.
After a failed relationship, some people would become apprehensive to find someone new, while others would take the challenge of finding the right person for them.
After losing their job, some people succumb to desperation and loneliness. They would feel so bad while other people who would strive harder and believe that it is not yet the end of the world and that there are actually so many opportunities available.
Internal and External Factors that Cause Stress
The mentioned situations have causes that are neither entirely internal nor entirely external. Generally, the causes are a combination of external and internal factors.
Losing a job, for example, people have different reactions to this sad event. There are people who will become weary. They will see their earnings plunge and worry where they will get money for next months’ set of bills. There are people, on the other hand, who will see this as an opportunity that they can find a much better job than the previous one.
It’s the same thing with failed relationships; many people would just sulk in one corner and would swear that they would never love again. Other people would view this as an opportunity to meet a better and more deserving person to share their lives with.
The thing is…reactions vary because each individual is unique. We have different ways of perceiving things as well as different coping skills.
However, although we are different from each other, we all experience the same physical risks that stress can bring. And, many people also have the same reactions to certain types of stressors, such as when attacked by a criminal. Anyone would experience stress when a felon confronts him or her.
There could also be severe health problems that could result from this scenario — radical cancer, debilitating arthritis, etc. Nevertheless, if dealt with calmness, these severe conditions are less likely to happen.
Everyone also feels stressed facing non-threatening situations such as unjust treatment at work or at school, unfriendly neighbors, heavy traffic, just to name a few. These things affect every individual one way or another.
Most of the time, the external situations or problems have less to do with the underlying causes of stress. It is mostly the unrealistic judgment and expectations of an individual plus his poor evaluation of his own capacity to deal with the challenges that is causing stress.
To some people, discovering that they will need to undergo a major surgery to remove a tumor will already cause them stress. On the other hand, to positive people, they will just believe that they are healthy enough to undertake the procedure, so they do not need to be anxious. The latter is better in handling a situation that could have caused him unnecessary stress, more so, depression and anxiety.
Someone who has just lost a job have all the reasons to be stressed, but if he sees the situation in a rather positive light, there is a lesser chance for him to become stressed.
All the given examples only show one thing: The causes of stress, how strong it can affect us and how long it will stay is influenced by several factors. However, attitude plays a major role. This determines how capable we are in dealing with stress.
The more we feel that we are capable of overcoming serious concerns easily, the more that we will disregard external events as a cause of stress. Once we are able to do this, the lesser we will have to deal with stress.