What Causes Stress
Written by Prince Assandoh-Mensah in 2016
Stress is one of the commonly used words today. It is what we normally point fingers at, when we experience unexplained weakness, fatigue, apathy and forgetfulness. We normally think about it when we are in a very tight situation or schedules or when we are too busy.
Yes, all these things bring about stress, but stress goes beyond that. Even very “little life event” which we may not recognise as a cause of stress can also result in stress. Before we jump to the causes of stress, let us first understand what stress is.
What then is Stress?
Stress is a feeling of tension or pressure. It is a way the body responds to environmental events that are perceived to be threatening. It can be experienced in the physiological realm, emotional realm and intellectual realm. In the physiological realm, it can manifest itself as diarrhoea, sleep disturbance, constant state of tiredness, urinary frequency, headache, sweating, nausea and vomiting.
Whereas in the emotional realm, when one experience stress, he/she can manifests depression, angry outburst, jealousy, restlessness, apathy, anxiousness, crying and sobbing without tears. Also in the intellectual realm, the common ones are forgetfulness, mathematical and grammatical errors, lack of concentration and attention to details and diminished productivity and creativity.
These manifestations are normal experiences we all manifest at a point in time in life. We have all experience stress in one way or the other before and it is our ability to recover from stress that matters.
Stress is not always negative occurrence as we may tag it, but sometimes, it may have a positive impact on our lives. We may sometimes need it to overcome a challenge in our life. For instance, a student preparing for an exam may need a little bit of tension to prepare well for it. It is this feeling that will cause him to stay awake all day and night to study all his course materials.
What causes Stress?
Any environmental events that the body perceives to be threatening can cause stress. These events are called stressors. In simple terms, stressors are things that put high demands on you, cause you to worry or force you to adjust.
From our homes to our workplaces, we meet a lot of stressors. No matter the age or size of a person; whether young, old, small, big, tall or short, we all encounter stressors in our activities of daily living. Stressors could be financial misfortune, work schedule, worry of school fees of your wards, nagging wife/husband, traffic, meeting deadlines, examinations or tests, dealing with difficult bosses, poor working environments and so many more.
However, individuals respond to stress differently. Things that may cause distress in one may not cause distress in another. Thus, it is our ability to adapt and cope with daily life challenges or activities that may result in a feeling of stress. For instance, an employee who has worked with a difficult boss for a long time may not experience distress in his presence; however, a new employee may experience a high level of distress. In that same way, an American who does not experience dumsor may feel a high level of distress when he experiences one; however, to a Ghanaian or a Nigerian, dumsor is a normal daily life experience.
Also, at times, even positive life activities or changes can result in stress. Things like buying a new car, moving into a new house, marriage, visiting a place you have never been before, first time on a date and also doing something new for the first time. A lecturer may feel a little distress on his/her first day of lecturing.
Daily life activities and events can either be stressful or normal, depending on how our bodies respond to it. It is our ability to adapt and cope with these daily life events that matters.
