Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsFinancial ProblemsWorkPersonal RelationshipsParentingDaily Life and BusynessPersonality and Resources

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Financial Problems

Work

Personal Relationships

Parenting

Daily Life and Busyness

Personality and Resources

Close

Stressis normal and, to some extent, a necessary part of life. Despite it being something everyone experiences, what causes stress can differ from person to person.

At a GlanceWhat’s causing you stress may already be something you’re abundantly aware of. But given the importance of keeping stress in check when it comes to mitigating the effects it can have on your physical and mental health, it’s worth opening yourself up to the possibility that other factors may be at play, too. Craft your stress-reduction plan with all of them in mind.

At a Glance

What’s causing you stress may already be something you’re abundantly aware of. But given the importance of keeping stress in check when it comes to mitigating the effects it can have on your physical and mental health, it’s worth opening yourself up to the possibility that other factors may be at play, too. Craft your stress-reduction plan with all of them in mind.

According to the American Psychological Association (APA), money is the top cause of stress in the United States. In a 2015 survey, the APA reported that 72% of Americans stressed about money at least some of the time during the previous month.The majority of the study participants reported money being a significant source of stress, with 77% feeling considerable anxiety about finances.

Signs of financial stress may include:

In the long-term, stress related to finances results in distress, which may bring up blood pressure and cause headaches, upset stomach, chest pain, insomnia, and a general feeling of sickness. Financial stress has also been linked to a number of health problems, including depression, anxiety,skin problems, diabetes, and arthritis.

Financial Stress: How to Cope

Any number of things can contribute to job stress, including too much work, job insecurity, dissatisfaction with a job or career, and conflicts with a boss and/or co-workers.

Whether you are worried about a specific project or feeling unfairly treated, putting your job ahead of everything else can affect many aspects of your life, including personal relationships and mental and physical health.

Factors outside of the job itself also have a role in work stress, including a person’s psychological make-up, general health, personal life. and the amount of emotional support they have outside of work.

The signs of work-related stress can be physical and psychological, including:

Some people may feel overwhelmed and struggle to cope, which can impact their behavior as well. Job stress may prompt people to have:

There are people in all of our lives that cause us stress. It could be a family member, an intimate partner, friend, or co-worker.Toxic peoplelurk in all parts of our lives and the stress we experience from these relationships can affect physical and mental health.

There are numerous causes of stress in romantic relationships and when couples are constantly under pressure, the relationship could be on the risk of failure.

Common relationship stressors include:

The signs of stress related to personal relationships are similar to normal symptoms of general stress and may include physical health and sleep problems, depression, and anxiety.

Sometimes, personal relationship stress can also be related to our relationships with people on social media platforms, such as Facebook. For example, social media tends to naturally encourage comparing yourself to others, which can lead to the stress of feeling inadequate. It also makes bullying easier.

Parents are often faced with managing busy schedules that include a job, household duties, and raising children. These demands result in parenting stress.

High levels of parenting stress can cause a parent to be harsh, negative, andauthoritarianin their interactions with their children. Parenting stress can also decrease the quality of parent-child relationships. For example, you may not have open communication so your child doesn’t come to you for advice or you and your child may argue often.

Sources of parenting stress may include being lower-income, working long hours, single parenting, marital or relationship tensions, or raising a child who has been diagnosed with a behavioral disorder or developmental disability.

Parents of children with behavior disorders and developmental delays have the highest risk for parenting stress. In fact, numerous studies show parents of children with autism are reporting higher levels of parenting stress than people whose children do not have the condition.

Day-to-day stressors are our daily inconveniences. They include things like misplacing keys, running late, and forgetting to bring an important item with you when leaving the house. Usually, these are just minor setbacks, but if they become frequent, they become a source of anxiety affecting physical and/or psychological health.

The stress of being too busy is getting more and more common. These days, people are busier than ever and that adds a lot of stress to their lives.

In some cases, busyness is due to necessity, such as having to work a second job. Other times, it is due to guilt and not wanting to disappoint others. People may not say “no” and end up having little time for themselves, or they overlook their own basic needs, such as eating right and exercising due to lack of time.

How to Say “No”

Your personality traits and the resources you have available to you tie into all of the above and can be independent sources of stress as well.

Extroverts, for example, tend to experience less stress in daily life and have greater social resources, which buffer against stress.Perfectionists, on the other hand, may bring stress onto themselves unnecessarily because of their exacting standards, experiencing more negative mental and physical health consequences than those who merely focus on high achievement.

Those who are “type A"can stress everyone around them, including themselves. Those with enough money to hire help can delegate stressful tasks, so this resource can provide an edge over those who struggle to make ends meet and must work harder to save cash.

When Stress Can Be Good for You

8 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.Stress in America: Paying with our health.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Stress…at work.Cleveland Clinic.Stress.Tsai YC, Liu CH.Factors and symptoms associated with work stress and health-promoting lifestyles among hospital staff: A pilot study in Taiwan.BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:199. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-199Falconier MK, Nussbeck F, Bodenmann G, Schneider H, Bradbury T.Stress from daily hassles in couples: Its effects on intradyadic stress, relationship satisfaction, and physical and psychological well-being.J Marital Fam Ther. 2015;41(2):221-35. doi:10.1111/jmft.12073Rus HM, Tiemensma J.Social media under the skin: Facebook use after acute stress impairs cortisol recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1609. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01609Estes A, Olson E, Sullivan K, et al.Parenting-related stress and psychological distress in mothers of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.Brain Dev. 2013;35(2):133-8. doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2012.10.004Du J, Zhang D, Yin Y, et al.The personality and psychological stress predict major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention for five years.Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(15):e3364. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000003364

8 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.American Psychological Association.Stress in America: Paying with our health.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Stress…at work.Cleveland Clinic.Stress.Tsai YC, Liu CH.Factors and symptoms associated with work stress and health-promoting lifestyles among hospital staff: A pilot study in Taiwan.BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:199. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-199Falconier MK, Nussbeck F, Bodenmann G, Schneider H, Bradbury T.Stress from daily hassles in couples: Its effects on intradyadic stress, relationship satisfaction, and physical and psychological well-being.J Marital Fam Ther. 2015;41(2):221-35. doi:10.1111/jmft.12073Rus HM, Tiemensma J.Social media under the skin: Facebook use after acute stress impairs cortisol recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1609. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01609Estes A, Olson E, Sullivan K, et al.Parenting-related stress and psychological distress in mothers of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.Brain Dev. 2013;35(2):133-8. doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2012.10.004Du J, Zhang D, Yin Y, et al.The personality and psychological stress predict major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention for five years.Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(15):e3364. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000003364

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

American Psychological Association.Stress in America: Paying with our health.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Stress…at work.Cleveland Clinic.Stress.Tsai YC, Liu CH.Factors and symptoms associated with work stress and health-promoting lifestyles among hospital staff: A pilot study in Taiwan.BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:199. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-199Falconier MK, Nussbeck F, Bodenmann G, Schneider H, Bradbury T.Stress from daily hassles in couples: Its effects on intradyadic stress, relationship satisfaction, and physical and psychological well-being.J Marital Fam Ther. 2015;41(2):221-35. doi:10.1111/jmft.12073Rus HM, Tiemensma J.Social media under the skin: Facebook use after acute stress impairs cortisol recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1609. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01609Estes A, Olson E, Sullivan K, et al.Parenting-related stress and psychological distress in mothers of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.Brain Dev. 2013;35(2):133-8. doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2012.10.004Du J, Zhang D, Yin Y, et al.The personality and psychological stress predict major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention for five years.Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(15):e3364. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000003364

American Psychological Association.Stress in America: Paying with our health.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).Stress…at work.

Cleveland Clinic.Stress.

Tsai YC, Liu CH.Factors and symptoms associated with work stress and health-promoting lifestyles among hospital staff: A pilot study in Taiwan.BMC Health Serv Res. 2012;12:199. doi:10.1186/1472-6963-12-199

Falconier MK, Nussbeck F, Bodenmann G, Schneider H, Bradbury T.Stress from daily hassles in couples: Its effects on intradyadic stress, relationship satisfaction, and physical and psychological well-being.J Marital Fam Ther. 2015;41(2):221-35. doi:10.1111/jmft.12073

Rus HM, Tiemensma J.Social media under the skin: Facebook use after acute stress impairs cortisol recovery.Front Psychol. 2017;8:1609. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2017.01609

Estes A, Olson E, Sullivan K, et al.Parenting-related stress and psychological distress in mothers of toddlers with autism spectrum disorders.Brain Dev. 2013;35(2):133-8. doi:10.1016/j.braindev.2012.10.004

Du J, Zhang D, Yin Y, et al.The personality and psychological stress predict major adverse cardiovascular events in patients with coronary heart disease after percutaneous coronary intervention for five years.Medicine (Baltimore). 2016;95(15):e3364. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000003364

Meet Our Review Board

Share Feedback

Was this page helpful?Thanks for your feedback!What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

Was this page helpful?

Thanks for your feedback!

What is your feedback?HelpfulReport an ErrorOtherSubmit

What is your feedback?